attachment for cleaning/creating drainage ditches along gravel road

[rScotty]

So, I use a Tufline 6 footer grader blade ($250) which can offset to the side and angle/tilt down. With my hydraulic top and (especially) the side tilt, I can get a pretty aggressive cut for my ditches. I also can only cut by following my rear tire. I can not cut a ditch from the top surface of the road... that would have too much leverage and it would just drag your front tires over (into the ditch).

I don't see any hydraulics on your tractor so you might be limited in what you can do.

You don't have have your location listed in your profile... If this is close to you, I would jump on it. https://jxn.craigslist.org/grd/d/pittsford-tufline-7ft-grader-blade/7799800568.html

Tufline 7Ft Grader Blade - $1,000 (Osseo MI) Might not last long but here's a couple photos:

Say, your Tufline looks like our similar vintage 8 foot "Big Rhino". Anyone considering one should keep in mind that these big old 3-way blades needs a larger tractor when offset with a tilt & angle. A rear blade for ditches and crowns needs to be 3-way adjustable: offset, tilt, and angle.

Gotta wonder what a new 3-way Tufline would cost today? I suspect that $1000 for a used one is a steal. Those big 3 way blades used to be offered as manual adjustable for economy, which could be later be converted to hydraulic control with simple kits.

I'd try to borrow or rent one before buying it. Too much depends on the OP's ditch material and such to tell if his tractor would pull it. We use a 6000# long wheelbase tractor with a Cat. II 3pt. with the Big Rhino blade.
Even so, any tough spot pulls the tractor sideways pretty easily. After using our blade for years, my opinion is it can be made to work, but I'm not convinced that even a good 3-way blade is the right tool for the job. For one thing a blade hung out like that from the back end of a tractor pitchs up and down a lot. Maybe a gauge wheel would help....but there's another hydraulic and another grand or two.

OP might also look into the smaller road graders. Smaller used ones are pretty reasonable at municipal sales. Around here anything a municipality bought with tax dollars has to be offered to the public when they upgrade. There just isn't much of a used market for graders - worth a look.
A grader is a much better machine for shaping roads and ditches than anything pulled by a tractor can ever be.
YMMV,
rScotty

 

[old and tired]

...Gotta wonder what a new 3-way Tufline would cost today? I suspect that $1000 for a used one is a steal....

https://www.generalimp.com/userdocs/documents/tlrearblades.pdf

Found some prices (link above) Yes, a grand for the one on Craig's list is a bargain.

The one I bought for $250 is $2400-ish. I only use it for cutting ditches which can only be done heading downhill... It puts me on a pretty steep side angle after a couple of passes but works like a charm!!!

 

[rScotty]

Big Rhino 3-way & Little Rhino 3-way.

 

[RayIN]

About 15 years ago DW and I were out driving around and she spotted one of these old Ford 6' grader blades with horizontal swivel and vertical tilt leaning against a tree with a for sale sign.
I can set it so it acts like a double-shovel plow and dig a pretty good ditch.
Mine is in better condition than this picture.
If anyone wants, tomorrow I can go snap a picture of the nameplate and edit this post.

This one is swivel and tilt, and for sale: https://www.schneiderauctioneers.com/auctions/30324/lot/14856

 

[CalG]

I run a Tufline GB1 7 foot.

Here in VT, It's too rocky to do much without tearing stuff up.

But it moves soil, and gravel just fine behind my 35 HP tractor. The ditches on the side of the 500 foot long, steep incline drive, are ledge and bony fill. Hard to do much with it.
Your conditions may differ.

A back blade with tilt and offset is the tool, even if it takes a bunch of passes and some hand work.

 

[mikester]

A 10 ton mini-x with a ditching bucket and wrist does a nice job. Add a rotator and you will really have fun.

 

[Gordon Gould]

I run a Tufline GB1 7 foot.

Here in VT, It's too rocky to do much without tearing stuff up.

But it moves soil, and gravel just fine behind my 35 HP tractor. The ditches on the side of the 500 foot long, steep incline drive, are ledge and bony fill. Hard to do much with it.
Your conditions may differ.

A back blade with tilt and offset is the tool, even if it takes a bunch of passes and some hand work.

That's the same thing I have and I agree you have to be careful where you use it in our bony ground. But just cleaning loose stuff out off an already formed ditch works OK for me.

gg

 

[bdhsfz6]

I use an 8' York rake and T&T kit which gives the blade a 15 degree pitch.

I offset the 3pt as far as I can and it does a good job on the ditches.

The only downside is, dragging the spoils back up onto the road requires regrading the surface. The mud & grass can make quite a mess.

My old Kubota L3430 had no trouble pulling the rake, but I don't know how well it would work on a smaller tractor.

 

[Panik]

I use an 8' York rake and T&T kit which gives the blade a 15 degree pitch.

View attachment 1899183

I offset the 3pt as far as I can and it does a good job on the ditches.

The only downside is, dragging the spoils back up onto the road requires regrading the surface. The mud & grass can make quite a mess.

My old Kubota L3430 had no trouble pulling the rake, but I don't know how well it would work on a smaller tractor.

I'm in the same boat as you - Everything Attachments "Extreme Duty" 5' offset adjustable landscape rake off the back of a BX2360 working clay soils.

It does the job just fine... actually can dig deeper than I would have expected given the size of the tractor pulling it, and depending on the geometry of the ditch being created/maintained.

Downsides which apply to everyone to some extent or another - soil condition, especially dry clay can really hamper the ability to move material. There are times I've had to break out a subsoiler to loosen things up prior to using the landscape rake for ditching/contouring.

The bigger issue is of safety and being aware enough and moving slow enough that if the rake/blade catches a well embedded rock to stop before something breaks or the tractor starts pivoting around the rock.

One of these years after the kids are grown I'll be able to afford a set of gauge wheels. I'd imagine those are the bees knees for crowning.

 

[sandman2234]

Rear blades are rare and expensive in the south where you don't have everyone pushing snow. I have a dirt road that runs alongside my rental property and as the road gets rougher, people tend to drive up on the side of the shoulder where it is smoother. The ditch just fills with sand because of the same reason.
I have considered taking a 30" rear pond scoop (dirt scoop) and either modifying the bucket or building a new one. Basically the new one would have the back side of the bucket opened up on one side so it would channel the dirt back onto the roadway so I didn't have to pick it up and dump it on the road. Once the modified pond scoop was pulled thru the ditch, I could come back with my rear landplane or box blade and level the dirt across the many potholes in the road.
This poor ole roadway has been neglected for many, many years with only a couple of the residents ever doing anything, and most of those are simply way too little, way too late.
David from jax