Building a road on contour with box blade

[jbrumberg]

I first use the overstimulation by "factoids" sensory overload presentation approach, but usually I have to resort to the most unmanly- whining, groveling, and kowtowing method in order to convince "She Who Must Be Obeyed/Comptroller" of the "need" for a given attachment. From my signature you can imagine how raw my forehead, elbows, and knees are . You got to do what you got to do to get those attachments Jay

PS: Good start on the road and acquisition projects !

 

[Egon]

Looks very good.

With gauge wheels you would get whatever angle you wanted with that back blade.

 

[kvmapr]

Spiveyman, getting her agreement was pretty unexpected, but having her there to see the sausage being made played a big part in her decision process. If I had just come back to the house with a story about how slow going it was, she would've said something like "guess you'll have to spend less time on the internet, huh?". Instead she said "guess you'll need to pack a few more lunches for work if you're gonna afford that new tractor toy, huh?". So it wasn't a slam dunk, but I can trade 6 weeks of PBJ lunches for a new box blade.

Egon, I'll admit my interest in gauge wheels is piqued. But I don't know anything about them. Where can I find them, and see how they've been applied? I'll have to think about how to use them to improve the blade's performance.

kvmapr

 

[Egon]

I'd post a picture of mine but they leave a little to be desired in the looks department.

Henro posted some pictures of a very nice set of gauge wheels he built. You may be able to find his posts.

The gauge wheels can be set to have one side of the blade lower than the other allowing you to windrow material out and also lay it down. In the picture you showed a gauge wheel set up on the right side of the blade would have allowed you to make a level grade. Top and tilt added to the back blade would help even more.

The advantage of windrowing material back and forth is that material gets carried into low spots where it will fall out while high spots are cut down. This creates a nice even continuous grade that is smooth.

Granular material is not segregated so it will pack well. You also can pack each lift into the lower soil as the blade lays it down so you do not have packed layers but a homogeneous layer of packed material.

Just look at a road grader working on a road construction site and all will become clear.

 

[kvmapr]

I did a quick search on gauge wheels here on TBN and there's a LOT of great posts and photos out there. I definitely like the setup that SkunkWerx put together. I'll have to spend some time looking at my blade and talking to my buddy with the welder about what we can put together.

 

[Spiveyman]

Spiveyman, getting her agreement was pretty unexpected, but having her there to see the sausage being made played a big part in her decision process. If I had just come back to the house with a story about how slow going it was, she would've said something like "guess you'll have to spend less time on the internet, huh?". Instead she said "guess you'll need to pack a few more lunches for work if you're gonna afford that new tractor toy, huh?". So it wasn't a slam dunk, but I can trade 6 weeks of PBJ lunches for a new box blade.

Reminds me of a great quote,
"If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made." Ronald Reagan

I too have to walk a very fine line not to get the "too much time on that tractor site" comment. Anytime I'm not around, it's because I crossed that line. And I hear you on the PBJ, except I'm hard core man. I eat a plain PB sandwich pretty much every day for lunch, I don't even splurge for jelly. I keep a jar and a loaf in my desk. Saves time and money, and that adds up.

Good luck with those gauge wheels!