Is a land plane really worth it?

[Mousefield]

Noticed I had somehow posted a duplicate post here, deleted one but see both have disappeared. So will repost with a question. What is the cost range of a land plane, I'm sure there are different types so that's why I asked for a range. I now use a 6 ft box blade and a 7 ft back blade on my CK35.

 

[bucmeister]

The reasonable ones seem to run in the $170-$200 per foot of width. My 8' was $1284 tax and all about $160/ft, guess it being on the inventory a long time might have pushed the $$ down. The higher end units run up to $400 per foot. Would plan for ~$200 per foot as a ball park amount.

 

[jenkinsph]

My 8' landplane with heavy duty bolt on double edged grader blades (new) with all bolts pins steel cost about 850 to build for materials. A real nice one with a scarifier toothbar adjustable blades and rear comb can be built for $ 1250 manual and $1600 with hydraulics. These are easy builds if you have welding equipment.

 

[loxlife]

I have a JD 3032E with a Frontier LP1172 which is the 72" land plane. I bought it specifically for my slightly less then 1000ft driveway here in south Florida. i paid $900 but I got a deal because they had it sitting around for about a year. I think it is $1300 normally. Can a box blade do the job yes but with way more interaction on the operator. Is a box blade the right tool for the job no. A land plane is designed to cut into the high point and fill the low points without holding on to the material as a box blade does. You can see mine in the image in my signiture. Here are some videos on land plane use

(Everything Attachments)
https://youtu.be/OIed2lzfQ-g

(someones personal YouTube account)
https://youtu.be/99qfEB1GlNI