Dirt road grading

[cisco]

I've a dirt road onto my 7.5 acre "country estate" (overgrown forest, brambles and poison ivy I've been working on for a year) that was fashioned with a bulldozer last year, with shallow (6" deep by 18" wide or so) ditches on each side and a mid-road elevation about 3-4 inches above the sides. With progressive wear (my pickup), the ruts are now about 5-6" below the mid-road crest, and sometime soon I'll get water accumulation after a storm (none at present). So, I've a 6' box blade and 1 side of the 3 pt hitch of my Kubota L3410 has a crank which can cant the box blade about 6" (real handy for a drainage swale I constructed). I plan to divide the road in 2 halves, and straddle the canted box blade from the top of the mid-road crest to the ipsilateral ditch, then repeat going the other way. Am I missing something? Sometimes what I think will work is not the best way (I did successfully get a decaying 12 foot long by 24" log picked up with my 5' FEL & toothbar this AM, using a chain and C-clamp trick that seemed logical, and darn if it didn't work).
While I'm waiting for advice, I'm putting on front and rear "fog" (55W, wide beam) lights and a fire extinguisher - the Kubota lights, especially with a FEL, are suboptimal, and I hate to stop working (OK, OK, time on a tractor is not "real work" - just don't tell my wife such) just because the sun has set.

 

[JJT]

Cisco, You've got the right idea with the box scraper, but you don't need anything close to 6" of pitch. I have a 6' box scraper and set mine with no more than a 1" difference. My driveway is 800' long and 10+ years old, and has held up fine. If you truly have ruts 6" deep you may want to make a few passes right down the middle with the box set level, then set it up with 1" - 2" offset and create a crown. How much base do you have? 6" ruts sound like -0- base.

 

[cisco]

OK, down the middle first to lower the crest a bit, then offset 2" towards the ditches. Sounds reasonable (as to base, I have none, but the dirt seems fairly firm given how long its taken to wear a rut - I'll gravel the road when I have the time/money - like everything else in life). Thanks, and have a good weekend.

 

[Jag]

Cisco, I think you have it..... and if you bring in a little gravel do the same thing.

 

[rdln]

Just a thought and maybe TOOMA but when you finish and resume driving dont drive down the same spot over and over but vary your path.

 

[DVerbarg]

When you do the gravel later, you might want to remove the black dirt, or at least 8 inches of it before putting the gravel down. Gravel on black dirt makes for one squishy mess when it gets wet, grows weeds and grass, and its a pain in the rear to repair later with dirt and gravel mixed.

 

[AndyR]

If you haven't seen it - here are some <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=custom&Number=102661&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=0&vc=1#Post102661>pictures </A> of the 50 watt trapezoid lights on my canopy. Just the thing for night work/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[SmokyMtnMan]

I have about 800 feet of red clay base/gravel/road-bond on slope of 20 degrees with ditch on one side and drop-off on other side. Road has done well for about a year (newly constructed two years ago) but recently has has bank erosion problems (will remedy that this spring) and ditch has filled sometimes with run-off coming down middle of road. I have new Kubota 4610 with fel and 4n1 bucket with LP 3584 rear blade. I don't seem to be able to tilt blade to cut ditch out without taking off part of road shoulder and am ending up making a muddy mess on one side and covering gravel with red clay.
Any suggestions as to whether I can actually maintain this road with what i have? SHould i just rent a trencher somewhere?
also, has anyone had experience using a 4n1 bucket with loader? I was told this would be just like a box blade with the jaws open.........something tells me I was told wrong.

 

[GlueGuy]

Don,

That is a king-sized blade you've got there. First, I would suggest that you poke around this site, and look for some of the various discussions on blades (and boxblades) and their use. You can pick up a lot of practical advice here.

Other than that, it takes a lot of practice to become proficent with a blade, and more so with a boxblade. In my own opinion, you can do more interesting work with a boxblade, but I digress.

From the sounds of it, you have the manual tilt ability for your blade? That can work just fine, but it takes more time. You may want to investigate the utility of a top-n-tilt kit for your 'bota.

As for cleaning out ditches, I've found the little 48" boxblade on my B7500 works better than almost anything else. I think larger blades tend to make a broader stroke as it were.

 

[beenthere]

<font color=blue>making a muddy mess on one side and covering gravel with red clay</font color=blue>

If the ditch you are cleaning is muddy, this problem will remain trying anything where you have to get your wheels into the ditch (mud).
I would suggest using the front bucket, get perpendicular to the ditch and scoop out what you want to remove or dump what you want to add. This will go slower, but will move or remove the material where you want, and will keep the tractor wheels on dry gravel, thus keeping the gravel clean. You mentioned a drop off on the other side. I assume the drive is wide enough to do this perpendicular manuever.
I have a similar ditch on the uphill side of my gravel drive, and appreciate the problem you face. Usually, when the ditch is dry, I put the 1-bottom 14-inch plow on the tractor, and make one (or two) slow passes to get the bottom of the ditch at the same slope. Then I get perp to it, and dress it down with the bucket. After 34 years, I have not found the back blade to be of much help for the reasons you mentioned. A top-n-tilt would be an improvement in most respects.