Looking for Jack of all Trades

[TCR78]

I am a co-owner/employee of a seasonal family business that has always been set in its ways, which has been a few steps behind the times. It's a 50+ acre summer beachfront community with 377 cottages that has been there since the 1930's. Terrain varies and we are responsible to maintain it all. We have 1/4mi of beach to groom(we got a surf rake for this), @1mi of gravel roads, a gravel parking lot, a swampy muck hole that requires some taming, small gravel pit, lawns to manicure, and AG fields to keep under control when not in use by our cousin. Leveling and grading are huge for the roads as well as lawns because any place a person can drive or park, they will. Add rain to that and you get the picture. I have been operating utility tractors and wheel loaders for almost 18 years. FEL work is what I do because it's pretty much our only tool. We also have a york rake and rotoray cutter that look like rusted swiss cheese, but I am not familiar with anything else attachment wise. It erks me to do a job with the wrong tool, and IMO, not worth doing most of the time. We just bought our first new machine, a JD 5083E to replace the 2350, and want a versitile attachment for it. That said, I am looking for a jack of all trades master of none so to speak, as I can not justify a different attachment for every little job being seasonal and basicly just property maintenence. Being on the ocean, all our equipment and vehicles lives are almost cut in half due to the salt spray. You would be surprised what that does to stuff. I do like a quality product tho, so I would rather spend a little more now and get something that will stand up to the punishment. Nothing fancy just durable and heavy would be good too as to help ballast the FEL. I have been looking at this United 896DHD Deluxe Heavy Duty Box Blade 96". Being in RI, our local JD dealer doesn't stock much, and what he does have is way small, so it's hard to compare in person. This is why I thought online purchase might be a better route. Any thoughts on what might be a good attachment for us, type, brand, pros & cons of each, etc? TIA

 

[MarkV]

A box blade could be called a "jake of all trades" for your roads, parking and trails. Don't think it will do much for your yards and swampy areas without having to replant. An 8' blade is a bit wide if you want to keep a crown on the road, unless you have at least a 16' road. For grading weight is your friend when it comes to box blades. The units I have looked at in the 6' range that would be considered "heavy duty" weigh over a 1000 pounds. Based on weight I am not sure I could consider the one linked heavy duty.

Sounds like your family has an old school summer resort. I'll bet it is a fun place to work.

MarkV

 

[TCR78]

Sorry, should have clarified the swamp. We just usually knock down the tall grasses and catails with the rotory cutter so the sun dries it up faster. If it's real bad we make a trench toward the property line into a pond. The boxblade or whatever we get will not be used for that area. Oh and the crown in the road is part of the problem. That and the numerous pot holes.

 

[TCR78]

Sounds like your family has an old school summer resort. I'll bet it is a fun place to work.

Old school yes, resort, now that's pushin it. Definately fun tho. Very unique.

 

[kenstrac]

If you get all the attachments for this it's pricy but execellent quality.
Model RW - 8' Rake [004118] - $1,541.00 : York Modern

 

[MarkV]

I do think you are on the right track with the roads and parking areas being the biggest maintance issues. A rear blade may be also something to consider. A rear blade angled will let you pull material from the side of the road to the middle and help form a crown. A box blade will collect material to be dropped out in another area. A box blade can work a crown by adjusting your 3pt hitch so one side is lower than the other. With either of these, in my opintion, weight is the key to being effective. With a light weight blade, either kind, on a hard packed suface, the blade will skim/bounce alone the top rather than cut into the road surface. They both have their place though I consider the box blade to be a better "jack of all trades".

Is there a web site for the family place? Sometimes seeing the situation can bring better advice.

MarkV

 

[TCR78]

Is there a web site for the family place? Sometimes seeing the situation can bring better advice.

I want to eliminate the crown. Residents complain their cars bottom out on it. Plus we are in the process of putting in a new black/gray water system for the entire property. Alot of big trucks in and out for the next 3 years. our official site is down ATM, but here is a link to a residents non-official site and take on the project so far. Roy Carpenter?s Beach unOfficial Homepage!And/Or Google Earth the south coast of RI, find the center of the coastline, then scan right and look for an almost perfect square property with small cottages and AG fields split in half by a paved main road with a pond to the left. Card's Pond road will be just north of it.

 

[teg]

Easy to find with good directions I like a yard tool / Pulverizer for maintaining a road and used to clean up construction areas: http://www.everythingattachments.com/Tractor-Pulverizers-Yard-Tools-s/1369.htm

If you don't have to build anything or move a bunch of soil... I'd get that. You could see if a rental yard has one to try out? You can set the teeth to be less agressive then what they show in the video...

 

[Happyman]

Check out one of our new TBN sponsors Everything Attachments - Skid Steer Attachments, Tractor Attachments, 3 Point Hitch Attachments, Farm Tractor Implements.
I have personally bought from these folks and they are one of the best. Very helpful and fast shipping.
Go for the box blade and buy it from Everything Attachments :thumbsup:

 

[Treemonkey1000]

I want to eliminate the crown. Residents complain their cars bottom out on it. Plus we are in the process of putting in a new black/gray water system for the entire property. Alot of big trucks in and out for the next 3 years. our official site is down ATM, but here is a link to a residents non-official site and take on the project so far. Roy Carpenter?s Beach unOfficial Homepage!And/Or Google Earth the south coast of RI, find the center of the coastline, then scan right and look for an almost perfect square property with small cottages and AG fields split in half by a paved main road with a pond to the left. Card's Pond road will be just north of it.

You would still need a crown in the road with blacktop. Now if folks are complaining about bottoming out they need to slow down or drive taller vehicles :thumbsup: Actually maybe scrape the crown down a little if there is a lot of stuff on it. Sounds like a fun place to be all in all though. Count your blessings. You could be stuck someplace Yucky like Palm Beach. :confused2:

 

[MarkV]

I want to eliminate the crown. Residents complain their cars bottom out on it. Plus we are in the process of putting in a new black/gray water system for the entire property. Alot of big trucks in and out for the next 3 years. our official site is down ATM, but here is a link to a residents non-official site and take on the project so far. Roy Carpenter?s Beach unOfficial Homepage!And/Or Google Earth the south coast of RI, find the center of the coastline, then scan right and look for an almost perfect square property with small cottages and AG fields split in half by a paved main road with a pond to the left. Card's Pond road will be just north of it.

Wow, looks like you have a lot going on. Given the truck taffic you expect I would lean toward a Box Blade. It will cut down the crown heavy equipement is going to make.

I don't know your tractor so maybe someone else will jump in. An 8' Box Blade, with damp soil like you will have, can require a good amount of horse power and traction.

Keep us updated.

MarkV

 

[TCR78]

Wow, looks like you have a lot going on. Given the truck taffic you expect I would lean toward a Box Blade. It will cut down the crown heavy equipement is going to make.

I don't know your tractor so maybe someone else will jump in. An 8' Box Blade, with damp soil like you will have, can require a good amount of horse power and traction.

Keep us updated.

MarkV

It's @80hp, w/563 NSL FEL, and R4's loaded w/rimguard. I've looked at couple other brands other than the one I mentioned since posting this(BushHog, LandPride, Woods, etc). All the 6'-8' BB specs I found have HP ratings in the 40-60 range and are @600#-800#. The HD ones with hydro adjust are heavier & rated HP is higher but they seem like overkill for what I need and are twice as much. Could I use one rated at less HP or will I break it? I also found this Tractor 3 Point Hitch Model LGB Utility Grader, Leveling Box with Angled Blades, but it does not seem to be as versatile as a BB.

 

[Gittyup]

You would be wise to invest in heavier equipment. Your tractor will twist up those light weights before you even have time to react, and they just don't perform without the weight. Not sure one tool will ever meet all your needs, but a box is probably the most versatile. A rake with an optional blade add-on could be used as both a scraper and a rake. The hydraulic fore/aft tilt, angle, and side-shift, heavy duty scraper blade sure is a nice piece of equipment too. Those fancy grader contraptions look to be real effective too, though expensive.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

There is just no implement that will do it all. With as much road work that you are going to need to do, I would really think about a road grader blade. I usually recommend either one of these.

Road Boss Grader - Road and Landscape Grading, Surfacing and Leveling, and Material Spreading and Reclamation Or GradeMaster Grader Blades


I maintain a couple of miles of roads and have 4 different implements that I use. But if I was to only have one to maintain the roads, a road grader blade is what I would prefer to have.

One last thing, with the size of your tractor, any of these implements that you are considering should weigh a minimum of 1000lbs.