Grading Road Maintenance Advice

[Halfwayhomestead]

I'll try and keep this short.

Owner of a new 45hp 6000lb 4wd tractor with fel. Kioti DK 4510 to be exact. 4 loaded ag tires.

Live up in Maine on a 1/2 mile abandoned town Rd. Mostly straight, couple small hills. Don't think it's seen gravel in a very long time. No real ditches. very low in spots.

I DON'T WANT TO MAKE THE ROAD BEAUTIFUL, I like it a little rough to keep people out, however this has been a bad mud season and there are ruts that could swallow a small child.

I intend to start having loads of gravel brought in for the worst spots and just get a load here and there when I have the extra money.

I guess I have two questions. For this situation box blade or rear blade?

Second question is what type of gravel do I need to ask for? Someone mentioned 4" minus as road base but can I drive on that in the meantime?

Side note I have a separate rig for plowing do I don't NEED it for that.

 

[Industrial Toys]

There was s thread question identical to this just recently. Lots of discussion.

 

[Halfwayhomestead]

My budget is about 1200 for the implement, I looked at the tsc rear blade but it looked wimpy. Almost liked there box blade. Also looking at everything attachments but my gut is telling me to try and work the road while it's still on the soft side which will likely only be till the end of April.

 

[Industrial Toys]

You can't do grading without material. An angling rear blade allows you to gather material from the sides and bring it to the middle, then grade it out. In my way of thinking, a box blade is better for maintaining a gravel road, but not big repairs.

Grader blades are a dime a dozen used, and many older better, heavier ones are out there cheap!

Adding a rear trailing wheel is a HUGE advantage for controlling height.

 

[Halfwayhomestead]

About needing material to grade, can I use a scarifier or even subsoiler set shallow to scratch the high spots and move the material to the low spots? Or will this just rip the implement apart?

Complete newbie with road maintenance besides what I've read on here.

 

[joeyd]

If you are willing to put up with the results until you get good at it I would say get a rear blade but one that is heavy, has lots of adjustments, especially the ability to swing/offset so you can get the edges without being off the road. One of my neighbors has a blade that adjusts so easily I am envious. My blade is ok for smoothing my gravel and some snow but it is not capable of maintaining my road. I have to unbolt the cutting blade and move it to get any offset.

If your road is in bad shape I would suggest having it graded by a pro then you could add rock as needed or as you can afford. Depending on mobilization charges you might be able to swing grading and picking up a blade for touch ups. The road we live on gets graded every other year or so and we maintain it on the off years. Around here a grader and operator runs about $120.00/hr. and for our 3 miles of private hilly road most operators can grade it in 10-12 hours. We have been topping it with 3/4" gravel for a few years now (we have a good base in most areas) and it is beginning to give us a decent all weather surface. We occasionally have to do some repair depending on the winter, freeze/thaw or clay pockets.

For some info on roads take a look at https://efotg.sc.egov.usda.gov/refe...ers_Guide_to_Building_Forest_Access_Roads.pdf or Publications - Construction -
Federal Highway Administration. Theyy contain a lot of info and you can scan for the topics that apply to your needs.

 

[Halfwayhomestead]

Awesome PDF, thank you very much

 

[/pine]

Does your tractor have hydraulic top and tilt for the 3PH?

 

[finn1]

I’ve had good luck with the Kioti box blade from my dealer. It’s made by Woods, with Kioti stickers and orange paint.

Not sure why you would hire that project out if you already have a tractor. That’s why you have a tractor in the first place, isn’t it?

There is a learning curve when doing this to type of work, but you will master it in short time.

 

[DennisFolsom]

There are a lot of how-to videos on YouTube for driveway work with rear blades and box blades. Watching a bunch of those helped me to make up my mind that I wanted a box blade for my needs. I just ordered one from Everything Attachments. The downside is that they have a backlog of orders now, so my estimated delivery time is 8 weeks out. I could have bought one of the two that my local Tractor Supply had in stock. They are less expensive, but are not made nearly as well. I decided that to go with EA, even with the wait.