Land Pride grading scraper

Charlesaf3 · May 10, 2009

we've had some threads on graders if you do a search - seem to be a decent number of companies making them

mlevendo · May 20, 2009

I'm not sure what side to side angle the blades can be adjusted to on the Dura Grader but the LP has a 5 degree angle. That's not a whole lot. It helps to maintain the crown but it would take many passes to try and build a crown on a flat drive (not saying it can't be done though - coming from a guy who ditched and constructed his 3/8 mile long driveway with a tractor and a rear blade). Maybe with some tweaking of the blade depth it could be done faster. Wet material just seems to mix and flow over the blades. Dry material will get more of a right to left movement helping to maintain/build the crown. I find it easiest to use my rear blade in the spring to capture the material that has been pushed to the shoulder and quickly bring the drive back to a proper crown. Then I just use the LP grader to maintain it. As mentioned above and from what I have read it is best to get down to the bottom of a pot hole to keep it from returning. The scarifiers work great for that. They are also great for breaking up the top crust during the dry summer and then I just run over with the grading blades to bring the gravel back to the surface.

rpraymond · May 23, 2009

Finally got my grading scraper on Thursday and had a chance to use it yesterday. Without making any adjustments and without adding any fresh stone I ran it over the driveway several times and was immediately impressed with the results. The crown in the middle is gone and it turned up the old gravel giving the driveway a finished look. Can't wait to make some adjustments, add some fresh stone and try it again. So far so good.

Tom_H · May 23, 2009

rpraymond said:
Finally got my grading scraper on Thursday and had a chance to use it yesterday. Without making any adjustments and without adding any fresh stone I ran it over the driveway several times and was immediately impressed with the results. The crown in the middle is gone and it turned up the old gravel giving the driveway a finished look. Can't wait to make some adjustments, add some fresh stone and try it again. So far so good.

Couple of questions if you don't mind:

Which tractor were you pulling with and how much power did it take? I am concerned as to whether my BX2200 will be able to pull the 48" model.

What were the presets on blade depth and scarifer depth?

When you say that The crown in the middle is gone... is that a reference only to the grass, or do you mean the drive is level/flat? I presume you do want drainage crown.

Thanks in advance.

rpraymond · May 23, 2009

I am using the B2320 and there is no strain on power at all. By crown I mean that the center was raised with grass growing and the wheel paths were depressed which made clearing snow in the winter troublesome. Now it's level and I can shape it how I want. I didn't use the scarifier blades and the scraper blades were at about 1/4". Now I can set the blades up above the side skids about 1/2" and put down and spread fresh stone. Probably won't get to that until Monday. Family coming over tomorrow for a cookout. They just don't understand!

Hope that answers your questions.

Tom_H · May 23, 2009

rpraymond said:
Hope that answers your questions.

Thanks!

Since you have snow, do you plan to leave the surface level or to re-crown? Please let us know how it goes after you lay down the new stone. I'd especially like to know how well the unit re-establishes a crown, as I need to do that on my drive. The drive is on a slight grade and I get only rain, no snow.

Thanks again.

mlevendo · May 24, 2009

My drive was begining to get a little growth in the middle again and the tire tracks were starting to make ruts. One pass down and back and its in perfect shape again and looks freshly graveled. It has been dry for well over a week. The material does flow much better from right to left when it is dry to maintain the crown. If the material was dry and you made some blade adjustments it probably would not be to tough to create a crown if the road was flat. It would probably take a few passes though. Each time I use my LP grader blade I am more happy with the purchase. I only use the scarifiers to tear up heavy vegitation or get to the bottom of deep pot holes. Otherwise I flip them upside down to keep them out of the way. Here are a couple before and after photos of the work I did yesterday. Once down the drive and then back. Super easy. For those of you who like seat time this may not be a good thing.

Willl · May 24, 2009

I might be out of the norm, but I'd rather have the 'before' driveway.

MtnViewRanch · May 24, 2009

mlevendo, don't know if you have this problem or not, I see a little in your pics, but sometimes I end up going back over the center because of a lot of material being left there. Anyway, I do it going backwards and the twin blades make it smooth out just about perfect.

Just a tip that works good for me, may or may not work for you. Your road looks good by the way.

I sure wish that I had grass next to my roads.

mlevendo · May 24, 2009

To each their own Willl. The center grass makes it more of a pain when it comes to snow removal so I like mine grass free.
MntView - I found I get more of the center buildup when material flows over the rear blade too. It also does not spread as evenly when it goes over the rear blade. I have my back blade set all the way up so it does not dig into the gravel (flush with skids). The front blade is set about a quarter inch or so below the skids. I then adjust the top link so it raises the rear of the grader so the rear blade is about a half an inch or so off the ground. The material then flows over the front blade and the rear blade smoothes it out if it become excessive. I don't have too much of a problem with excess buildup in the center of the drive. I do have the driveway crowned down the middle. If you do a more aggressive dig and particularly with both blades you will get the chuncky build up.
Two summers ago when I built the driveway the ditches on both sides were all sand. That fall I picked up some pasture mix grass seed and put it on the slopes and in the ditches. Not much happened that fall. The next spring it greened up a bit but this spring it filled in nicely.
I attached a photo of how I posistion my shanks. I noticed at some times that they can hinder the material in front of the front blade even when set in the highest postion. I like to keep them completly out of the way when not needed.