Desperately need to fix driveway

   / Desperately need to fix driveway #71  
A box blade is absolutely not the proper tool for driveway maintenance!
A box blade simply cannot properly bring material back to the center that has migrated to the driveway edges.
A rear scrape blade is the proper driveway maintenance tool!

That driveway looks decent, but should definitely have more fines to help hold it together, to lessen surface material migration.
Lol fried, you are so passionate against Box blades and for rear scraper blades as driveway maintainers. I use both, and you are absolutely right that the box blade can't re-shape the crown. But it does a nice refresh and smoothing of washboards, etc.

And NO, I don't want any fines, thanks. Everyone's driveway with fines that I see here locally, or even here on TBN, is a mess of muddy pot holes. Fines don't allow drainage. I don't mind re-working my driveway a few times per year to avoid the muddy water splash of a driveway with fines. I never have to use scarifiers to break it up, either.
 
   / Desperately need to fix driveway #72  
Except a blade doesn't comb out driveway content you'd rather not have there. All it does is drag piles of gravel. You need gauge wheels and no rigid top link to do this maintenance. Otherwise you get a roller coaster as the tractor dips and rises and carves out humps and valleys. Seldom do you see gauge wheels on a scraper blade. Always available with a landscape rake. But it depends on what is acceptable driveway quality. If you like an irregular roller coaster, sure use the blade. Cheaper, too, because owners give up trying to make a smooth driveway and just about give them away (usually bent, too, because they don't 'give').
 
   / Desperately need to fix driveway #73  
If you are getting a humps and valleys using a rear blade on a driveway you are doing something wrong. I have put in many drives and a few runways for airplanes using nothing but a rear blade without a gauge wheel.
 
   / Desperately need to fix driveway #74  
Lol fried, you are so passionate against Box blades and for rear scraper blades as driveway maintainers. I use both, and you are absolutely right that the box blade can't re-shape the crown. But it does a nice refresh and smoothing of washboards, etc.

And NO, I don't want any fines, thanks. Everyone's driveway with fines that I see here locally, or even here on TBN, is a mess of muddy pot holes. Fines don't allow drainage. I don't mind re-working my driveway a few times per year to avoid the muddy water splash of a driveway with fines. I never have to use scarifiers to break it up, either.
Why am I "so passionate against box blades"?
Because I have one that I bought new, 7 years ago,..... and have never used.
I maintained a 2000' gravel driveway for 17 years with a cheap 5' TSC rear blade.
I then bought a 7' KK rear blade, because it had a greater reach at angle.
I then bought the 5' KK box blade... that I have never used (it looks nice sitting in my barn though).
I have most recently used a 6' EA Deluxe Scrape Blade, which is absolutely the cat's axx.

Have you ever seen a road construction crew using a box blade for grading/shaping?
A box blade is intended for moving material, not shaping road surface material.
Egon, in post #35 outlines this grading issue best of all!
 
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   / Desperately need to fix driveway #75  
If you are getting a humps and valleys using a rear blade on a driveway you are doing something wrong. I have put in many drives and a few runways for airplanes using nothing but a rear blade without a gauge wheel.
Agreed!
Problem is that some who buy the rear blade are not willing, or able, to train themselves on proper use.
There is a learning curve for using a rear blade.
 
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   / Desperately need to fix driveway #76  
A man who has mastered the box blade is like the man that can catch a fly with chop sticks...He can do anything...!

Box blades are dynamic GRADING tools...it's what they do...their only imperfection is the lack of ability to angle...

many operators do not get the desired results after the first few attempts and give up...there is a learning curve...conquer it and be proud...

About the only time you see even a full sized tractor on a commercial road building job is doing the final clean up and maybe grass seeding after the actual job is done...
box blades and rear blades are implements made for tractors that emulate what the big boys use...
 
   / Desperately need to fix driveway #77  
Except a blade doesn't comb out driveway content you'd rather not have there. All it does is drag piles of gravel. You need gauge wheels and no rigid top link to do this maintenance. Otherwise you get a roller coaster as the tractor dips and rises and carves out humps and valleys. Seldom do you see gauge wheels on a scraper blade. Always available with a landscape rake. But it depends on what is acceptable driveway quality. If you like an irregular roller coaster, sure use the blade. Cheaper, too, because owners give up trying to make a smooth driveway and just about give them away (usually bent, too, because they don't 'give').
Nah. Gauge wheels aren't necessary. Nice to have? sure, maybe. But absolutely not required. The 3-pt hitch doesn't have down pressure, so you toss the attachment all the way down and let it ride. Minor tractor dips dont affect the floating implement. A nice heavy box blade or rear scraper blade is going to ride along steady with it's current load of material. See my pic in post #68, no dips or bumps whatsoever.
 
   / Desperately need to fix driveway #78  
A initial crown, drainage and a landscape rake. Not a pothole using 5/8" minus.
 

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   / Desperately need to fix driveway #79  
Agreed!
Problem is that some who buy the rear blade are not willing, or able, to train themselves on proper use.
There is a learning curve for using a rear blade.
It's much different than pulling a box blade. As in road work operating a grader is one of the more complex pieces of as there are a myriad of options for the situation at hand. It is probably easier these days with the newer controls with which I'm not familiar!
 
   / Desperately need to fix driveway #80  
It's much different than pulling a box blade. As in road work operating a grader is one of the more complex pieces of as there are a myriad of options for the situation at hand. It is probably easier these days with the newer controls with which I'm not familiar!
A good grader operator is an artist!
I hired the Shelburne county grader operator to do some work for me.
I swear....I think he could almost pick a persons teeth with that machine!
He was amazing, but sadly..... died of a heart attack a few years ago.
600 people turned out for his funeral, in a town of only 1500.
He was an exceptionally well liked man!
 
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