Crowning 3 miles of access road

sherpa · Jan 5, 2005

You are going to have to move some smaller material over the basketball size rocks and the box blade is the only way to do this other than a loader. I enjoy using a box blade shaping a road and then coming back and doing the final touch up with the scrape blade. When you get the scrape blade get a 6 foot blade that tilts, swings and reverses. Its often called an off set blade. You can do wonders with it. I own a nice Bush Hog brand scrape blade and love it. It will move some earth, and then finish it off nicely. I think the model number on my bushhog scrape blade is 60-06.

Also in the mountains here I have repaired some roads and did not put a crown in the middle at some places, I just sloped the road to one side to keep all the water away from the road. That works great and the road will stay good for a long time. This is especially good for driveways.
Sherpa

sherpa · Jan 5, 2005

The off set blade I was talking about can swing to one side 2 to 3 feet past your tractor tires. And it can stand up at about a 45 degree angle.
Sherpa

kensfarm · Jan 5, 2005

I just saw in the Compact Equipment Magazine.. an ad for a Belly Blade for compact tractors.. all hydrolic controls.. if you have to continously maintain 3 miles of road.. this would be a great tool.

djradz · Jan 5, 2005

I'm with Bob in that I think a 7' blade is your best bet. I'd recommend a heavy unit though, not one of these that you can pick up for a few hundred, but something more like $600 or more. I don't think you need TnT. However, if you have a lot of "pulling from the side" to do, you might want to consider a blade that has the ability to "offset" by means of a swivel point at the tractor end. This will allow you to swing the blade out several feet beyond the wheels of the tractor. I don't think you need one that has it's own tilt capability as I think you can do all what you need with the tractor's tilt.

You may also want to consider getting some crushed stone for your road's surface, at least for those points that seem to be especially susceptable to washing out. Stone's not cheap, but in some spots, no matter how much of a crown you make, it just may not hold up. You might try a few truck loads, in your worst spots and see what you think, before doing more. Make sure to get the road and the crown set first, before you spread the stone on top. Good luck and shoot us some pictures if you're so inclined.

MarkV · Jan 5, 2005

Great advice has been given and the variations of advice show how each situation is somewhat unique when it comes to gravel roads. My routine on our mountain road has been to use a rear blade to keep the ditches clean and reclaim the gravel that wants to head to the edges. Several passes with the blade windrows the material towards the middle to help build the crown. I never find this to be an even distribution of material and prefer to use the box blade for final dressing of the road. That allows me to move material where needed and adjust the box for final smoothing.

You mentioned that with the box blade you have been digging deeper and deeper to crown the road. You don’t necessary want to disturb that compacted base material that holds the road together. Have you considered bringing in some crushed stone and having a narrow strip dropped down the center? With a little blade work you have your crown and some new material to work into the problem areas.

I think a 6’ blade that swings and tilts would be plenty for your tractor. There is nothing wrong with a 7’ blade but that extra foot adds a lot of leverage that can stress the 3pt parts if you catch something that will not move. It may also make it hard to use the tilt feature if your 3pt doesn’t have enough lift. My 6’ blade on a B21 will barely clear the ground if tilted to clean ditches nor would I be able to spin it around for using the bade reversed without hitting the tires. With the swing feature on a blade you can get it plenty far out from the tractor to do what you need on a 10’ drive in my opinion.

MarkV

djradz · Jan 5, 2005

Good point Mark about being able to swing the blade around. Often, he may want to do some less aggressive work and that can make it real easy, and impossible as you've noted, if the blade hits the wheels.
Good point too about disturbing the base too much. He'll never get ahead if he's always having to really rip it up. Also, if there's enough loose material, I like a landscape rake for final grading. If equipped with gage wheels, (when there's a lot of loose material) and without if only light grading, I just don't think anything can touch the fine finish one will put on a drive or road.

avorancher · Jan 7, 2005

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Good luck and shoot us some pictures if you're so inclined. )</font>

You can see from this picture what is happening. During rains, the slopes gradually deposit dirt at the bottom which pushes the water towards the center of the road. This particular road is graded toward the inside slope. The dirt builds up more than I can tilt my box blade as my tires ride up on it. The same thing happens when I try to use the FEL. The problem is that I don't have an implement wider than the tires.

I took all the great advice everyone expressed and pretty much convinced myself that I need a heavy 6' blade that offsets so I can get it out past the tires and bring the dirt back to the center where I can deal with it.

Local dealer suggested a Gearmore GB60. Gearmore PDF and priced it at $885 plus tax (ouch). What do you think... should this do the trick?

sherpa · Jan 7, 2005

That blades looks like it might do the trick, it weights 360 pounds which is good and up to 50hp tractor. Does that blade pivot at that center pin so it will stand up at 45 degree angle? I guess it does, it says it does anyhow. I would look for a good used blade myself and if I didnt find one I would get the new one. I love my Bushhog model 60-06, I bought it used for $450 and love it! Wonder if it has greese fittings for the pins? If not just keep oil poured on the pins and slides so it will spin easy when you adjust it.
Sherpa

sherpa · Jan 7, 2005

Here is one on ebay half what you are looking at. web page

Bob_Skurka · Jan 7, 2005

Sherpa, I own the 5' version of that blade that you have shown in that Ebay link.

Midwest blades are great. Mine is also the medium duty version. What I like about them is that all the adjustments can be made without tools. The Tilt, Offset and Angle are all adjusted by using heavy duty pins. So changing the settings while "out in the field" don't require tools.