MtnViewRanch
Elite Member, Advertiser
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2005
- Messages
- 10,641
- Tractor
- Mahindra 7520, Mahindra 3215HST, Case 580 extendahoe, Case 310 dozer, Parsons trencher, Cat D6,
Help with landplane choices for land leveling and road/drive maintenance.
- Thread starter Piston
- Start date
- Views: 41365
OP
Piston
Elite Member
Did you get the utility model or the commercial model?
24" sides that sounds nice :thumbsup:
oldtoyboyd
Silver Member
One of the best units available IMO is a Road Boss, but they are big money. I believe that the RB units have the longest sides of all the units built today. Second would be GradeMaster, and they have 3 different levels. Not as long on the sides, but would probably be my second choice.
I would not go any wider than a 7 footer with your tractor and try to get a unit that is close to 1,000lbs at the minimum.
Does the Grademaster look like a good heavy unit? It is make about 3 hours south of me. Is there a good need for the shanks like on the Cammond brand?
MtnViewRanch
Elite Member, Advertiser
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2005
- Messages
- 10,641
- Tractor
- Mahindra 7520, Mahindra 3215HST, Case 580 extendahoe, Case 310 dozer, Parsons trencher, Cat D6,
Yes they do have some heavy units. I would say for your LS that if you went with a 6 or 7 footer with the 18" sides that you would be good to go. Not sure of the best way to adapt for the cat 2 hitch though. If you went with them, I would ask them to put a cat 1 hitch on or maybe they now have the combo cat 1-2 hitch which would be the best option IMO.
As far as using the rippers, I wouldn't. If you really needed them you could always do the ripping with your box blade. You will find that with a 1000lb grader and that toothed front blade, you probably won't need to use any rippers at all. But without seeing your grading conditions, it is hard to tell for sure.
Let us know if you get one and how you like it.
oldtoyboyd
Silver Member
I talked to the guy at grademaster. It is 1400 for me to pick it up. One of my local tractor guys has the King Kutter line. The weight on their page said less than 500 pounds for the 7' model. The grademaster is around 1000 pounds. Will the King Kutter be too light to work good?
sandman2234
Super Member
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2005
- Messages
- 6,020
- Location
- Jacksonville, Florida
- Tractor
- JD2555 and a few Allis Chalmers and now one Kubota
If a picture is worth a thousand words, my 80 or so pictures makes me quite a hefty sum, lol.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/175396-dava-grader-process.html
Piston,
Mention was made of using crossmembers thicker than the standard 1/4". I don't really think the increased price of using non-standard steel is a viable option unless it is purchased or acquired at standard prices. My sides are 5/8" thick, which is overkill, but the steel was acquired thru a series of trades, basically costing me nothing. In fact, the only steel that I purchased was the grader blades from Dura-Grader for $5 a foot several years ago and $145 for the angle that they mount on, plus the bolts to mount the blades from Caterpiller(blades are Cat's) at roughly $20.
As far as serrated blades, in my opinon, they would not be as beneficial as just added weight. The drawbacks of them, MIGHT outweigh their benefits. My grader has a small opening between the end of the blade and the wall/side. That very small opening has a tendency to catch things and carry them that I really don't want staying with the blade, such as roots, rocks and other things, plus making paths or tracks in your road or yard that has to be covered by the second blade. Seems easy enough, but the rear blade doesn't allways cover what the front blade cuts.
David from jax
Last edited:
LevelUpFarmer
New member
We use Trimble Field Level with Optisurface design software and get great results. We save shifting a lot of soil compared to using lasers. :thumbsup:
OP
Piston
Elite Member
David,
I've looked at your pictures quite a bit, and they will come in really helpful for when I build my grader. Thanks for the additional information as well. I see what you mean about the teeth grabbing certain objects like roots and small sticks and things.
I've called a few adds on craigslist but they've all fallen through for steel. That is my hardest part is finding the steel. There is a scrap yard not too far from me and I may try taking a ride up there to see if they have something available. Do scrap yards sell steel to the public? Or do they just buy it and then melt it down and sell it to businesses for reuse? I've never been to a scrap yard before.
Why do some graders have the 2 grader blades almost all the way forward, whereas some graders have the 2 blades almost all the way back?
For instance, this Landpride grader has the blades offset to the rear of the unit.
GS25 Series Grading Scrapers | Land Pride
Same as Road boss...
Home | Road Boss Grader
Whereas a lot of the other's I've seen have them closer to the front of the unit, like the Grade master ones, and most of the homemade versions I see on this forum?
What are the pros and cons on blade placement? Whether closer to the front, or closer to the back?
-Matt
MtnViewRanch
Elite Member, Advertiser
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2005
- Messages
- 10,641
- Tractor
- Mahindra 7520, Mahindra 3215HST, Case 580 extendahoe, Case 310 dozer, Parsons trencher, Cat D6,
DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT get a 7' unit that is under 500lbs.
100lbs per foot is an absolute minimum IMO.