daTeacha
Veteran Member
Back in the day, I lived about 50 miles north of Grand Rapids, Michigan. I had an 8N Ford which I used to maintain and plow out my driveway, which was flat and gravel. It worked just fine. It also made great paths through the 20 acres of woods. In early winter I had to park the blade on blocks rather than the ground or it would freeze in place and the hydraulics were not to eager to move it when they were at 10 F or colder. Other than that, no problems with the driveway.
Here in Ohio, I maintained my old driveway with a Cadet 109 HST with a manually lifted front blade, turf tires, and chains. It worked just fine, but I got a sore back from leaning forward to lift and lower with one hand while running the tractor with the other.
I moved to a hilly, wooded area and thought another 8N would be just the ticket since it had worked so well in Michigan. The 8N was too big to use in the thick woods, the hills a bit too steep to plow the drive when it got icy, even with chains on Ag tires. I went back to the 109 with chains and it worked fine. I got into a 16 hp 4wd Kubota and rear blade, which works okay, but the tractor is so short coupled that every time I run over a bump the blade is lifted up, making another bump, which then makes a third bump when I make another pass and so on. I need to make a lot of passes to get a nice smooth finish, then the gravel is loose and rolly.
The best thing for keeping a driveway smooth is a mid mounted blade, if you can find one. The best thing to have your driveway made of is a material that my excavator used as a base. I think it's called C302 or something like that. It's a mix of fines and various size gravel bits. They tail spread it, then ran over it with a vibrating roller. It didn't wash out, didn't roll, etc. for over a year. My mistake was having them top coat it with dolomite gravel for appearances. The dolomite just sits on top of the stuff, kind of like having a gravel topcoat on pavement, but not quite that bad. Talk to the excavators in your area about a material that packs solid and is used as a base to get a good driveway.
Then try to find a tractor with a mid mounted blade.
Here in Ohio, I maintained my old driveway with a Cadet 109 HST with a manually lifted front blade, turf tires, and chains. It worked just fine, but I got a sore back from leaning forward to lift and lower with one hand while running the tractor with the other.
I moved to a hilly, wooded area and thought another 8N would be just the ticket since it had worked so well in Michigan. The 8N was too big to use in the thick woods, the hills a bit too steep to plow the drive when it got icy, even with chains on Ag tires. I went back to the 109 with chains and it worked fine. I got into a 16 hp 4wd Kubota and rear blade, which works okay, but the tractor is so short coupled that every time I run over a bump the blade is lifted up, making another bump, which then makes a third bump when I make another pass and so on. I need to make a lot of passes to get a nice smooth finish, then the gravel is loose and rolly.
The best thing for keeping a driveway smooth is a mid mounted blade, if you can find one. The best thing to have your driveway made of is a material that my excavator used as a base. I think it's called C302 or something like that. It's a mix of fines and various size gravel bits. They tail spread it, then ran over it with a vibrating roller. It didn't wash out, didn't roll, etc. for over a year. My mistake was having them top coat it with dolomite gravel for appearances. The dolomite just sits on top of the stuff, kind of like having a gravel topcoat on pavement, but not quite that bad. Talk to the excavators in your area about a material that packs solid and is used as a base to get a good driveway.
Then try to find a tractor with a mid mounted blade.
