Grading--what am I doing to cause this?

[npalen]

Having a tail wheel / guide wheel on your rear blade would make a big difference.

Absolutely! The principle is having a wheel(s) following and supporting the blade which tends to keep it stabilized vertically. That's what its all about!

 

[jaxs]

I feel that dragging loose material to fill in a washboard is only a temporary fix. Traffic will eventually knock the loose material up out of the washboard and the problem is back.

I suggested using ripper teeth to break up the washboard and inch or two depth so that it doesn't reoccur at least for a period of time.

Would share your real life experience that brought you to those conclusions? I draw my conclusions from seeing what county employees do with public roads in the area. The soil can be slick when wet so people drive slow and carful until there's ruts to follow then drive faster. With everyone driving in same tracks,ruts can get deep during long wet spells but if you get out of them you must go slower to keep from sliding into ditch. When road dry's, the ruts are filled with loose material and compacted by daily traffic. If something does excessive damage to a section while road is wet,county employees run water trucks and compact loose material,otherwise road would become impassiable if it rained before traffic completed compaction. County road maintenance never intentionally tear's up compact soil any more than required to fill low spots.

 

[bcp]

Everyone's snow, gravel, and dirt is different. What works in one place may be a disaster in another. See what your local road maintainers do. Take advice from 1000 miles away with a grain of salt.

Bruce

 

[oosik]

Exactly - bcp. This is the way my M6040 is set up. Grapple on the FEL, RimGuard in the rear tires, Rhino 950 on the 3-point. Total weight - 10,100#.

 

[mechtheist]

Very nice. Pardon my ignorance but on your blade, what is the thermos looking thing and what looks like a horse shoe on a cylinder having a gravity anomaly?

 

[Torvy]

I think that is oosik's cocktail mixer. You put some ice and your favorite libation in there. By the time you get done smoothing out your road, voila, refreshing cold cocktails!

 

[LD1]

It's a typical owners manual tube.

LOTS of newer equipment (pretty much anything in the last 20 years) has or had one

 

[oosik]

Yee Gods - and I thought my "mixer" was unique. LD1 is correct. The horseshoe thing - it's a stand-off to hold hydraulic hoses. If I would have opted for the hydraulic version. My Rhino is 100% manual. There is another one - at the front end.

You can see them both in this shot.

 

[Fladogman]

In my experience I've learned to use the front of the blade to cut and pull towards the center for a crown then for a finish grade turn the blade around backwards for a final smoother Floating grade. All grading is at a 30-45% angle. I do cut the washboards out then spread the dirt back out. Weight is key, my rhino weighs in at almost 1000#. Cutting is done slow, 5-8 mph while finish floating can be faster. I do not use a box blade. If you have rear remotes a hydraulic top link helps a lot. Practice makes perfect.
View attachment 725327

 

[Egon]

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

Hate to say it but that is your solution.

For a proper solution rip/scarify the entire surface of the road to break up the hard pan. Then angle the back blade. Have it tilted slightly backward and up at the trailing edge and then roll a windrow of material back and forth across the road till it’s smooth And the windrow gets spread out. Then pack it if possible. Gage wheels allow you to do this.