Best implement for grading?

[MtnViewRanch]

I've got a big woods rear blade for the m59.
.

I'm surprised, that should make for a nice grading setup. Do you know how much your rear blade weighs?

 

[PILOON]

Shucks, I run a 20 HP Mitsu with a standard 5ft back blade and do a drive that you'd swear had been hand raked.

My trick is to reverse the blade and grade backwards using my 3pt level control.

I say backwards (yeah, achy neck) as if your wheels are on a flat surface your blade has no choice but to do a 'flat job'.
If you pull fwd, every bump will cause the back blade to dip and dig, but backwards your wheels are always on flat surface as your blade already flattened it.

Then to finish off my drive I speed up driving forewards and DRAG my blade facing backwards, but in a float mode.
That kinda skims the loose gravel around and sure makes for a pretty finish, just like it was hand raked!

Works for me!

 

[Charlesaf3]

I'm surprised, that should make for a nice grading setup. Do you know how much your rear blade weighs?

6-800 pounds at a guess. I'm worried about gouging though - hadn't thought of spinning the blade

 

[bill333]

I'm relatively new to tractors but my Kubota 3540 is similar in size to what you are looking at. I have a Landprice blade with 3 hydraulics that is really great for grading. (I also have the bolt on sides that make it into a poor man's box). The 3 hydraulics allow for tilt, pivot,and offset of the blade. Of course you need to be able to get 3 sets of haudralics to the rear, but this is the best part of the investment I made on the tractor. (You'll really appreciate it plowing snow in the winter, not having to get off and manually pivot the blade!)

I have a steep, twisty, 1/2 mile long gravel drive. With this set up I can do a 'clean up' grading in less than 1/2 hour ,and a really good re-do (like after a big storm) in about 90 minutes.

For a clean up/tidy up, follow Piloon's excellent suggestions above (reverse the blade, drive backward). If you have a heavy blade like the landpride it will smooth things up.

If you are doing a regrade, do half the drive (i.e. left side) at one time. I set the blade forward, offset it by about a foot, and drive forward, with the tilt set to match the crown. This will dig up some of your gravel, which will allow any ruts to fill in. Then do the same for the other side of the drive. If you angle the blade to the center of the drive, your loose gravel will not run off the sides.

Then finish up by doing the clean up approach above , plowing backward.


Tip -- it really helps to do either type of grading just after it rains.

Tip 2: to test if you have it really smooth, lift your blade and just run your tractor a bit fast over your drive with your FEL attached and set in the low/safe position. The tractor will bounce lightly on any unsmooth spots which need more grading.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

6-800 pounds at a guess. I'm worried about gouging though - hadn't thought of spinning the blade

One of the advantages of having skid shoes on the blade. I can adjust mine up or down, up to 2" so that there is no serious gouging. Using the blade in reverse makes for a very smooth finish. Either running the tractor in reverse, (This makes for a very good surface) or turning the blade around backwards and driving forwards. Both ways make for a very good finished surface.

 

[Steve C]

Shucks, I run a 20 HP Mitsu with a standard 5ft back blade and do a drive that you'd swear had been hand raked.

My trick is to reverse the blade and grade backwards using my 3pt level control.

I say backwards (yeah, achy neck) as if your wheels are on a flat surface your blade has no choice but to do a 'flat job'.
If you pull fwd, every bump will cause the back blade to dip and dig, but backwards your wheels are always on flat surface as your blade already flattened it.

Then to finish off my drive I speed up driving forewards and DRAG my blade facing backwards, but in a float mode.
That kinda skims the loose gravel around and sure makes for a pretty finish, just like it was hand raked!

Works for me!

Thanks for the tip! My little tractor has a short wheelbase and is prone to make thing worse rather than better when going forward with the rear blade. Your method makes good sense, I will give it a try the next time I need to smooth things out.
Steve C.

 

[DennisArrow]

Have used the FEL, box scraper/blade, and rear blade to construct and maintain my 1/2 mile of gravel, crowned, steep and winding road. Each has it's own particular use or function. I.E. the rear blade for ditching, the box for spreading, the FEL for moving or smoothing by going in reverse with it flat.

For maintenance what works best for me is 2 simple tools. An 8' section of 10" I beam towed at an angle to produce a crown in the middle of the road really works well for filling in small holes and leveling out washboard. I keep it flat on the road and pull it with chains that are adjusted to maintain about a 30 degree angle as I go down the road.

For easy smoothing, is a weighted piece of chain link fencing and using it to drag the surface a couple of times...............Works for me..........Dennis

 

[bill333]

Another thing that might impact your approach is what kind of gravel you have and what shape your drive is in. If you have a good layer of nice 21A stone (the one with the dirt mixed in, which gives it that hard packed look) on top of larger stone, you can get by with much less, because the 21A loosens up easily (especially when wet) and it is relatively easy to shape it and fill in ruts with a simple running of the rear blade or even the FEL edge.

If however you only have a very thin layer of 21A, or just 21, or a larger stone, it gets harder to get a smooth surface because the larger stones tend to come to the top. In this situation you need tougher implements and may need to do more 'digging in.'

Having dealt with many driveways (and I"m sure this is somewhat location dependent) to me the best looking, easiest to maintain drive is one with a healthy layer of 21A. It is however very expensive.