Gravel Driveway vs Box Blade

[DepthCharge]

Hello,

I am trying to use my JD 4115 to repair and level my 400' long gravel driveway. Since the driveway is on an incline, everytime it rains really hard a little river forms and washes part of the driveway out.

I used my FEL to recover some of my driveway from the ditch along the road and fill in the holes. Then I distributed 10 yards of crushed limestone.

Afterwards I tried to use my TSC 5' box blade to level everything off.

Here lies the problem. Since I can only go back and forth along the driveway, some little hills built up. My wife says it like ridding a roller coaster.

When the front wheels start to climb one of the hills the box blade digs in more. And where it is digging in is where there is already a low spot. Then as the tractor crest the hill and starts down the other side, the box blade raises up and dumps it load on top of the hill.

The more I try to grade it the bigger these hills get. I have tires getting tricky with the draft control and clipping the tops of the hills and dumping it in the low parts but I am not tricky enough. I have also tired to use my FEL to redistribute it hills. That works to some degree but when I go to level everything back out I end up with the hills again.

I can imagine that if I were leveling a larger area where I could come in from different directions that this would be less of a problem but grading my driveway restricts me to driving only along it's length.

Does any one have any suggestions? Is there another attachment which might work better? On the farm where I grew up we used to use a rear grader blade on a 105 HP tractor to grade about 1000 FT of driveway and I don't remember having this problem. Of course the driveway started out a little more level and the tractor had a much longer wheel base.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Hollywood]

Practice! The first time I used the box blade on my drive, I pretty much ruined it (the drive that is). The top link length is key on using the box blade, and you will get pretty good at using the draft control to keep from gouging. I now usually use a landscape rake on my drive, but when you've got some potholes or a wash, the boxblade is the tool for the job. It is just a matter of getting the hang of it.

 

[Tractors4u]

How high off of the drive do you have the box? Try just knocking the tops off of the little hills. As they get short lower the box. Also try weaving, not a basket, but weaving side to side some. Attacking the little hills from a slight angle will help.

 

[RHughes]

I've run into the same problem with my driveway in the past. It's not quite half a mile long and I am constantly dealing with drainage issues. I've found three ways to tack the "washboard" effect, depending on the equipment you have.

1. If you can afford it, buy a rear grader blade with a good angle adjustment. Set the blade at fairly steep angle to pull gravel from the high spots into the low spots, working from the edges of the road toward the center. This will help offset the "hill and valley" problem a bit. Go slow and be prepared to make several passes.

2. If you tractor is equipped with automatic draft control, use it. This will help keep you rear implement running the same depth and prevent it from digging in too bad. This is normally used in cultivating and plowing, but I've found it works just as well for grading.

3. Try making a first pass over bad sections of the driveway in reverse. In some cases, this will allow the blade to cut the high spot down before your wheels hit it.

I hope this helps!
Best of luck!

 

[beenthere]

Near impossible with a box blade. As RHughes pointed out, you need to have something with an angle to it, such as a rear blade. Even dragging a wood (or steel) beam at an angle to the drive will help fill in and level off the lows and highs. Care must also be taken to keep the fines mixed in with the larger stone, and packing well (I drive the vehicle up and down many times to pack), before drying out, is very important.

Keep a good crown to the drive, making the water run to the sides (ditches) ASAP when it rains is the only way to keep the gravel from washing away.

I find that my front 7' snow plow blade, that will angle, dragged backward works the best at getting a good leveling job. Regardless, it takes time, practice, and patience - but eventually you will learn the tricks. Good luck (and let your wife try it a few times, as she needs some understanding too. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif But that comes with a risk that you won't get your 4115 back.)

 

[44trxfun]

Beenthere has a good point about fixing the problem (water running down the drive) rather than the symptom (ruts). I used to work in Seattle's ~90,000 acre municipal watershed inventorying culverts, particularly for sediment concerns.

It takes very little slope for water to start "working" (eroding). Once it gains momentum, there's no stopping it! This past weekend, we had numerous torrential rains and my gravel drive started rutting too. I tried installing (w/ FEL and rear blade) a couple "getaways" to improve drainage and get water off to the grassed sides where it would spread out rather than channelize. I was only partially successful and I have some cleanup to do, but I'd rather keep after it and clean up a little gravel off the sides than deal with ever deepening ruts in the driveway.

 

[Bird]

DepthCharge, I had the same problem when I was learning to use a box blade. And in my opinion you'll continue to have the problem as long as you are trying to raise and lower the box blade with the 3-point hitch (at least I did). For me, the correct way to use it was to lower it all the way (float) and then regulate how much or how little it cut into the material by tilting it forward or backwards by shortening or lengthening the top link. That can certainly be done manually, and I've watched a couple of guy who were very good at it, but it is much easier and faster if you have a hydraulic top link. To me, the box blade is the best tool for the job, but it did take me some time and practice to get reasonably proficient with it.

 

[Mecheng]

Tell your wife to slowdown! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[bncsauve]

I have experienced the same problem. My driveway is level and about 400' long, but it will wash board after awhile. I have found that "fluffing up" the gravel by putting the scarifiers down deeper lets me start fresh without humps and valleys. I then level it by raising the scarifiers with the box blade or landscape rake. (seems to work pretty well)

 

[Will]

I'm not sure if this will help you, but this was one of the most useful things I've learned here. To use a box blade for grading, you have to go slowly. I've found that if I try to smooth out an area at a snail's pace, I can adjust the 3-point hitch so that it will knock off the high points, and not drag the soft stuff that's accumulated in the low spots from the first pass.

I hope this helps.

 

[MMM]

The rear blade will work better than box blade. I have a steep drive also, and got tired of dragging it back up the hill every time it rained hard. The only way I've found to stop the "river runs through it"ordeal was to crown it and dig shallow ditch with hoe down each side because drive is cut into the hill I'm on.

 

[Zoomie]

I use my box blade for light digging, and dragging a box full of material from a pile to a different spot.

I use my rear grader blade for ALL smoothing operations. Its what it was meant for and works much better than the box for that purpose. I have a 72", because it still covers my tire tracks when used at an angle.

My old Ford tractor is a gear model with 12 forward speeds, and I've found that SLOW is the best speed to use when grading.

Turning the balde around backwards and pushing it in reverse gives increased bite if you have a stubborn spot, otherwise I use it as a drag implement, moving forward. For real finese, you can leave it turned around and drag the surface with the curved back side of the blade too.

Good luck.

 

[SPIKER]

those woopeidoos are fun HUH!

like others said go SLOW and use the scarfers to break up the top surface to about 2~3" on the humps, that will make it easier to spread the humps out into the lowes...

I don't have a blade but the BOX is great for drive maintenance kind of one thing it was made for , moving and leveling. others said it that the top link is the KEY to getting the blade to do what you want.


tilt the box so that the blade hits slightly before the sides in the front, use the scarfers in just down below the blade height. and only for the first few passes once the gravel is loosened up then retract the scarfers. Move the loose stuff into the lows then tilt the angle slightly flat, so blade and sides touch at same time, pay close attension is best way to get the hills and vallies gone, watch the box fill & empty it when you come to a low by raising it slightly. (my method as no draft control on mine,) though I think the draft control may hurt you with a box and actually cause the high/low problem?

process is not that hard just takes some getting used to and ccorect blade angle with top link.


Mark M /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[KiotiJohn]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( And in my opinion you'll continue to have the problem as long as you are trying to raise and lower the box blade with the 3-point hitch (at least I did). )</font>
I totally agree Bird. Putting the 3pt in float causes the box blade to follow the contours and if adjusted properly at the top link will knock off the tops and drag them into the low. Position control is apparently better for this than draft control as when draft control hits a hard spot, it brings the 3pt arms up out of the ground and then drops them back in after the hard stuff is passed. Also, when the tractor tires go into a depression, in float, the box is not pulled up out of the material as it does if not in float. John

 

[CTyler]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Tell your wife to slowdown! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif )</font>

So I'm not only one... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I try not to watch.

 

[Libertine]

DepthCharge:

As others have posted, the problem is the change of angle because of the tires going up & down in the ruts. If the tires are level, the grading will be level. Visualize a washboard (draw a wavy line on a piece of paper). Now draw your tractor in. Playing with adjustments on the top link can help. Going slower makes it easier, etc. But you still have the fundamental problem.

But you can see that by "pushing" instead of "pulling", the tires are running more level as they are riding in the more level gravel/dirt (or whatever you are trying to level). It's a simple issue of the geometry. I didn't like the regular box blade set-up myself, so I bought a roll-over type. The "box" can be pulled, or, rolled over easy with a lever and pushed as needed. The rippers are in a third position and "rolled" into position without the box blade so you can rip without blading. While a bit more expensive than a standard box blade in my view they are much more flexible for leveling work. The leveling work I have done so far would have been much harder and involved a longer learning curve with a standard, fixed box blade with manually adjustable rippers.

JEH

 

[LMTC]

Maybe I'm just content in my ignorance, but I don't encounter that on the drive, and I maintain app. 320' of drive. I've had that hill and valley thing happen when tilling dirt, but not using a box blade. If the drive just needs a touch-up, I don't drop the scarifiers. If it has gotten rough, I will drop them to the first hole (perhaps 2") for the first couple of passes. In either case I set the box blade down all the way and just go...rather slowly, and then feather out the excess left in the box when I am finished.
Another device I have found even nicer for just leveling (it won't dig at all) is a land leveler...an 8' is actually less than a 5' box blade, and can be dragged by about 25hp. It has several cross pieces at varying angles to help level material.

 

[DepthCharge]

Thanks to everyone for the advice.

I ended up putting the 3 point control into float mode and tilting the box blade back to prevent the blade from biting in.

Then I just ran it back and forth for about an hour.
Worked like a charm, the driveway is nice and level now.

I came very close to buying a grader blade that I could angle but I didn't have to do it. I will still buy one in the future but I don't have to now.

Thanks again,

DepthCharge

 

[tbarrand]

Fit Rite Hydraulics - fitritehydraulics.com get a Top-n-Tilt set up for your tractor and gravel spredding will be a breeze

 

[trktrman]

I hope that poor fella figured it out already in the past 9yrs.