mykleh
Silver Member
has it rained since you did this? you may just have everything so loose from the scarifiers it needs to get compacted down then it will smooth out..
Box Blade Gravel What Am I Doing Wrong???
- Thread starter donconnery
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IchabodCrayne
Bronze Member
It sounds like you are over adjusting your BB for each step. Ease up on your angles a bit and things will smooth out.
I put a box blade on my 23S last week and tore up/leveled an old access through the back yard. This was my first time using a box blade but followed the very good instructions in this youtube video.. how to set up a box blade, the angle of the dangle! - YouTube
This is all about setup, angles etc. There's a second vid on using it as well.
Using what I learned here I achieved very good results my first time using a box blade.
Good luck.
I put a box blade on my 23S last week and tore up/leveled an old access through the back yard. This was my first time using a box blade but followed the very good instructions in this youtube video.. how to set up a box blade, the angle of the dangle! - YouTube
This is all about setup, angles etc. There's a second vid on using it as well.
Using what I learned here I achieved very good results my first time using a box blade.
Good luck.
Dave M7040
Elite Member
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2012
- Messages
- 2,757
- Location
- Williamstown Ontario Canada
- Tractor
- Kubota M7040 Nuffield 465
A drag harrow, essentially a cheap piece of chain link fence, does a great job leveling and smoothing with top soil or gravel. It pulls easily with a riding mower.
My tractors are large and getting a fine finish with the FEL or anything else is very time consuming. The harrow does it very quickly and neatly.
Dave M7040
My tractors are large and getting a fine finish with the FEL or anything else is very time consuming. The harrow does it very quickly and neatly.
Dave M7040
crazyal
Super Member
So before I got my grading scraper I was borrowing a box blade to do my driveway. This is what I found out. First everybody's driveway is different. So in the end you have to find out what work best for you. That being said here's what worked for me. First my driveway wasn't in great shape before I started maintaining it so I was using the rippers a lot. When I did it would leave lots of loose gravel. The skids on the sides of the BB would sink in and no matter what I did the blade would always be digging too much when I was trying to the finishing grading. Adjusting the top link helped but only so much. I would adjust the BB so it would just lightly touch the gravel but this was a pain as you are always adjusting the 3pt. Finally I made some new wear bars for the skids out of 3/4" x 2" steel that I could add onto the original wear bars. When I was ready to do the final passes I would mount them on. By raising the BB that extra amount it was much easier to do the final pass.
As I said it's a learning experience. I have two sections of road that get sun baked and are a combination of clay, hard pan, and rock. Once summer hits nothing would touch it, well almost nothing. I found that if I wait until it's hard and then take the backhoe to it I can break it up very easily (not that you're likely to have access to a full size backhoe). Before this I was always trying to time it, do it too early and the ground was too soft and I would get ruts, wait too long and the rippers would just bounce on top of it. My point is keep at it, try each suggestion, and you should hit on what's works best. Also don't get set in what you think is best. With time and experience you'll find even better ways that work.
As I said it's a learning experience. I have two sections of road that get sun baked and are a combination of clay, hard pan, and rock. Once summer hits nothing would touch it, well almost nothing. I found that if I wait until it's hard and then take the backhoe to it I can break it up very easily (not that you're likely to have access to a full size backhoe). Before this I was always trying to time it, do it too early and the ground was too soft and I would get ruts, wait too long and the rippers would just bounce on top of it. My point is keep at it, try each suggestion, and you should hit on what's works best. Also don't get set in what you think is best. With time and experience you'll find even better ways that work.
Kioti Rider
New member
I know this is an older post, but I am intrigued by the end plates on the rake. My landscape rake is quickly becoming one of my favorite attachments and I did add wheels, which helped when going forward anyway (can not back up without raising rake because they do not have enough room to spin around and they dig small trenches).
I really like the ideas of end plates but wanted to know what others think particularly /pine? Even when I get my angle right, I lose some gravel on the unintended side. Not much but it seems like with these end plates you could keep it straight on roll on without losing anything.
Seems like you would also get a nice clean line/edge of gravel.
Thanks.
/pine
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2009
- Messages
- 12,450
I love my rake and for an established gravel lane it is far and away the best attachment for grooming and recovering migrated gravel...some may say that a plane is best but a rake is capable of doing the same thing (with a few more passes) and most rakes can be angled which is not an option with a land plane etc...
The only negative of a rake is...it will tend to separate loose gravel from the fines...
The main reason I added the end plates is the windrows of escaping gravel (requiring more passes) which they stopped...along with hydraulic T&T they also perform the same basic function of gauge (training) wheels...!
When I first added the end plates (making a virtual "box rake") I thought I would be taking them on and off depending on what I was doing...but I have not removed them ever...and love my rake even more...!
Good Luck...
The only negative of a rake is...it will tend to separate loose gravel from the fines...
The main reason I added the end plates is the windrows of escaping gravel (requiring more passes) which they stopped...along with hydraulic T&T they also perform the same basic function of gauge (training) wheels...!
When I first added the end plates (making a virtual "box rake") I thought I would be taking them on and off depending on what I was doing...but I have not removed them ever...and love my rake even more...!
Good Luck...
Kioti Rider
New member
Thanks for the feedback, I was wondering if still working good for you and sounds like that was a big yes.
Agree, landscape rake is awesome for grooming gravel drive (and pulling out kudzu and briars, moving limbs and several other tasks too). I make it work very well with the gravel, but the plates just seemed like they would make it almost perfect, going to get some made next week. I will snap a pic and post when complete.
Agree, landscape rake is awesome for grooming gravel drive (and pulling out kudzu and briars, moving limbs and several other tasks too). I make it work very well with the gravel, but the plates just seemed like they would make it almost perfect, going to get some made next week. I will snap a pic and post when complete.
Kioti Rider
New member
Finally got this done and got to use it, worked well for me. I even ran the rake at an angle a couple of passes and used the end plates to scarify some short/shallow ruts, probably too much side pressure on them to do that often, but only had my rake with me on this last trip. I can see where windrowing might be beneficial sometimes, but majority of time not what I want. The plates left a nice edge of material where I wanted it.
Can’t seem to attach a pic, but the picture is pretty basic anyway. I just had some rectangular (angled off the leading corners) plate welded to a 4 in long piece of 3 inch angle and oriented such that the angle lays on top on the angle for the rake (that holds the tines). I drilled two holes in the new angle in line with the 2 existing outer most bolt holes that secure the tines. Took out the bolts and ran them thru the end plate angle and back through the tines.
I made the plates such that the tines run about 2 inches below the plate. As /pine said for his, they do also function kind of like the gauge wheels as well. I’m wondering if I should’ve made them about an inch or so shorter, but leaving as is for now, will be relatively easy (but not easily reversible) to cut an inch or so off bottom of plates.
Thanks for the idea and pics.
Can’t seem to attach a pic, but the picture is pretty basic anyway. I just had some rectangular (angled off the leading corners) plate welded to a 4 in long piece of 3 inch angle and oriented such that the angle lays on top on the angle for the rake (that holds the tines). I drilled two holes in the new angle in line with the 2 existing outer most bolt holes that secure the tines. Took out the bolts and ran them thru the end plate angle and back through the tines.
I made the plates such that the tines run about 2 inches below the plate. As /pine said for his, they do also function kind of like the gauge wheels as well. I’m wondering if I should’ve made them about an inch or so shorter, but leaving as is for now, will be relatively easy (but not easily reversible) to cut an inch or so off bottom of plates.
Thanks for the idea and pics.
