Plow vs scraper blade for driveway maintenance

[Komrade]

Newbie question. What are the pros and cons of using scraper blade vs snow plow for maintaining a driveway?
The snow plow is a myer fibre blade (7feet) with a steel plate at the bottom.

I need to create proper slope on the sides, water running down the middle of the road instead of to the sides.. driveway is steep)

Plow Pros:
* can drive forward downhill
* easy to attach/detach (quick attach)

Plow Cons:
* plow not that strong? (only bottom is a steel plate)
* maybe not as easy to tilt/maintain tilt
* not sure can see as well as scraper.. it's a good 5-6 feet ahead of the tractor.

Scraper Pros:
* that's what it's for
* can probably see better what I am doing
* driving uphill pushes washed down gravel up the hilll

Scraper Cons:
* don't have one
* will have to detach backhoe (haven't done it yet, garage is a mile drive)
* have to drive backwards uphill
* will have to detach and attach the backhoe back on

Driving backwards doesn't sound that appealing, but grading uphill may not be a bad thing. Move some of that washed down gravel up the hill.

Am I missing anything else?

Will this scraper do?
Scraper Blade

 

[jeff9366]

The correct nomenclature for that implement is an Angle Blade or Rear Blade.

These threads get confused, fast, when non-standard descriptives are used.

Angle Blades are mostly adjusted on a acute angle, so dirt will move across the front of the blade, filling low spots. (Think of a dedicated Road Grader.)

Therefore, in order to cover your tire tracks when used on an acute angle, an Angle Blade needs to be 12" (+/-) wider than your tire width.

Angle Blades will not cut compacted soil unless they are heavy; they rely on weight for down force.

Your can tilt an Angle Blade pretty far using the threaded Lifting Rod on the right side of your Three Point Hitch.

Tilted, an Angle Blade will allow you to trough the center of your road, if that is what you need to do.

"Shoes" are available for some Angle Blades, allowing dirt to be pulled along when the Rear Blade is used straight, rather than an angle, somewhat like a Box Blade.

A heavy Landscape Rake can do some of the same tasks as an Angle Blade but for dirt work exclusively an Angle Blade is the preferred implement. A Landscape Rake may be better for filtering gravel and stones.

 

[Threepoint]

I'll add a couple of thoughts. You don't necessarily need to drive backwards when grading (or even clearing snow) with a rear blade. You're right, trying to do it backwards, uphill, would be tough. Kinda like Ginger Rogers following Fred Astaire backwards and in high heels. But it can be done.

If the rear blade has an off-set capability (many good ones do), you can grade a few inches beyond the sidewall of your right rear wheel without as wide a blade.

 

[buickanddeere]

Neither work worth a darn if there is a 2nd snowfall before the first has melted. Ploughs and blades just raise ridges and mounds that now function as a "snow fence" . This makes the driveway drift in even faster.
A two stage blower is the tool to use.
What tractor do you have? Not a Ford N series I hope.

 

[vulcancowboy]

A nice feature of the rear blade is the ability to adjust the cutting angle of the blade via the top link.

 

[Komrade]

So is the right name rear blade (or angle blade), but it's (incorrectly) known as scrape blade (like I put in the title?)?

Now that I think about it, I don't see why I couldn't do it driving forward downhill with a blade scraping the driveway.

Offset capability is where you basically move the blade off-center so it becomes longer on one end, but shorter on the other?

See the link in my original post (here it is again. This one seems to have the feature. It's 72" wide. My manual says that's the max I can have. It doesn't have any remote control features. My tractor width is under 5ft.

Reference:
Kubota L3430 Tractor - Specifications - Attachments

 

[vulcancowboy]

It looks like the blade in the link has the ability to be offset by loosening the two bolts and sliding the blade.

 

[Komrade]

Neither work worth a darn if there is a 2nd snowfall before the first has melted. Ploughs and blades just raise ridges and mounds that now function as a "snow fence" . This makes the driveway drift in even faster.
A two stage blower is the tool to use.
What tractor do you have? Not a Ford N series I hope.

I guess I should have clarified that by maintaining the driveway, I meant gravel, not snow.
For snow I would prefer not to touch it at all so I wouldn't disturb the gravel. I agree if I was to touch it snow blower might be better.
It doesn't snow that much around here, but I did get stuck a few times. Just need to invest into snow chains on the truck.
Tractor is Kubota L3430

 

[Fallon]

A tractor is made for pulling, not pushing. A loader (with or without a plow blade) can push, but isn't optimal, at least for anything hard or packed.

Trying to plow dirt with a snow plow will tear up the plow, loader frame & not do that great of a job plowing. Most people plowing with a plow on the loader get pushed sideways badly. The loader & plow are way out front & even further from the main drive wheels. That puts a huge amount of leverage on the loader frame & pushing you in directions you don't want to go.

You can flip the scraper blade around & push backwards, but probably shouldn't, especially in anything other than light snow. Again, tractors & implements are made for pulling. The 3pt hitch is strong when pulled, but not that well supported when pushing. Take a yard stick & try to pull it apart... not happening. Then try to push the ends together. Probably won't work until you bend it a hair or don't push straight. Then it snaps easy. Same goes for your 3pt.

 

[Komrade]

A tractor is made for pulling, not pushing.

So best to use blade while moving forward. It was a misunderstanding on my part on how it gets used. I am good, I'd rather be pulling than pushing anyway.

The tractor is relatively heavy (6000#) to push non-compacted snow, IMO. Hopefully I won't need to find out one way or the other this winter. I agree it's probably not optimal for the job.