How can I level a road without a box blade?

[Seamonster124]

Is there a way to do this with the loader with a piranha toothbar?

2 projects I'm working on. One is clearing for a new road into the woods. It's a very bumpy ride right now. Not sure box blade would be even good due to lots of roots.

The second project is levelling a large lawn, prepping to seed

Is there a back dragging technique you guys know about that would help me not buy a box blade? I'd hate to buy one and use it once and never again.

 

[AchingBack]

Is there a way to do this with the loader with a piranha toothbar?

2 projects I'm working on. One is clearing for a new road into the woods. It's a very bumpy ride right now. Not sure box blade would be even good due to lots of roots.

The second project is levelling a large lawn, prepping to seed

Is there a back dragging technique you guys know about that would help me not buy a box blade? I'd hate to buy one and use it once and never again.

You can do a lot with a load of material in your bucket in float position. The weight in the bucket is key. Look for some videos on leveling with your tooth bar. Here's a link I just saw. tractor ratchet rake grading - YouTube

 

[wagne223]

You can do that project with the loader, however, if you need to loosen packed material it will take longer and you risk damage to your FEL.

Remember it is a front end loader not a front end dozer.

In the past I have done plenty of digging with my loader. I have since learned how to use a BB and rippers to do the digging and only use the loader for moving and some minor smoothing.

Also, if you dont have a BB, what are you using for ballast when doing loader work?

 

[atsah]

As far as the road into the woods with lots of roots, that will be a tough one and I don't think a box blade is going to help you build the road unless you rent something to rip roots out, if you did that you could use a box blade to maintain it though.

The lawn leveling you can do with you're loader, back dragging in float and with down pressure. The only way to do it is to start somewhere and if one thing doesn't work try something else. You will figure out what will work best just by doing it..

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

How hard is the ground where you need to level the yard? I have a lot of sandy loam where I am now, and I had no trouble at all leveling an area of my yard that was pretty bad. Just by leaving the bucket flat to the ground, with the FEL in float, and going back and forth over the same area multiple times, the bucket edge knocked down the high spots and filled in the low. Did it all in one session, but it did take many passes back and forth. And the area I did wasn't very big. But this was really soft ground, no clay layers at all. If you have a lot of hard clay, you're going to need a way to cut into it. Maybe a Piranha bar would help here? Haven't used one of those yet, but it's still on my "wish list".

As far as the roots in the woods, you may need a single tooth ripper on a 3 pt to get those torn out. Once those are gone, either the box blade or bucket could work. But it still depends on how hard your ground is.

 

[jeff9366]

If you dont have a BB, what are you using for ballast when doing loader work?

Without Three Point Hitch counterbalance to FEL loads you put a lot of strain on the weak front axle, pierced with the steering pivot.

You can stress any tractor component occasionally but it is best not to operate over 80% of capacity regularly.



Consider a Ratchet Rake bucket attachment. You cannot DIG with a Ratchet Rake on the bucket but for tearing out roots and minor grading a Ratchet Rake will perform much better than a Toothbar.

MORE: https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/375397-ratchet-rake-today.html?highlight=

 

[atsah]

OP, we are talking about a BX1880 here correct?

 

[Captain Dirty]

I have "spaded" well consolidated clay soil (hardpan) by dropping my toothbar vertically into the ground and then curling the FEL bucket. Movr

 

[Captain Dirty]

I have "spaded" well consolidated clay soil (hardpan) by dropping my toothbar vertically into the ground and then curling the FEL bucket. Move the tractor 6", repeat. If this procedure seems too slow, get a "D" handled spading fork and try it by hand to remind yourself why you bought the tractor

 

[Thomas]

Can you borrow set harrows for some one close by?