Gravel drive attachment recommendations??

KennedyDiesel · Feb 28, 2005

If the gravel is not yet frozen, you need to use skid shoes OR flip your rear blade around backwards so it does not cut in. This greatly lessens the effectiveness of the blade. I also flip the blade around for light finish grading the gravel.

I have a 54" front blade for my 455 that works well so long as the shoes are set properly.

For light finish work, and weed ripping in the gravel I still like my home built floating drag behind my 455 with a couple of cement blocks for weight. The front arms are like this: \ / only less angle, and the rear about 3' behind and is straight. I made this about 10 years ago. I also plan to try a box blade

KYMike · Mar 1, 2005

I have used my angle blade to smooth my gravel drive, but always turn it backwards. Smoother than that, though, is to use the FEL backwards in float position. Adjust bite with the bucket angle. Since I got a FEL, I don't use a box blade anymore.

tomrscott · Mar 4, 2005

I've got around 1000 feet of gravel, some of it VERY steep.

I've got a 30hp 4wd, with a 65" Frontier box blade. As others have said, the box blade with adjustable scarifier teeth works great for re-distributing gravel, but I think I am going to make a back blade too. I need to cut some drainage on the sides and rebuild the crown. I think an angled and tilted back blade will do that job better than a box blade.

I have an old water softener tank that I am thinking about cutting up to make a blade with.

beenthere · Mar 4, 2005

The closer you can get to a 'road grader' design (long distance between the support wheels and the angling blade), the better will be the attachment for grading, leveling, and distributing gravel.Nothing on the 3pt will really do the job as well, but something with gage wheels and the ability to angle will likely be your best bet. In combination with a box blade (too bad they don't also angle as well), the angling blade with wheels would work pretty good.
A Harley Rake also works good to distribute gravel.
After getting the gravel well mixed, smoothed out, and distributed evenly, then packing the gravel before it dries out is what I found to give the best results.

KennedyDiesel · Mar 4, 2005

I saw a Kubota at the dealer with a belly blade that looked pretty cool. I seem to recall multiple control valves for various tilting and angling operations.

beenthere · Mar 4, 2005

I think a belly blade would be great for dressing a gravel driveway.

tiltbed · Mar 31, 2005

well my drive finally dried out enough that i could do something with it...what i have is ...a... well i don`t know what to call it..but it does a beautiful job on drives..it is an I beam...aprox 8" heighth by 12" with by 6'...looks like 12 railroad spikes in the front and 12 on the rear.exceptially heavy.my drive was getting so pot holed that i almost have to lock the hubs in on the old F150....it took about 4 or 5 swipes untill the teeth(spikes?) worked their way in to the gravel...but once they broke through the packed top and brought up fresh...thats when it started looking like an interstate...wife came home from work while i was waxing the tractor and asked if i finally broke down and brought some gravel.... /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif...now that cold beer i was drinking really tasted soooooooooo much better. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif...any how i don`t believe this thing is home made...there is an old tag on the side but can`t be read...any one know what in the world i have?...Sid

Jrrcorp · Apr 1, 2005

I have probably spred 1000 tandem loads of bankrun gravel, crushed stone, and eveything in between over the last 25 years using my 5' grader box and FEL. If your a good machine operator and have a good feel for your machine, you can do a great job with this combination. It's slower than using a dozer but you can fine tune things easier. Also, if your lucky enough to have a top-n-tilt 3-point hitch it's even easier. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif