Land Plane adjustments

[Sierraau]

I picked up a land plane for my mile-long driveway and since we haven't gotten any snow here at Lake Tahoe this year, I have been working on my driveway trying to crow it with my rear blade but the downside of using the rear blade is the woop-dee-doos created by not having a longer side rail so I figured I'd throw on the Kioti 9foot land plane to see how it does. Our driveway is covered with asphalt grindings taken off of I-80 during their many road improvements, so with the fines, it packs pretty nice, but I found if I use the land plane right after the road gets wet, the asphalt grindings that I am planing end up clumping up and traveling over the 2nd bar and making a mess of the driveway with little clumps all over the place.

It's been a while since we got the grindings (over 10 years ago) so the driveway is pretty packed, but over the summer some of the asphalt moves to the edges and the road loses it's crown, so I have to touch it up occasionally. I've looked online for any sort of instruction on how high to adjust the blades of the plane, so I just adjusted them so they were level with the sides, but upon thinking about it, thought that maybe I wanted to have the outside edge of the road side of the blade at the level of the side and perhaps have it a bit lifted on the crown side (center) of the road, as I am thinking it would help reposition the grinding from the side to the center as some of them could go under the blades on the crown side. I'm also thinking that by having it raised on the crown side by maybe an inch I could cut down on the clumps that rise over the back blade.

Any ideas?

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

How you described what you were "thinking" would probably work well.
I lift the inside (crown side) edge of the plane up about an inch+, to pull the loose edge material towards the center. My cross blades are angled towards the "inside" on the left, helping to pull the material. I go down one side, back up the other, then level the plane and go down the center.

It takes some getting used to, and making many adjustments to get what you want. Trial, rinse and repeat....

 

[Ricn]

Mine is set flat with the ground. Go down one side back up the other works great for knocking down the bumps and filling in holes. Twice each year I recut crown using the trac hoe and blade.

 

[oosik]

I have a mile long gravel driveway also. It's over 40 years old and packed pretty darn hard. In the beginning - the top layer was crushed pit run gravel. Now there is dust, silt and volcanic ash added to this top layer.

I use both my HD Rhino rear blade and my Land Pride LPGS to maintain the driveway. After 40+ years - I've gotten pretty good at maintenance. There is a real trick to learn - getting a "short connected" implement to NOT follow the whoop-T-do's. All I can suggest - practice, practice, etc. OR - get some type of commercial road grader.

I really don't have to worry much about the crown of the driveway. We so seldom get any rain - what we do get will usually just soak right into the driveway.

My LPGS is set with the two "blades" about an inch below the side rails. I also will use the scarifiers on the LPGS. The LPGS is my tool to fix pot holes, riffles and my one muddy area( when it dries out).

I use the rear blade for snow and if I need to move a little material from here to there.

If and when I ever might need to move a lot of material - I have a roll over box blade.

 

[rob in ore]

I have skids on the grader set the same on each side. If I want to dig deeper on one side I use the 3 point arms to make the adjustment. Also, If I have material spilling over the second blade it means I'm trying to move too much at once and I need to make another pass with a shallower cut.

 

[sandman2234]

The road past me is a dirt road, and one of the guys down near the end has been getting millings to add to the dirt. Unfortunately when the millings harden, they tend to come out in clumps when the LPGS tries to grade the road. My experience is millings are not like gravel!
My LPGS is homemade, but copied from a well known source. I have pretty much quit trying to level it out due to making a bigger mess than what it started with. He has been in road building for years and has tried to correct the issue, but nothing we do can fix clumps being pulled out of the dirt.
He just keeps filling the potholes...
I am glad I live on a paved road, instead of that dirt road. I just try to help him!
Millings work great, but almost have to be spread continously like asphalt to work correctly.
David from jax

 

[Sierraau]

I have a mile long gravel driveway also. It's over 40 years old and packed pretty darn hard. In the beginning - the top layer was crushed pit run gravel. Now there is dust, silt and volcanic ash added to this top layer.

I use both my HD Rhino rear blade and my Land Pride LPGS to maintain the driveway. After 40+ years - I've gotten pretty good at maintenance. There is a real trick to learn - getting a "short connected" implement to NOT follow the whoop-T-do's. All I can suggest - practice, practice, etc. OR - get some type of commercial road grader.

I really don't have to worry much about the crown of the driveway. We so seldom get any rain - what we do get will usually just soak right into the driveway.

My LPGS is set with the two "blades" about an inch below the side rails. I also will use the scarifiers on the LPGS. The LPGS is my tool to fix pot holes, riffles and my one muddy area( when it dries out).

I use the rear blade for snow and if I need to move a little material from here to there.

If and when I ever might need to move a lot of material - I have a roll over box blade.

With the blades set below the rail, you'd always be cutting the road- except- the rails woiuld be riding on the surface- please further explain your thinking on this. My road has lots of woop to doos that are maybe 8 feet long then a little dip of 4 feet then another 8 foot woop. I figured the only way fo fix it would be to put a grader on the road with a "wheelbase" longer than 15'. I'm curious about the adjustment levels and what you experienced.

 

[oosik]

Sierraau - Yes, with the way my LPGS is set - it IS always cutting. And many times I will lower the scarifiers also. I ONLY use the LPGS where it is needed on the driveway. I've never had the occasion to drag it down the entire length of the driveway.

There are only a couple spots where I use/need it. One is my everlasting 120 foot long, seasonal mud hole. The other has some woop-de-doos and is about the same length.

The remaining mile of my driveway is always in pretty good shape. Using something like the LPGS would simply stir up what is already hard and flat.

If it ain't broken - it doesn't need to be fixed.

 

[oosik]

rob in ore - when I use my LPGS - surface material is always spilling over the first AND second blade. I will use the scarifiers to aide in this over spilling action. In this way I will get double action to cut, granulate,
smooth and redistribute the surface material.

Many times the scarifiers are needed to loosen the surface. My top layer on my driveway is a combination of - crushed rock, rock dust, plain 'ol wind blown dust and volcanic ash.

When it dries out - after spring wet season - it is as hard as old concrete.

I've had folks do burn outs on the driveway. All that is left - black rubber marks from their tires.

My driveway is over 40 years old. It has withstood the demands of time. It is hard as concrete and serves me well.

 

[workinonit]

If you don't have the blades set below the skids the LP won't do anything but knock down any high spots it straddles. When I built mine I set my blades an inch lower than the skids.