Crowning a stone driveway

[Going4it]

Hello. I've got 600 feet of stone driveway that raises 50 feet in elevation. Construction last fall created more washboarding. I've owned this place for three years and never had to do anything to the driveway before. I don't know how it was built/base, but it's not in bad shape.
I'm considering a Land Pride land plane to rework the surface. I have a LX2610 (24 hp) so a 5 footer is needed. I have no experience with a land plane and would like your thoughts on if the 05 series with fixed height blades, or the heavier 15 series with height adjustable blades is the way to go? Both have rippers. I definitely need to keep a good crown on it to prevent washout! The driveway angle varies between 10 and 25 degrees incline and I won't live long enough to develop the skill to get it done with my box blade. I would like this to be my last attachment purchase.
Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Smokeydog]

25* driveway? Pretty steep.

Have 2500’ driveway on a hillside to maintain. Land plane has been a blessing, has quickly paid for itself and has made the road durable with less maintenance. No blade adjustment. Grading up, most of the time, 6’LP can grunt my 60hp tractor in some spots.

 

[Going4it]

25* driveway? Pretty steep.

Have 2500’ driveway on a hillside to maintain. Land plane has been a blessing, has quickly paid for itself and has made the road durable with less maintenance. No blade adjustment. Grading up, most of the time, 6’LP can grunt my 60hp tractor in some spots.

Yes, that 25* is the steepest part. It's our almost daily walk/workout. I'm concerned about having the heavier 15 series land plane and grading up hill, keeping the flow towards the center by adjusting the 3 point lower on the right side. I imagine the adjustment blades can be bypassed by utilizing the rakers. Thanks for the help.

 

[leonz]

Does any of this driveway have a drainage ditch?

Do you know whether they dug a wide trench to build the
driveway and dumped stone in the wide trench?

You would be better off renting a small ride vibratory
roller to pack it down until you have it fixed with drainage
and black topped.

If they just dumped stone on the ground they did not do it
right to begin with.

 

[Going4it]

Does any of this driveway have a drainage ditch?

Do you know whether they dug a wide trench to build the
driveway and dumped stone in the wide trench?

You would be better off renting a small ride vibratory
roller to pack it down until you have it fixed with drainage
and black topped.

If they just dumped stone on the ground they did not do it
right to begin with.

Leonz, I don't know how it was built. There is a small ditch on both sides, except for a small area that I know I have to rework. There won't be any blacktop going in either. Very sandy soil on river front property with a good base. The concrete and delivery trucks barely created "ruts" as it was dry during construction. The only negative thing is the stone appears to be top dressing, no fines. At least that is what is in the rest of the driveway that isn't used much. I'm hoping to pull up any stone that remains on the main stretch and let it settle back into the dirt/sand base that was fine prior to the construction.

 

[Smokeydog]

Have never needed the scarifiers for driveway maintenance. The EA LP with more angle on the blades makes it perform better.

 

[oosik]

I have a mile long GRAVEL driveway. The gravel size - 3/4". The surface is gravel, sand, silt and volcanic ash. In the summer it is hard as concrete.

I have a Land Pride LPGS - GS2584. It has scarifiers and weighs 800 pounds. The scarifiers are definitely needed to break the surface - so the two blades can do their job.

I do not know what the OP means by "stone". Here I would call railroad ballast - stone. 2 1/2 inch to 4 inch in size. Something that definitely CAN NOT be worked with a LPGS.

Another point - DO NOT expect an LPGS to either create or eliminate a crown on a gravel driveway. This type implement simply will not do this type job. It breaks the surface and lays it back down. Basically in the exact same place. It DOES eliminate surface imperfections - washboard, lumps, bumps, even some minor wash outs.

I improve the crown, eliminate potholes, clear the ditches with my heavy duty Rhino rear blade. Then, if we ever get any snow, the rear blade clears the driveway.

Even with the scarifiers full down - I've never had a problem pulling the LPGS. There ARE a few spots where I put the tractor in 4WD. Otherwise - it's basically a 2WD operation. It is a slow operation but when finished - that section of the driveway looks brand new.

With either the rear blade or LPGS on the 3-point - the tractor weight a bit over 10K pounds. It has 1550 pounds of RimGuard in the rear tires also.

 

[oosik]

Experience - 42 years with this same mile long gravel driveway - shows........ an LPGS is very easy to learn to use. Hook it up - pull it. It does a great job for what it's designed to do.

A rear blade can be a cantankerous old toad. After 42 years of practice - I can get it right about 75% of the time. Problem being - the rear blade wants to be a big 'ol road grader - sadly, it is not. The rear blade operation is directly opposite of what the front wheels on the tractor are doing.

The front wheels go UP - the rear blade goes DOWN. And vise versa. All this while you are trying to keep the blade on an even keel by making adjustments with the 3-point controls.

Anticipation - a great help with control of a rear blade. Patience and experience help also.

 

[scootr]

25 yrs of maintaining 1 mile of dirt road topped with road base. Too much traffic going too fast makes washboard. My 7 ft GP LP weighs 500 pounds. I ended up adding up to 500 pounds of weight to cut the washboard effectively. No tool short of a road grader is perfect for the job. The box grader with tilt will help you redistribute material. You may need the LP to cut and loosen the material and the box blade to finish it. Problem is the smoother I make it the faster they drive and the faster the washboard comes back argh. My neighbor has a new tractor and he likes to play with the road maintenance... he's green and leaves a lot of bumps. Maybe I'll just let him do it - that will slow em down. lol

 

[Egon]

Experience - 42 years with this same mile long gravel driveway - shows........ an LPGS is very easy to learn to use. Hook it up - pull it. It does a great job for what it's designed to do.

A rear blade can be a cantankerous old toad. After 42 years of practice - I can get it right about 75% of the time. Problem being - the rear blade wants to be a big 'ol road grader - sadly, it is not. The rear blade operation is directly opposite of what the front wheels on the tractor are doing.

The front wheels go UP - the rear blade goes DOWN. And vise versa. All this while you are trying to keep the blade on an even keel by making adjustments with the 3-point controls.

Anticipation - a great help with control of a rear blade. Patience and experience help also.

A rear blade with gage wheels will eliminate much of the up/down movement.

It’s probably the best implement for three point road maintenance.