Advice on How to reduce slope on dirt roads

[Tinhack]

"...down to the river."
You might want to contact some Texas agency before you start dumping your rain/mud runoff into that river. If they find out about it later, it could cost you dearly. And that's probably what you'll be doing by changing grades on your property. While the property may be yours, the rivers and access are NOT.

 

[s219]

Regardless of tractor size, the proper tool would be a box blade. Use it to shave material and move it. It will be so much faster and more productive than using the front loader (not to mention, the front loader is not really built to do what you want).

While a BX will take longer to do this job than the right size tractor, an appropriately sized box blade will be the most effective approach to the problem no matter what size tractor.

 

[sandman2234]

I built a 3 pt land plane to flatten a really rough road, and it actually moves more dirt than my box blade, but I have a little bigger tractor with excess HP. I agree with everyone, a dozer is a good idea, but also understand wanting to do it yourself. I definitely would not put all that work on my front end loader, too much wear and too big a chance of tweaking it. Buy a box blade and start moving some dirt. When you get tired of moving dirt, take a break and then go move some more! A project like what I am imagining you are looking at is going to be huge. Good luck with it, and as suggested, pictures open up a whole new topic of conversation!
David from jax

 

[shooterdon]

Hello All,

I just bought a Bx2680. My first urgent project is to reduce the slope on a dirt road/trail that runs from the front of my 11 acre property down to the river. There are two drops. The first one is about 30ft drop and the second about 20ft. The slope on both is very high. Eventually, I want regular 2WD SUVs and golf carts to be able to easily go up and down. Right now, my KIA 2WD SUV barely makes it up either slope. I want to start using the front loader to start shaving the dirt in the steep sections and reduce overall slope. I'm thinking around a 25 degree slope might do the trick. It is all dirt and not too hard so I'm hoping the front loader does the trick. My question is: Do I need to get the front loader blades even for pushing just dirt? ARe the other tricks or other attachments I need? Thanks!

A 25 degree slope is still quite steep. Do you mean 25%?

Agree with the other posters that a box blade would be best if you must use your tractor. It will take a long time. A guy who knows what he is doing and a bulldozer are the right approach IMHO. I have a much larger tractor and hired a guy to put in a trail up a hill on my property. What he did in 2 hours would have taken me three days with my back blade and FEL. But I am not a patient person so the risk of me doing something silly and breaking something was a factor as well.

 

[airbiscuit]

 

[FTG-05]

Mike has a bunch of good videos. This isn't one of them.

At ~4:00: "Going backwards = digging power". Absolutely retarded. Digging power on a BB is determined by the top link length.

"Making our tractor into a bulldozer". Again, absolutely retarded. A tractor isn't a bulldozer going forward with a FEL much less going backwards using a 3ph implement. The 3ph is designed for pulling, not pushing. While you can push somewhat with a BB (EA has a video showing it being used this way), it only really works on loose piles of dirt etc. Hit something solid like a root or a rock and you risk damaging an expensive 3ph arm or worse, cracking the tractor rear end case.

Never mind the retarded concept of using your tractor by driving backwards.

If Mike had any sense, he would delete this video; it's not just bad advice, it's dangerous (to the tractor).

 

[old and tired]

....it's not just bad advice, it's dangerous (to the tractor).

Glad I'm not the only one who thought this was a dumb thing to do!

So I put in a road down to my creek... had a friend with a small bulldozer (yes, that did help a bunch) but I could have done the whole thing with my tractor and box blade. For the final "drop" I decided to move the road to travel much farther (4x longer) and I was so glad I did. Much easier for 2 wheel drive vehicles. I have 2 other locations where 2wd have to have a running start to get up.

I do plan to cut those 2 areas down and smooth out to have a more constant grade. Each area is less than 75 feet long... I plan to cut from the high part and drag to the lower area and pack it down the best I can.

 

[jaxs]

Mike has a bunch of good videos. This isn't one of them.

At ~4:00: "Going backwards = digging power". Absolutely retarded. Digging power on a BB is determined by the top link length.

"Making our tractor into a bulldozer". Again, absolutely retarded. A tractor isn't a bulldozer going forward with a FEL much less going backwards using a 3ph implement. The 3ph is designed for pulling, not pushing. While you can push somewhat with a BB (EA has a video showing it being used this way), it only really works on loose piles of dirt etc. Hit something solid like a root or a rock and you risk damaging an expensive 3ph arm or worse, cracking the tractor rear end case.

Never mind the retarded concept of using your tractor by driving backwards.

If Mike had any sense, he would delete this video; it's not just bad advice, it's dangerous (to the tractor).

Aside from risk of damage,I have newbie questions eventhough I grew up around tractors. TBN members often reccomend a hydraulic top link with inference it can apply down pressure. I've used industrial tractors equipped with hydraulic top link but never a farm tractor. Will converting from manually adjustable top link to hydraulic change and/or enable applying down pressure. I ask this after watching the video of that tractor plowing compacted material. When I've tried that,the box barly scratches the surface going foward or backwards. I think down pressure would take weight off rear tractor tires and prevent traction. I hang a tank on my box and fill it with water for down pressure.

 

[old and tired]

... I hang a tank on my box and fill it with water for down pressure.

There is no down pressure. Your water tank is the best thing you can do; more weight = better cutting (if the top link is the correct length). The hydraulic top link just lets you change the angle of the front and rear blades. Shorten top link will help to dig more aggressive. Lengthening the top link to ride the rear blade to smooth things out.

Using rippers help to loosen dirt... to help be able to move that loosen dirt...

 

[airbiscuit]

I deleted the Tractor Mike video, because I agree that pushing anything with a 3pt is generally a bad idea.