Land Plane or Box Blade

[Dano33]

Hello All-

Looking at either a box blade or a land plane and not sure which one I need. What I do need is a tool that will:

1. Maintain my gravel driveway by filling in the low spots, keeping it level, and removing light weeds.

2. Cut sod off of a grass paddock so I can get to the dirt beneath in order to create a dry paddock for my horses.

3. Allow me to maintain / level the dry lot once the horses are in it. As you can imagine, the lot will be full of hoof marks once winter rolls around, so I will need a tool that will allow me to remove the hoof marks and keep it level as needed.

So, which tool would you choose if you could only afford one?

Thanks in advance for your insight / help.

Dano

 

[murphy1244]

If your not wanting to move a lot of Dirt I would go with a Land Plane.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Any chance of some pictures? Conditions can make a difference with what is recommended.

 

[mikim]

I have both but for your purposes I'd say the land plane would take priority. That being said ...sounds like you're going to need both.

 

[mikim]

Hello All-

Looking at either a box blade or a land plane and not sure which one I need. What I do need is a tool that will:

1. Maintain my gravel driveway by filling in the low spots, keeping it level, and removing light weeds. landplane

2. Cut sod off of a grass paddock so I can get to the dirt beneath in order to create a dry paddock for my horses.box blade

3. Allow me to maintain / level the dry lot once the horses are in it. As you can imagine, the lot will be full of hoof marks once winter rolls around, so I will need a tool that will allow me to remove the hoof marks and keep it level as needed. landplane

So, which tool would you choose if you could only afford one?

Thanks in advance for your insight / help.

Dano

as indicated

 

[bcp]

2. Cut sod off of a grass paddock so I can get to the dirt beneath in order to create a dry paddock for my horses.

2. Maybe a land plane with a below-grade adjustable front blade, and a tailgate added to the rear to drag material instead of spread it.

Bruce

 

[Dano33]

I can try to grab some pics when the sun is back out. The gravel driveway is fairly small in that it is only a couple hundred feet, however we have gravel all around our barn that needs occasional work.

As for the paddocks, they are fairly smooth and are mowed often. Plus the horses tend to keep them short. Underneath the grass is typically very fine dirt that could pass for topsoil. In fact, when there are excavation project around my area, people often have no problems selling the dirt.

The harder work will come in winter and spring when the grass is soft and the animals tend to leave hoof prints all over the place until the ground has a chance to harden up again. I am thinking that a land plane with scarifiers may do the trick better than a box blade.

 

[oosik]

As has been said - move a lot of dirt with a box blade, maintain a surface move a little dirt with a land plane. I have both and I use the roll over box blade to maintain the ditches on the driveway and the grading scraper/land plane to maintain the run of the driveway. Were I to choose one it would definitely be the grading scraper/land plane. A smooth, crowned & level driveway is very difficult to maintain with any kind of box or rollover blade.

 

[Dano33]

Looks like the Land Plane is the better bet. I figure I can use my rear blade to remove the grass and then use the land plane to level and maintain the dry paddock and gravel driveway.

I used my rear blade to cut a decent sized garden last fall which was fairly easy since the ground was soft.

On Monday, I am going to go check out a Woods Land Plane that has the ripper shanks. Hopefully this will work well for the intended application.

 

[oosik]

Dano,
I used my land plane/grading scraper to create a brand new road right out thru the virgin land earlier this summer. Mine has the manually set scarifying shanks and let me tell you, set at max depth ( -2.5 inches) it literally tore the snot out of the sod. I though quite a while on what to do with all the sod - it was 10-12 inches thick - finally I put on the disk harrow and half a dozen trips over this mess and it cut the sod up just fine. Reinstalled the GS and now the road is smooth as a babies backside. It is a summer only road, no gravel, but it sure helps access the high meadows on the property. I used it on the driveway with scarifiers down and ended up with a wider, crowned and much smoother drive with no potholes. Prior to the GS I had used the back blade on the driveway but it did not do the job. It didn't get rid of the potholes and was impossible to eliminate the "ripples" with the back blade.

Ha, my first run down the driveway with the new GS was frightening. It sounded like I was dragging a rock crusher - but after tearing up the surface with the scarifiers I then began the smoothing process with sacrificers up and now have a drive that looks like it did when constructed 32 years ago. Next time I try something like that I'll wait until the drive is damp - it was a very dusty operation.

 

[Dano33]

Thanks oosik! Your post is making me feel better about plunking down a nice chunk of change for an implement I have never used. I do like the fact that most people seem to love their land plane, so I hope to have the same kind of luck as most others have had.

 

[hlyautey]

I am very impressed with this groomer: Kiser Edge - Base Safe Arena Drag! - YouTube

 

[oosik]

You won't regret purchasing the land plane. It does a great job at what its intended to do and its probably the easiest implement to learn how to use. Woods is know for their high quality and construction standards so you will probably never experience a failure with their land plane. I have Land Pride because that's what my Kubota dealer sells and we have little else thru any local dealers. AND I hate buying cheap stuff knowing that I will probably destroy it or it will simply fall apart from use. I do a lot of work out in the field and over the years I've learned to buy the most HD tools & equipment I can find. That way they stand a chance of surviving my procedures and the natural environment. When you purchase a quality product, you can expect to pay a quality price and the implement should, with due care/maintenance, last a lifetime.

 

[/pine]

Just an opinion...but if the areas you wish to maintain are not really flat...regardless of the implement (bb/lp etc)...hydraulic top and tilt will greatly increase the efficiency and lower the learning curve of any grading etc. type attachment...

Good Luck...

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Just so it is clear for the OP about what a top & tilt set is. They are the hydraulic links that you see on the 3pt hitch. Normally the center top link and the right side side link.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Your sod may be heavier and thicker than mine and require the ripper shanks but just for reference you can see that my LP/GS does a pretty fair job removing sod from my gravel parking area and road w/o any rippers. So you should have no problem I would think with a unit with rippers.

I agree with \pine on the hydraulic top link and side link (Top and Tilt). They will help tremendously with type blade you put on to do dirt work.

.

 

[crazyal]

If you don't have a pair of remotes I would hold off on a TnT setup for now as it could cost you as much as the grading scraper. Get use to it first and then you can decide if you really need both.

 

[Dano33]

Wow, Gordon's pic looks great. I agree that the plane will probably be all right on its own, however the ripper shanks are certainly a nice piece of insurance.

In regards to the top and tilt, I posted about this in the John Deere forum. Long story short, I was ready to add this option to the 4720 I just ordered until I was told that it would add an additional $3K to the total. Needless to say, I passed on the option.

Truth be known, I have had my 4310 since 2002 and have gotten to be pretty good with a neighbors box blade without using top and tilt. Yes, you sometimes need to make several adjustments and yes, it can be pain to get off the seat a few times, however that pain is not worth 3K in my mind. And from what I am told, a Land Plane typically needs even fewer adjustments than a box blade.

I guess I will find out soon enough.

 

[crazyal]

I wanted the top function to allow my land plane to float but after using it I found that it wouldn't work without adding weight to the rear. I tried leaving the top link off once and the rear would just lift up. I ended up going with a Befco over the Woods and Land Pride simply because it was heavier and I could get it shipped to my door for less than the other two.

 

[bubbacuse77]

I've never owned a land plane but I do have Box Blade with a top and tilt and like the others have said, you never understand how you lived without a top and tilt once you have it.