need attachment advice for driveway maintenance

[jabbahop]

I have a long, steep gravel driveway that suffers from washouts and washboards. Does anyone have good luck with any specific attachment to keep the road smooth and crowned so the water runs off?

thanks

 

[Spudgunner]

Our Homeowners Association purchased a Quick-Attach Versa Blade a couple of years ago with the intent of using it to condition subdivision roads. They bought "the full meal deal" with the "outfront" wheels and blade side attachments. Well, they never bought a skid steer to run it with (long story) so next week we are trying it with my TC. I closely inspected the equipment today and it looks way cool and I expect that with the right power/weight behind it the results would be very encouraging. My concern at this point is whether my TC will be heavy enough to do light to moderate grading with it on the local roads. My TC is presently ballasted with about 700 pounds of landscape block in the bed and I'm sort of expecting to have to go to quite a bit more than that...if I can given the total machine maximum weight.

Interestingly Bobcat sells a six-way blade...the 80" version of which is spec'd for the TC. I'm mildly optimistic the TC will do Ok with the Q-A version.

I'll report back after I try this critter for myself later this week or next.

 

[melgibson]

I don't think the versa blade is the ticket.

I think you need a scarifier and a box blade, and for best results, a compactor and a water sprayer.

You go over the road with the scarifer, which is used to a) break up the washboards and high spots and b) bring the base rock back to the top.

You then use the box blade to spread all the material that you've loosened evenly on the road (a box blade is merely a dozer blade with sides which hold the material in front of the blade, so that low spots are filled as you move along).

If you want to build a crown, or to create a slope across the road if none exists, you'll need a tilt tach so that you can cut/fill on a plane different than the plane that the TC's wheels are rolling on.

Once you've done all this, you have a smooth road with gravel fairly evenly distributed. Most people stop here, and this is OK. However, the road surface material is somewhat loose. So, if you have a vibratory roller and a spray system in the bed, you drive the road in reverse, wetting the material as you move along and then compacting it.

Unfortunately, there is not a combination scarifier/box blade made for the TC or aftermarket suppliers (like you can get for a farm tractor).

However, if you'll review previous posts this year, there is one tiitled "Shopmade Box Blade," or something like that, where I showed pictures on how to build a "poor man's" scarifier/box blade (although you need the combo bucket to get box blade functionality).

Have fun!

 

[melgibson]

p.s.- If the drive is fairly steep, even with an aggressive crown, the water is going to want to run down the road, causing the erosin which results in washboards. So, you might also want to crete some angled ditches or humps which will catch the water running down hill and direct it off the road.

 

[theoshin]

we fixed ours with asphalt. water is the enemy to any gravel road.

 

[dsb5610]

I have the Bobcat boxscraper and it works well for filling in ruts but it will not crown. I follow it up with the tractor and 3pt blade. The Bobcat grader would be a much better attachment and I imagine would come with a much steeper price.

dsb

 

[mlevendo]

I use a land pride grading scraper and it works great for routine maintenance. I use my rear blade in the spring (winter snow removal is rough on the driveway) to reshape and after that the grading scraper keeps it all maintained, keeps the crown, and brings the gravel back to the surface in one trip over the driveway. See this TBN link
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-buying-pricing/138952-land-pride-grading-scraper.html