Ditch digger

[sandman2234]

I do just enough maintance on a dirt road to allow traffic to make it down it. I don't live down it, don't own property on it, etc, but my sister in law lives down it so I try to hit it ever now and then with the box blade. With all the rain we have had lately, the road is getting rough, and the ditches aren't helping. Basically the ditches are grown over on one side with trees, and the other side has an embankment that people just keep riding up to stay on the smooth sand and it kills the grass, and the sand washes away. If the ditches were cleared out, so they would carry water, I feel like the road would have a better chance. I thought about building a middlebuster, but the trees along the side of the ditch keep me from pulling something behind the middle of the tractor. I thought about using the box blade with just one ripper down, but I don't think it would break up enough dirt, or go deep enough to help. Basically what I need is some sort of plow like a middlebuster that I can pull from one side of the tractor without it hurting my tractor. Side pull on the 3pt hitch can't be good for the lower links.
Anyone got any ideas?

No, I don't have a backhoe, nor a FEL, otherwise this wouldn't be a problem.
David from jax

 

[sandman2234]

The reason I posted this in the build it yourself forum was hopefully to find someone that had built or seen something like an offset middlebuster that would do a ditch but not put too much strain on the lift arms. The tractor I have to pull it with is a JD2555 and should take some abuse, but I don't want too much on it. Anybody seen anything that might reach out to the side and cut a shallow ditch? Since this is a non paying job, hopefully someone has an idea that I can build out of my current allotment of scrap.
Thanks,
David from jax

 

[Paddy]

Sandman,

I built a device that bolts the the far side of the yard box. I had to drill a few holes but, easy on and easy off. Kinda is like a flat plate pointing forward 45 deg, 18" wide.

Patrick T

 

[SkunkWerX]

David,

I hear what you are saying, but all I can envision is something like a standard rear grader blade, with a piece of channel of other metal bolted to one end, which is still going to give some sideways strain.

There is always just a plain old grader blade, tipped hard to the ditch side, so it's cutting a Vee.

I guess to minimize the strain, you would center the subsoiler/middle buster/shank just outside your rear tire and drvie as close to that side as possible?
Something ike a plow blade mounted off-set? It would pull the dirt up onto the road surface for further grading.

If you take it a little at a time, it may not be as much side-to-side strain as you think. If you try to cut a 16" deep trench in one pass, then, yes, it would probably be a concern.

Good Luck, I'm curious to see what others have up their sleeves for this sitaution?

 

[bx23barry]

I would think you could make a mount for a cultivator bar on the the mid-mounts and mount a chisel/sub-soiler on the end of the bar. Most old row crop cultivators were mid mount like that.

 

[sandman2234]

Hmmmm, that is a thought, but it will still stick out a long way, because my tractor is wider than my 6' boxblade. I haven't measured it with the turf tires on it, but with my ags on narrow rims, it is just under 6'6". I looked at using the box blade as a guide but it is still way out there. I just went out and measured it, at 7'7" with the turf's on, it is wider than my boxblade and that puts it over 30 inches from the side of the engine frame which is where I could hang it.
I think my best bet might be to build one for the 3pt but just make it so that it doesn't pull too much dirt, so as not to put any undue stress on the lift arms. The biggest thing that worries me is hitting a big root or a buried chunk of concrete that somebody put trying to help the road. The added to the size of my tractor will put a lot of twist on the lift arms.
I wonder if building two would work. Make one with a narrow digging blade that will go deeper and deeper, then change over to a wider one that will move the dirt out. I might need to use a turning plow to get the dirt out of the hole so I don't have to dig it.
David from jax

 

[Kendrick]

the thought comes to mind of attaching somthing to a hay wagon type frame to do that. you can also adjust the weight on the wagon to remediate the bounce/side pull. with 4 wheels it would be much harder to get pushed aside. it would also be on the drawbar so no tear on your arms

 

[gemini5362]

This is just a thought and keep in mind I have never tried to pawn myself off as a design guy.

Why dont you come off the side of your box blade with an arm and then attach a middle buster or something like that to the arm. if you set it so that it is deeper than the box blade you can put the box blade down flat on the road and that would help with the twisting of your three point. you will still have some side stress but it should be carried through the box blade and both lift arms will feel some of the stress. Would that work ?

 

[sandman2234]

gemini5362
That thought has crossed my mind, which is the reason I walked out and measured my tractor width last night in the middle of writing a post. Due to the amount of time since that ditch has been messed with and the roots that are going to be really close to it, I am afraid of almost any side pull. I think mounting it on the side of the boxblade and dragging the box might help a little, but probably not enough to withstand the energy of a large root. If I do it that way, I will run the tractor in as low a gear as possible and several light cuts.

Kendrick,
I don't have a hay wagon but I do have an axle with a frame (2'x5') that I could use. I recently pulled the tires and wheels off it and used them on my JD but I might consider putting a set of tires on it and mounting a tongue on it. I have enough junk around here that I could weight it down so that it doesn't slide sideways too badly. Might look into mounting it like a Swisher Mower. I am not sure just how much it will take to keep it in line.
I wonder if the best thing wouldn't be to just take the Ford out there with the boom mower on it and just clear it wide enough for the JD to do it straight line. Doing that much work maybe more than I was bargaining for, though.
David from jax

 

[ToadHill]

I don't know how overgrown the ditches are but I've had great successkeeping water running in ditches. Simple trick is to ride the tractor with 1 front and 1 rear wheel in the ditch once in spring and again in fall when the soil is soft. This keeps the ditch clear and about 6" deep along the sides of my deive and at the edges of my fields.
When I first got the property water ran across the fields all spring. I made ditches with a 1 bottom plow along the edges and since I have kept them clean using the weight of the tractor, it has eliminated my problem.