How to use a Grader Scraper

[civilian]

A Pile? Whenever possible ask the driver to tailgate spread. They set the tailgate chains to limit the amount of material that can be dropped and drive along spreading out the load. Then you smooth it

Tail gating is not the only way or maybe not even the best method. Example: starting at the end of the drive coming in off the street, drive is 90 degrees to road. Can't get even flow of material down. Material might be a bit damp and want to stick together when emptying. Or sticks in the truck. The spread from the tail gating may not cover the width of the drive. I have had both done. When it was tail gated, it was too thin, but accomplished what was needed for the time being. Now I am spreading from piles to get the depth I want. Just my thoughts. Jon

 

[ruffdog]

I still think that once it gets packed down some and gets rained on, that landplane will get it nice and smooth.

Even guys with a CTL will work with it for a while as it is getting packed.

 

[deezler]

Tail gating is not the only way or maybe not even the best method. Example: starting at the end of the drive coming in off the street, drive is 90 degrees to road. Can't get even flow of material down. Material might be a bit damp and want to stick together when emptying. Or sticks in the truck. The spread from the tail gating may not cover the width of the drive. I have had both done. When it was tail gated, it was too thin, but accomplished what was needed for the time being. Now I am spreading from piles to get the depth I want. Just my thoughts. Jon

Man, I don't know how many more hours it would have taken me to get my 1000' driveway installed without the services of my excavation guy and his 12-yard dump truck. He could lay 12 yards of 21A out in a perfect 2 inch thick layer for a good 300' of my driveway, barely had to tune it up at all except for smoothing out the short overlap zones. The idea of driving 800 feet with each load in my puny .25 yd bucket load at a time seems insane; get a good dump driver and it will save you hours of work. My dude's key for success: drive fast as hell. Like, 20 mph while spreading down my winding driveway, real fun to watch!

 

[ljjhouser]

First snow of the year here in Central Oregon this morning. Pretty soon it's gonna be time to put on the rear blade.....and screw up the driveway

Ha ha! That is the reason we have a tractor. So we can fix it after we screw it up the first...and second time. Best Wishes.

 

[Gordon Gould]

So if someone who is a long time user of one of these implements could write out how they use it, I would sure appreciate it (YouTube videos are not clear and show all sorts of different set ups....the people on those videos mainly just yak.)

Thank you.

I don't have a video but I have some pictures. This is what works for me when I add gravel to a road. It is 3/4" crushed ledge gravel mix which packs hard with time.

1) I tail gate out a load of gravel. My truck is small so it's 3-1/2 tons per load. Then I pack what I just dumped with the truck. In this case the loaded truck with the next load is used to pack.

Then if the road needs shaping I use a blade to get the contour I want. Here it is a crown. First the left side - shown. Next the right side then spread and blend the berm in the middle. I omit this step if no shaping is needed.

Because my blade work is often a little rough I even it all out with my land plane. I lengthen the top link to lift the front blade a little. Notice the front of the runners a slightly off the road and the front blade has much less material than the rear blade.

And this is how it looks after the LPGS pass on the left side.

It didn't come out like this the first time i tried. It takes patients, practice, and experimentation to develop a system that works for your situation. Stick with it - The vast majority of landplane users will tell you it is the best road implement they have. I have 2 rear blades, a box blade, and an LPGS. I also have a lot of road to maintain. I use all three but the landplane gets used the most by far.

Hope this was helpful.

gg

 

[Bendboater]

Gordon; Thank you, that does help.
I received my second load today and am in the process of spreading and smoothing it out.

 

[jyoutz]

A section of chain link fence panel secured on all sides by pipe and stretched tight (think gate panel) makes an awesome final finish gravel smoother. Get a panel as wide as your road and drag it with a chain. Of course you have to man handle it into place when you change directions but it works very well.

 

[jyoutz]

Ljjhouser;
From what I am learning here, I think you said it the best:
"Both land planes and box blades take practice. Neither one is a one pass job. Relax and take your time."

First snow of the year here in Central Oregon this morning. Pretty soon it's gonna be time to put on the rear blade.....and screw up the driveway

Turn your rear blade around 180 degrees so you are plowing snow with the back of the blade, not the cutting edge. This will remove the snow, while skimming over the gravel without disturbing it.

 

[scootr]

I don't have a video but I have some pictures. This is what works for me when I add gravel to a road. It is 3/4" crushed ledge gravel mix which packs hard with time.

1) I tail gate out a load of gravel. My truck is small so it's 3-1/2 tons per load. Then I pack what I just dumped with the truck. In this case the loaded truck with the next load is used to pack.

View attachment 767959


Then if the road needs shaping I use a blade to get the contour I want. Here it is a crown. First the left side - shown. Next the right side then spread and blend the berm in the middle. I omit this step if no shaping is needed.

View attachment 767960

Because my blade work is often a little rough I even it all out with my land plane. I lengthen the top link to lift the front blade a little. Notice the front of the runners a slightly off the road and the front blade has much less material than the rear blade.

View attachment 767961


And this is how it looks after the LPGS pass on the left side.

View attachment 767963


It didn't come out like this the first time i tried. It takes patients, practice, and experimentation to develop a system that works for your situation. Stick with it - The vast majority of landplane users will tell you it is the best road implement they have. I have 2 rear blades, a box blade, and an LPGS. I also have a lot of road to maintain. I use all three but the landplane gets used the most by far.

Hope this was helpful.

gg

Please show this implement in many pics as the rear hinged part is an interesting and unusual addition

 

[Gordon Gould]

Please show this implement in many pics as the rear hinged part is an interesting and unusual addition

I put that tail gate on as an experiment. It is hinged on top and can swing a full 360*. There is a set of stop pins on the bottom. In the first picture the tail gate is dragging behind the pins and the grader is running properly. That is both blades are full all the way across with equal amounts of material being moved by both the front and rear blades.

This is the way I normally run the grader. And I think it is fair to say that the tail gate is doing nothing to make my grader any different from a commercial one except add about 90 lbs (which is a good thing).

What I discovered is that the tail gate is heavy enough to hold back sod while the heavier gravel passes under it. As seen here.

So while doing road maintenance cutting along the road edge sod like this

I can run along until I get to much sod and then lengthen the top link (hydraulic) to stop cutting and let the gravel run out. I lift the grader leaving a pile of sod and use the tail gate against the stops as a blade to push it off the road.

In the spring after mud season when roads are full of ruts and holes I swing the tail gate over so it rests against the stops on the inside. That way it holds excess material in the box and pulls it along the road until it drops into a low spot. It also works on a washout where a pile of loose gravel ends up at the bottom of a hill. I can pull it up. Like a box blade but not near as efficient. I don't have a real good picture of this but this is one where I am trying to remove a slight crown caused by driving down the middle all the time. I want the road flat but sloped so water will run left to right - high side to low side. Note: the land plane is not good at destroying crowns as many believe. You have to work at it.

So the tail gate isn't a great improvement but it's useful.

gg