Rear Blade How to grade a driveway? Need help please

[RDrancher]

One aspect I haven't seen mentioned yet is the importance of compaction, and maintaining it.

In general, the less material you loosen and move around, the better off you are. That is, add new material when repairing, rather than loosening already-compacted material.

This doesn't quite fit the OP's situation - he does need to knock down the whoop-de-doos first, but after that, he should avoid raking and scraping when he can.

For potholes, NEVER scrape up the hard surroundings; always add new fill.

This will also help with drainage, as was suggested above.

Maybe if you need more seat time! Exactly the opposite works best. Always loosen up the hardpack around potholes and then regrade and recompact the entire area. For a gravel drive or road full of potholes, ripping to a depth just below the potholes, regrading (which mixes the rock / fines back together) and then compacting the entire road works best. Just filling holes with gravel / rock is a bandaid fix at best, doesn't work and looks terrible. The reason that potholes happen in the first place is the soil underneath the gravel has sunk down, or the gravel / fines have separated (or both), leaving the fines in the hole with no gravel. Then they migrate out of the hole which leaves a pothole. Too much rock without a good road base will do the same thing. Ever seen asphalt or gravel laid over ungraded soil? Low areas always rear there ugly head in short time. How about a gravel truck spreading over an existing, potholed driveway? Looks great for awhile, then the potholes return in the same exact place. It's the same reason that soil is compacted in graded / even lifts and not just spread willy-nilly. Spreading soil or gravel / rock over holes or uneven ground results in uneven compaction and uneven material thickness which eventually leads to...you guessed it, potholes. Whoops happen because the fines have settled leaving rock on top. Rip, grade and compact, period.

 

[jenkinsph]

A nice used vibratory roller would be a great add on tool imo. Definately a real help for lots of projects, particularly roadways. Good compaction makes a huge difference in how long a gravel drive repair will last. I mention this since using a roller before adding gravel helps reduce the potholes by a wide margin.

Back to topic, I feel both a rearblade and a landplane are must haves. I would not trade off a rearblade rather I would add a landplane when feasible.

 

[teg]

...I would not trade off a rearblade rather I would add a landplane when feasible...

Rear blade is great for moving snow... if you get any in Michigan I see lots of used equipment but never a Landplane come up for sale.

 

[Trav City]

Thanks to all the great information given I have decided to keep my Frontier Back Blade. I paid less than half of a new one on it from an older guy who had never even put it together so I really dint have much money in it. :thumbsup:



I will keep looking for a used Land Plane until Spring and if I can find one I will probably break down and buy new. It sound like one of the most important implements for my needs.

I can weld as a beginner, but I really do not have the time with all the other projects I have going. This project is in northern Michigan about 3 1/2 hours from me. Thanks again

Rich
Trav City

 

[beppington]

Thanks to all the great information given I have decided to keep my Frontier Back Blade. I paid less than half of a new one on it from an older guy who had never even put it together so I really dint have much money in it. :thumbsup:

View attachment 244895

I will keep looking for a used Land Plane until Spring and if I can find one I will probably break down and buy new. It sound like one of the most important implements for my needs.

I can weld as a beginner, but I really do not have the time with all the other projects I have going. This project is in northern Michigan about 3 1/2 hours from me. Thanks again

Rich
Trav City

I think you could also rig your blade with side skids (or sides with wheels) to act as a land plane, following what I posted earlier. If "rigging" bothers you, once you get it working, spray it all green :thumbsup:

 

[tillerterry]

hey if you have a front bucket on your tractor just start grading with it. if you take your time and spend enough time in the SEAT you will get the hang of it. the main thing to remember is TAKE your time and TIME in the seat. it will work. After you get it like you want it raise your bucket and run your tractor over it by moving over one wheel with at a time until you have gone over the complete drive way do this a couple of times. it helps pack the gravel and dirt to keep it from washing away. good luck

 

[JoeL4330]

my 2 cents: gauge wheels as far back as you can put them (whatever the implement)...like the road graders, you want the longest "wheel base" you can get...that's what takes the dips out rather than reinforcing them. My rear blade has a hydraulic tail wheel, and my road-runner has a hydraulically adjustable roller as the "gauge wheel" and in both cases, that solve the problem for me.

 

[Trav City]

A lot of great advise ! Thanks to all. :thumbsup:

 

[GPintheMitten]

To bad a guy can't rent a land plane. I think once you plane smooth, the back blade at an angle could keep it in pretty good shape.

Also it would help to get some extra weight on your blade to make it cut the highs off better. I've done what you need done with a back blade at a steep angle but it takes a long time. Doing it when the drive has some moisture in it helps.

But I've also done it with a borrowed box blade. That handled it pretty efficiently.

 

[Soundguy]

you never know.. you might be able to rent one.

lotsa rental places around here have odd n end implements.

soundguy

 

[JakesDad1]

I've been maintaining my driveway for years. Its 700' long on a 13% grade. For the first 15 yrs I used a 1948 Ford 8N. For traction I used chaines and wheel weights. For the last few years I've been using a 20 HP Nortrac with chains. I use a 72" grader.

With the significant slope, I have found it very important to maintain a crown on the driveway. The blade is always at a 45 degee angle and I start with the blade tipped down pretty significantly to dig out the gutter (pushing material to the middle). After several passes I reduce the angle and work my way partway across the driveway. Once I have things pretty roughed up, I reverse the angle of the blade and flatten it out, to the crown angle I want. I start in the middle and make multiple passes evening out the crown pitch.

Hope that helps.

 

[Trav City]

Hello again, I just wanted to thank everyone again and bring you up to date on my decision. I bought a Frontier LP1160 Land Plane today from Mutton Equipment. I should have it in a couple of weeks. They are going to ship it right to my house. I will let you guys know how it works when I get it.

 

[djradz]

Congratulations! I'll be curious to see how well it works to remove the woop-de-doops and keep a crown on the drive. Pictures, before and after would be nice!

 

[Soundguy]

angle blade with side to side til helps crown, that or a top in tilt, or you have to jingle with yer lift link adjuster

 

[Gordon Gould]

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Thanks for the update - keep us posted

 

[djradz]

angle blade with side to side til helps crown, that or a top in tilt, or you have to jingle with yer lift link adjuster

The blade I know how to angle along with some tilt, but I was wondering if any angling can be done with a plane?

 

[Soundguy]

the only land planes I've used are big boys, and they are 2 trail wheels and a bog box with nothing other than cut adjustment up or down.. can't speak for any others..

 

[EagleTDL]

angle blade with side to side til helps crown, that or a top in tilt, or you have to jingle with yer lift link adjuster

No TNT for me, but as Soundguy suggests, I tweak my link adjuster to get it to tilt. I've got a 48" version of this and I really like it! Two passes down the center with the plane level and then one or two with a 1/2 bubble tilt (using a 4' level) and it will put a crown on the drive quite nicely!

Word of caution: Remember which side is tilted down, fixing your error if you don't is a bit time consuming... :ashamed:

 

[MtnViewRanch]

The blade I know how to angle along with some tilt, but I was wondering if any angling can be done with a plane?

Yes it can be done as long as the cutting edge is below the skids, but it is much faster with a rear blade, for me anyway.

 

[F250DSLPWR]

Hi I have been thinking about this and how to help with using the blade. Here is what I would do. Get two 4-5ft sections of 2"x2"x.25" angle iron and mount them to the outside edges of your blade so they act like skis. Bend each end of the angle iron up 3-4" so it will ride over any dirt and bumps without digging in. How to mount: I would probably build a couple angel iron tabs with bolt holes on them to weld to the ouside edges of the blade and then mount the "angle iron skis" to the tabs with bolts to each outside edge of the blade? does this make sense?
With the skis in place the blade will ride just like one of the grader blades. If you build it right you can have the blade forward or backward. Not sure how well this will work, but it is worth trying out. I have been thinking about trying this method out on my box blade to see if it would work instead of buiding guage wheels. OOps well I see where you ordered a grader congrats. Maybe this idea will help someone.