"Bionic blade" - worth the extra cost?

[mikehaugen]

Who would have thought that this question would have become a "touchy subject?"

 

[Yellowhair42]

Who would have thought that this question would have become a "touchy subject?"

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Well, I guess the ruckus is my fault for using an absolute. I should know better, actually do know better, there is almost always an exception to everything. But as usual, due to poor communication, thoughts get misunderstood and we get what we got.

 

[pwright]

There is nothing, and I do mean Nothing that works as well as a Land Plane Grading Scraper to maintain a natural surface material road-drive.

Not trying to make matters worse but that did seem a bit overly absolute.

I've been meaning to take some pictures of the road in/out of my property to get some input from the brain trust here about maintenance but I keep forgetting to do that.

I do have a video clip of part of the road on YouTube:

You don't get much more "natural surface" than this. Of particular interest on the subject of road maintenance is 1:00 to 1:30.

I just have my little CT225 with a box blade but have considered picking up a LPGS as it does seem like it would help in some areas. The land in general is mostly rock with small amounts of dirt in between. It's either hard like cement or powder or, when wet, really sticky. Unless the rippers are down the box blade mostly just bounces along across the embedded rocks.

Anyway thoughts or suggestions are welcome.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Phil, do you want to reshape, or just smooth out? Smooth out, LPGS hands down. Reshape, a good heavy rear blade. When it comes to grading, weight is king. Of course there are limits, usually restricted to the capabilities of the tractor being used. I have a 3215 Mahindra, I use 800lb implements behind it all the time. They work quite well IMO. I would not hesitate to tackle your road, although I would prefer to use my 7520 with 1000+lb implements.

 

[pwright]

Brian, mostly just keep it reasonably smooth. In some areas I need to do some shaping to help control how the runoff flows during the rainy season as it tends to get erosion ruts on the hilly parts.

 

[k0ua]

alpha, while I personally do not own one, everyone that has bought one in the last couple of years and posted back here has seemed to be very impressed with it. Also several people have posted their diagrams and photos of ones they have made also seem to be very impressed with them. I know of one person that went into business fixing peoples driveways with the one that he purchased.

 

[/pine]

I'll start this post by honestly saying I have the utmost respect for Brian (as well as so many other contributors here)...and this tete-a-tete (or "dust up" as some seem to see it) has not changed things one iota...! it was never my intent to be confrontational...just my observations and experience...

...Believe me...with so many positive opinions on how well land planes work for so many here...if I thought by any chance that one would work for me I would already have one...

While I'm on the topic of things that seem to work well for others...are gauge wheels on a rake of any benefit when you have a hydraulic side link

back to land planes... FWIW...just out of curiosity I searched CL (all the locales closest to me) and could find none either wanted or for sale... using "search tempest" (searches all of CL) within 250 miles it turned up zero results (except on e-bay)...using my zip they were not listed on the TSC site...

@ Brian,

I am terrible at remembering to take "before" pictures...and right now with so many leaves on the ground it is nearly impossible to take pictures that would help you understand the local "natural" strata...but I did find a few pics that may give you an idea of what I deal with...

Most of the lane work I do is on private drives and not so much heavy traffic roads...most are single track...this is mountainous country with steep grades and controlling storm water run-off is the major issue...

The pictures below hopefully will give you an idea of what I deal with...I almost always use "crusher run" as a topping...usually 3"-4" is all that is required...much of the time the top of the imbedded rocks consume the depth of the topping...trying to remove them all would increase the man hours exponentially...once the topping is applied a rake is about the only implement that will not hang up on the the under lying rocks...lots of these rocks are bowling ball size...some much (much) bigger... some of the rocks pictured were extracted and moved to the side...

 

[MtnViewRanch]

So, Slash Pine what implement do you use on what you have there?

As another side note, no LPGS for sale on Craig's list here either. Probably because the people that have them, use them and have no reason to sell them.

 

[/pine]

So, Slash Pine what implement do you use on what you have there?

As another side note, no LPGS for sale on Craig's list here either. Probably because the people that have them, use them and have no reason to sell them.

I only have a 17 HP tractor, that said... For the basic grading (before topping) I mostly use an old,heavy (for my tractor)...about 450#'s M.F. 6' rear blade (I have replaced the crank type cut pitch adjustment with a hydraulic cylinder)... I mostly "pitch and ditch" the lanes rather than crowning (it's heck trying to push water back up a mountain i.e., to a high side culvert etc.)...when I have to remove large boulders that leave big holes I use a 250# BB to scarify the area and fill it with spoil...when starting...after the initial passes I spend a lot of time getting on and off the tractor removing the semi-smaller rocks that the blade turns up...

Once the crusher run topping is applied if I try to use anything but a rake I just get hung up on the tops of the under lying larger rocks which creates havoc and a lot more work...

I don't do this as a full time job otherwise I would have bigger, heavier equipment i.e., a small dozer etc...but I have fun doing what I can do with what I have...

FWIW...after the initial grading is done is is amazing how well just 3"-4" of crusher run holds up...and it is very easy to maintain (collecting and re-distributing) the topping with a rake...

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I only have a 17 HP tractor, that said... For the basic grading (before topping) I mostly use an old,heavy (for my tractor)...about 450#'s M.F. 6' rear blade (I have replaced the crank type cut pitch adjustment with a hydraulic cylinder)... I mostly "pitch and ditch" the lanes rather than crowning (it's heck trying to push water back up a mountain i.e., to a high side culvert etc.)...when I have to remove large boulders that leave big holes I use a 250# BB to scarify the area and fill it with spoil...when starting...after the initial passes I spend a lot of time getting on and off the tractor removing the semi-smaller rocks that the blade turns up...

Once the crusher run topping is applied if I try to use anything but a rake I just get hung up on the tops of the under lying larger rocks which creates havoc and a lot more work...

I don't do this as a full time job otherwise I would have bigger, heavier equipment i.e., a small dozer etc...but I have fun doing what I can do with what I have...

FWIW...after the initial grading is done is is amazing how well just 3"-4" of crusher run holds up...and it is very easy to maintain (collecting and re-distributing) the topping with a rake...

Well, it sounds like you have it under control with the equipment that you have.

 

[/pine]

Well, it sounds like you have it under control with the equipment that you have.

So tell me...after what I have related...do you (still) think a plane would be worth it's while?...and or do you see why I have refrained from building or purchasing one?

 

[MtnViewRanch]

So tell me...after what I have related...do you (still) think a plane would be worth it's while?...and or do you see why I have refrained from building or purchasing one?

If those roads get crusher run on top of them at 4" deep, I would use a LPGS. If they are how the pictures seem to show, (to me any how) then probably a landscape rake.

But then I don't think that I have the patience to even try to tackle those with the size of equipment that you have.

 

[RDrancher]

I've got a little over 1/2 a mile of gravel road of my own, plus about another 3/4 mile of "Private Road" shared with three neighbors to maintain at my new place. I've been using a box-blade to break and a landscape rake to spread and crown, (it also tends to bring bigger rocks out, instead of just spreading "dust or mud" on the top like a straight blade does) but as you can imagine, it's getting a little time-consuming. I've thought about buying what I always called a "bionic blade" to maintain the roads, but I've only seen them, never used one. If you look a the dealer literature and videos, it's like magic, "one pass in each direction" (yeah, right), but even if it's 5 or 6 passes in each direction, it'll beat 5 or 6 passes with EACH attachment that I've been doing to get it "just right." The roads are old oilfield roads, they didn't worry much, they just dumped gravel on the ground and shaped it, and then when it "sunk" the added more gravel, but they had a bigger budget than we do. So, my question is, do those of you who use these things find they reduce the workload enough to justify the cost, when I already have more implements than I can afford to build a shed over?

You probably have either caliche or limestone road base. I think that you'd be amazed how well a landplane works. For hardpack roads, make sure to get one with rippers to break up high spots (the extra weight doesn't hurt either.) You'll also want blades that adjust for depth. I set my front blade 3/8-1/2" below the skids and the back blade flush. I think the "Bionic Blade" you're referring to is the original name for the Road Boss grading blade, made right here in Texas.

 

[/pine]

If those roads get crusher run on top of them at 4" deep, I would use a LPGS...

Brian, not sure how familiar you are with south eastern crushed granite?...but the crusher run product once spread with a truck only requires a single pass...with the blade reversed and feathered at about 120*...it levels and pancakes right out...after the first rainfall it is hard to tell from paved concrete... all the work is on the underlying base...any attempt to touch it with any type of cutting edge only messes it up...and really causes havoc if said cutting edge hits the top of an embedded rock that is just barely covered with the topping...

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Brian, not sure how familiar you are with south eastern crushed granite?...but the crusher run product once spread with a truck only requires a single pass...with the blade reversed and feathered at about 120*...it levels and pancakes right out...after the first rainfall it is hard to tell from paved concrete... all the work is on the underlying base...any attempt to touch it with any type of cutting edge only messes it up...and really causes havoc if said cutting edge hits the top of an embedded rock that is just barely covered with the topping...

Not sure, but sounds similar to our decomposed granite. Once it is down and packed, you are really pretty much done with the road. One of the reasons that our main (shared) road is such a good road and most of it requires VERY little maintenance. :thumbsup:

 

[Alpha Dog]

Just as a follow-up, I went and bought one (ordered a dual-edge grader/road maintainer, when it came down to a name) from Armstrong Ag. I got a 6 foot version, and I wish I'd bought it a long time ago. Worked "okay" behind the L275 2WD, but bogged down in a couple of real "soft spots" but when I got enough energy up to take the backhoe off the L2800 Xtra Power 4WD, wow. Took one pass down the center to pull out the crown and move it a little to the sides, then one pass down each side to pull the shoulders in and spread the leftover from the crown, and it looks like I spread new gravel over the entire road. If the freezing rain stuff lets up for a couple of weeks so it can dry out, I think either tractor will do fine pulling it. I can say for sure that it's going to make up for the cost in time-savings, as it was taking four passes with the 5 foot box blade with scarifier teeth extended and then about six passes with the 6 foot landscape rake to get the road smooth. With the L2800, I could pull this thing in 3rd gear high range and do both 1/2 mile stretches of road in less time than it was taking me to do one of them.