34 Acres and 1/4 mile gravel driveway

[4dailyrunner]

A dream come true property was purchased. I now have a 1/4 mile gravel driveway. I suspect I need a tractor and a box blade to maintain it. I might need snow removal too.

In my area I have LS, Kubota, and Mahindra dealerships.

Any suggestions?

 

[ning]

There's been a number of similar threads recently - search function is very useful.
Example, What class of tractor for maintaining two miles of road at higher elevation?

Useful things from you will be

• General elevation
• Steepness of driveway
• Width of driveway
• How was the driveway constructed (is it gravel over scraped ground, or built with graduated base, etc)
• Your tolerance for being in the cold or heat (cab vs no)
• Other potential uses for the tractor or whatever you end up getting
• Budget

 

[4dailyrunner]

There's been a number of similar threads recently - search function is very useful.
Example, What class of tractor for maintaining two miles of road at higher elevation?

Useful things from you will be

• General elevation
• Steepness of driveway
• Width of driveway
• How was the driveway constructed (is it gravel over scraped ground, or built with graduated base, etc)
• Your tolerance for being in the cold or heat (cab vs no)
• Other potential uses for the tractor or whatever you end up getting
• Budget

General Elev: 800 to 1000' above sea level
Steepness: 200' over length
Width: 30'
Constr: pressed (roller) gravel over scraped ground (ground is slate based). culverts in place on incline.
Cold/hot tolerance: Fair tolerance. Would love HVAC. Might want to save money
Uses: bucket & box blade. maybe fire wood (forks or grapple). maybe rotary mower but predominantly forest not fields.
Budget: $40k or less

 

[old and tired]

With the budget, make sure it includes implements you mention... Look up hydraulic Toplink and sidelink. It uses remotes but makes using a box blade or grader blade a pleasure.

For woods, a grapple is a very nice feature but needs hydraulic power, a diverter or a 3rd function works. I combined both in a 3 spool valve which is the cheapest way to get all 3 functions.

Bigger tractors are usually recommended but if you have time (not making money with the tractor) smaller is nice in the woods.

What size trees are you going to deal with? Bigger trees might be a handful for smaller tractors.

 

[dodge man]

That’s a solid budget, it should get what you need. I look at other threads and read all you can on here. Do you want to finish mow with it, how much snow do you get, ever run a tractor before? Just a couple more questions for you.

 

[Torvy]

With that budget and those options for oems, I'd go LS. You won't get much of a Kubota for $40k compared to the other 2.

You may want to look a little further away.

 

[ning]

Width: 30'

30' wide driveway?

 

[EarPlug]

Buy your second tractor the first time. Meaning get the biggest, heaviest tractor this first time. Upgrades get expensive.

 

[Rustyiron]

It sounds like a well built driveway. Drive it at 10 mph and your "maintenence" will be limited or at least prolong the frequency.
Good luck with your new property, you'll enjoy it.
After having a "land plane", I'd never recommend a box blade for driveway maintenance.

 

[oosik]

I have 80 acres and a mile long gravel driveway. First tractor - Ford 1700 4WD. Upgraded in 2009 with Kubota M6040 4WD.

For driveway maintenance I have - HD rear blade, roll over box blade( ROBB) and land plane grading scraper( LPGS).

I use the rear blade for snow removal and cleaning out the driveway ditches. For maintenance of the driveway - land plane grading scraper.

The LPGS has scarifiers which are used on any pothole, wash outs or anywhere I need to dig down to make repairs.

The ROBB sits on a pallet, out in the orchard, collecting dust.

The HD Rhino rear blade tries to be like a highway dept road grader - but it simply IS NOT. The geometry between the tractor and the blade just does not work like a real road grader.

For over 35 years I've tried to grade the driveway with a rear blade. Some times it will do fairly well. Most times it will turn something minor into something worse. That's why, five years ago I got the LPGS.

Just hook up the LPGS - drag it behind the tractor - driveway becomes as smooth as a pool table.