Grading--what am I doing to cause this?

[mechtheist]

dragging a diamond harrow would help for making loose ... put all your loose material in a windrow then re spread it ... that's how graders do it. like don't try to make a nice job right away ... put all the loose material on the center of the road then spread it back to the side.

Why would I put anything in a window? Sorry, that's what I read at first, I don't even know what one of those is. I know what a harrow is but don't have one. I hate to say it but I'm not that picky about how great it looks, I just don't want to be putting all those waves in there, it implies something is off and y'all are doing great helping me understand what's going on, thanks everyone!.

The spreading loose material is something I've kinda sorta done or tried to. That's when i keep having the problem I mentioned earlier about the weird inconsistency a given blade height at one point in the road seems to go lower in further down--the blade set to just barely touch the surface at first and then it's digging in 50 or so feet later.

 

[mechtheist]

Put on some gauge wheels or skids.

I hope I don't have to go that far.

 

[mechtheist]

My first rear blade - Land Pride 2584 @ 575#. It produced the EXACT same results as the photo in post #1. Just way too light for my looooong gravel driveway.

Now I have a Rhino 950 - 96" & 1050#. Go SLOW and angle the blade.

Yeah, from all the posts, I'm thinking the main thing is the weight. I could get one of those Rhinos and chain it on top of my blade, that would weigh it down real good. I'm not sure how much mine weighs but probably in the 300 maybe 350lb range. I think I found the spec for it, I'll have to look, almost all my implements are used.

 

[Xfaxman]

Yeah, from all the posts, I'm thinking the main thing is the weight. I could get one of those Rhinos and chain it on top of my blade, that would weigh it down real good. I'm not sure how much mine weighs but probably in the 300 maybe 350lb range. I think I found the spec for it, I'll have to look, almost all my implements are used.

This Rhino would really weigh it down real good :

Sorry, could not resist.

 

[jyoutz]

Yeah, from all the posts, I'm thinking the main thing is the weight. I could get one of those Rhinos and chain it on top of my blade, that would weigh it down real good. I'm not sure how much mine weighs but probably in the 300 maybe 350lb range. I think I found the spec for it, I'll have to look, almost all my implements are used.

I struggled for years with the same issue because both my tractor and blade were too light. The only satisfactory way I found to work around those limitations was to add a couple hundred pounds of steel weights to the blade, and work it when the the ground is wet. Those skips are due to a light blade bouncing around on a concrete hard road bed.

 

[Rockbadchild]

Why would I put anything in a window? Sorry, that's what I read at first, I don't even know what one of those is. I know what a harrow is but don't have one. I hate to say it but I'm not that picky about how great it looks, I just don't want to be putting all those waves in there, it implies something is off and y'all are doing great helping me understand what's going on, thanks everyone!.

The spreading loose material is something I've kinda sorta done or tried to. That's when i keep having the problem I mentioned earlier about the weird inconsistency a given blade height at one point in the road seems to go lower in further down--the blade set to just barely touch the surface at first and then it's digging in 50 or so feet later.

Windrow is the pile of dirt left at the end of the blade of a grader... ha ya ic ya that's weird I am not sure about that I cant help you there ... when I did it I had a strait blade on the 3 point and not a box blade but I've set the blade at a 45% angle and on a 2% ish grade so its scape on one side and leaves material behind on the other, then I've move all the material in the middle then move back the material to the side but I wasn't trying to keep the blade at a certain elevation to distribute the material i was depending on the angle of the blade to do so.

 

[mechtheist]

When you're doing that grading, is there a nice pile of material in front of your blade? Or is the ground too hard, and you barely pull anything along?

Agree with all the other suggestions that it is probably just too light. Bolt a couple hundred pounds onto that blade and try again. Your idea to do it when conditions are damp is wise. Go slow if needed.

When it's dry, it's not worth trying to do anything, when it's damp, I can get a good pile going fairly easily.

 

[mechtheist]

My first rear blade - Land Pride 2584 @ 575#. It produced the EXACT same results as the photo in post #1. Just way too light for my looooong gravel driveway.

Now I have a Rhino 950 - 96" & 1050#. Go SLOW and angle the blade.

My blade is actually a Rhino, I was mixing up the box blade brand. It's a Rhino300 see pic, only 5 ft, I really should have gotten a 6 ft but this one was a good deal that included a landscape rake so I compromised. I have the manual for it and it has a landscape rake option but the one I bought isn't that, it's a full implement. The manual has no weights but their current 5ft low end blade is only 280lb and it looks pretty similar. I've only got about 200 ft of drive to deal with and the ground is hard enough that it doesn't get too bad too quickly.

 

[Rockbadchild]

My blade is actually a Rhino, I was mixing up the box blade brand. It's a Rhino300 see pic, only 5 ft, I really should have gotten a 6 ft but this one was a good deal that included a landscape rake so I compromised. I have the manual for it and it has a landscape rake option but the one I bought isn't that, it's a full implement. The manual has no weights but their current 5ft low end blade is only 280lb and it looks pretty similar. I've only got about 200 ft of drive to deal with and the ground is hard enough that it doesn't get too bad too quickly.View attachment 725237

that the same type of blade I was using ... and I used the 3 point arm level adjustment to make the crown grade and also help to scape off material ... if you could think of something to drag in order to makes yourself some loose or like many mentioned just adding some weight on it and eventually you will get some loose...

 

[mechtheist]

This Rhino would really weigh it down real good :
View attachment 725230
Sorry, could not resist.

It could probably pull the blade almost as well as the tractor. Rhinos are cool beasts!