Building raods, driveways and trails with a tractor

[schmism]

Finding a deal like that is about as rare as finding a stock harley from WW2 stored in some ones barn...

i dont konw.... my Ford branded landpride RB3572 cost me $75 off my local craigslist. took me about 6 months to find and i bought it about a month before i took delivery of my tractor because i knew how good a deal it was.

 

[builder2]

Re: Building roads, driveways and trails with a tractor

Could someone familiar with the tasks kind of provide the process for building roads/trails/driveways and what attachments/implements are used.

I realize this is a very broad topic and there may be multiple methodologies.

For example, I would like to create a mile or so of decomposed granite walkways, 800 feet of asphalt road and a three car concrete carport.

I realize I won;t get everything right away, but I figure I need to start my education so I can get started on doing them this spring. It might also be important for me to decide which tractors I should consider buying for this use.

thanks

Buy a bulldozer

 

[AustinTX]

Well builder and Mark, you ahve me really thinking now.. If I subbed out the driveways, paths and carport, I'd probably go ahead and have them dig the lines for irrigation and pop in my new trees. All of a sudden, I only need the tractor for mowing and light landscaping. I probably would no longer need to spend $32K+ for something that would do that really well...

 

[MtnViewRanch]

A loader, box blade, and either a good angle/tilt/offset rear blade or hydraulic six way blade on the front should do everything you describe. For dirt work I would caution against getting equipment than is wider than needed for the job. On a 35-45hp tractor a good heavy 6' rear blade (600-700lb+) is great for dirt work provided it still covers your tracks. I would stay away from 7' to 8' blades on a tractor that size, we have an 8' blade on a 65hp JD and its all it wants when you really start peeling off a full blade width with it. A six-way front dozer blade is really the ultimate for grading, but they aren't cheap and unless you are doing a lot of work it probably wouldn't pay to get one.

For a box blade and loader bucket I like one that just covers your tracks. The narrower and heavier the implement the better it will dig/cut/push soil. It may not move as many cubic feet of soil per trip, but you will get the most out of your available power.

Most tractors that are in the 35-45hp range would use 6' wide implements. Normally when you get a rear blade, you get it wide enough so that when you have it at a 45 degree angle, it still covers your tracks. For the tractors that he is looking at, that will take either a 7 or 8 foot blade.

By chance can you show us a 6' wide rear blade that weighs 600-700lbs?

 

[MarkV]

Well builder and Mark, you ahve me really thinking now.. If I subbed out the driveways, paths and carport, I'd probably go ahead and have them dig the lines for irrigation and pop in my new trees. All of a sudden, I only need the tractor for mowing and light landscaping. I probably would no longer need to spend $32K+ for something that would do that really well...

Easy now Tx, it would be bordering on sacrilegious for us to talk you out of a tractor. You didn't say how much property you will be keeping up. If you have room for a mile of trail, I have about the same, you have enough land that you will be doing more than mowing. It is part of owning land. How about trail maintenance, rough cut mowing, finish grading, landscaping and general 'big boy toy' needs?

My point was, some one time jobs are best left to larger equipment so you can buy the size tractor that will meet your long term needs.

Keep us posted as you work out your plans.

MarkV

 

[MtnViewRanch]

i dont konw.... my Ford branded landpride RB3572 cost me $75 off my local craigslist. took me about 6 months to find and i bought it about a month before i took delivery of my tractor because i knew how good a deal it was.

While your Ford blade is probably a deal at $75, is is no where as capable as the Land Pride RBT4084 blade that has been shown.

As far as creating a road from scratch with a utility tractor like most of us have, I prefer to use my rear blade to cut it in and then use my box blade to move larger amounts of dirt where needed. But then that is just what works good for me in my circumstances. I'm sure that others do it differently.

 

[schmism]

While your Ford blade is probably a deal at $75, is is no where as capable as the Land Pride RBT4084 blade that has been shown.

perhaps not, but then again, it would be no more capable than mine is on the back of my 33hp tractor.

youd need twice that in order to really work that monster of a rear blade... and at that point your right, you can do everything you would need to do with that rear blade that others with little 30-35hp tractors have to do with a boxblade and rear blade combo.... but thats why HP is everything when it comes to ground engaging work....

 

[MtnViewRanch]

perhaps not, but then again, it would be no more capable as mine is on the back of my 33hp tractor.

youd need twice that in order to really work that monster of a rear blade... and at that point your right, you can do everything you would need to do with that rear blade that others with little 30-35hp tractors have to do with a boxblade and rear blade combo.... but thats why HP is everything when it comes to ground engaging work....

Actually that RBT4084 weighs in at just under 800lbs, and that blade is curved and supported a little better than yours. I am sure that behind your tractor it would work far better than your current Ford blade. Yes your tractor may not be able to get the full potential out of the blade, but it would work better than the one that you have. But then, for the $$$$, I would expect it to.

 

[dcyrilc]

Actually that RBT4084 weighs in at just under 800lbs, and that blade is curved and supported a little better than yours. I am sure that behind your tractor it would work far better than your current Ford blade. Yes your tractor may not be able to get the full potential out of the blade, but it would work better than the one that you have. But then, for the $$$$, I would expect it to.

It all depends on a persons time and budget. For someone with more money and less time $1K might be a great deal, but if that same money might make the diference on paying their mortgage or not... That $75 blade can look pretty sweet even if they have to take more time to accomplish the same work.

Just my $.02 worth.

 

[miramadar]

Bring in a dozer/excavation company. The project is beyond a 35-45 hp tractor, with backhoe, unless you have 100's of hours available. Do able, ya, practical, not for me.

There will be an enormous amount of finish grading after the heavy equipment. Then a small tractor really shines.

MarkV

Bring in someone else and pay them to have all the fun?!?! That's just not right. Doing your own thing on your own land is one of the things that makes this country great! Of course, it will take time to accomplish all this. But get there is the fun part.

If it were me and I had time to complete these projects, I'd buy that tractor and have a helluva good time working the dog out of it.

Just my 2 centavos...