Ford tractor
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- Apr 7, 2010
- Messages
- 973
new guy here, I would say that a box blade alone is NOT the way to go. Having made, repaired and upgraded many a logging road, there are better ways for a single person with a small tractor to go about the task. You say the road is "long", but how many feet is that? 100? 500? 2000? 10,000?
Step 1, use a 2 bottom plow starting on an outside edge and working towards the middle, tossing the dirt to the outside. 3 trips in each direction should do it. That will peel up the dirt and make it easy to move. When done plowing, you will have the width of 4 bottoms in the middle already stripped down 5-6 inches. You can't get the dirt up faster short of a bull dozer, and you always wanted a plow for those food plots, right?
Step 2, use a back blade angled about 30 degrees front to back and starting from the middle push the dirt to the outside. At this stage DON'T angle the blade so the middle of the road is higher than the edges. Make it FLAT. You will probably need to weight the back blade to keep it in close contact with the ground. Adjust the top link to get the blade to pull smoothly without digging in or skipping. Get all the dirt pushed off the roadway in a continuous hump.
Step 3, put in any water control devices. Ditches for culverts so water can flow under the roadway, contours, etc.
Step 4, lay down your geotex fabric and fill with stone. Compact the stones as you go either with a plate compactor or by driving over each square inch of the driveway 3 times. You will probably need to do this once 1/2 way in the fill and then again after it's all filled.
Step 5, contour the spoils hump with the back blade. Angle it at the same 30 degrees front to back, AND also 12"-15" higher inside edge to outside edge. You WANT to make a ditch lower than grade on the outside of the spoils hump for water control.
Step 6, contour the road bed with a crown. You need to change the angle of the blade around so the spoils move from the outside to the inside. Side to side tilt is only 2" (measure it!). You don't need much, but you do need some. Compact it again. The road bed should drop 2" center to edge of the stones, then drop 6-8" across the spoils hump to grade.
Step 7, seed the spoils hump to stop erosion.
When you maintain the gravel, the box blade will be helpful, but in making the road ... not so helpful.
Ford Tractor
Step 1, use a 2 bottom plow starting on an outside edge and working towards the middle, tossing the dirt to the outside. 3 trips in each direction should do it. That will peel up the dirt and make it easy to move. When done plowing, you will have the width of 4 bottoms in the middle already stripped down 5-6 inches. You can't get the dirt up faster short of a bull dozer, and you always wanted a plow for those food plots, right?
Step 2, use a back blade angled about 30 degrees front to back and starting from the middle push the dirt to the outside. At this stage DON'T angle the blade so the middle of the road is higher than the edges. Make it FLAT. You will probably need to weight the back blade to keep it in close contact with the ground. Adjust the top link to get the blade to pull smoothly without digging in or skipping. Get all the dirt pushed off the roadway in a continuous hump.
Step 3, put in any water control devices. Ditches for culverts so water can flow under the roadway, contours, etc.
Step 4, lay down your geotex fabric and fill with stone. Compact the stones as you go either with a plate compactor or by driving over each square inch of the driveway 3 times. You will probably need to do this once 1/2 way in the fill and then again after it's all filled.
Step 5, contour the spoils hump with the back blade. Angle it at the same 30 degrees front to back, AND also 12"-15" higher inside edge to outside edge. You WANT to make a ditch lower than grade on the outside of the spoils hump for water control.
Step 6, contour the road bed with a crown. You need to change the angle of the blade around so the spoils move from the outside to the inside. Side to side tilt is only 2" (measure it!). You don't need much, but you do need some. Compact it again. The road bed should drop 2" center to edge of the stones, then drop 6-8" across the spoils hump to grade.
Step 7, seed the spoils hump to stop erosion.
When you maintain the gravel, the box blade will be helpful, but in making the road ... not so helpful.
Ford Tractor
