Land plain blade height help

[FredH]

Is this the way you are talking about ??




Those pictures were taking before total completion . I welded 2 pieces of 3" x 3" x .25" angle stock some were around 15 to 20 degree angles about .75" above bottom of skids . Blades are then attached with 1/2" bolts , thus I can set blades from level with skids to a max cut of around 1.5" . Currently I have it set with front blade 3/4" down on that nearest side to camera while opposite side is maybe 1/4" down . Back blade is set 1/4" down on far side from camera while near side is actually above bottom of skid . I make one pass down driveway on 1 side , with side nearest camera against edge of driveway , then make pass back up on opposite side . I pull the shale from edge , bringing it back towards center then 2nd blade feathers it back towards edge of driveway without carrying it all the way back to edge .

I would say mine is 8' feet long without going out a measuring it , and it is around 7' wide , pulled behind a N.H. TC30 . Blades or just 6" x 1/2" flat stock .

Fred H.

 

[john40981]

Hi Fred,
Thanks for the reply, yes that's exactly what I am talking about. Are you happy with the way it moves dirt back and forth, would you change anything if you built it again. I was going to put a drum of water over the blades to give some more weight and a hinged Tail gate of sorts at the back that hangs straight against a stop to pull dirt with me if I needed or flap the gate over to hang back to drag across the dirt at the back to do a final flatten.
Yours looks great and looks like it would do a good job
Regards John

 

[FredH]

For my needs , Yes I like the way the opposite angled blades work . As I described above , the crushed shale that we use on our driveway tends to migrate out to the edges , at least what is not packed down in the first month or two of grading . One thing that I would change , Which I am actually working on now , Is to put spacers or bushings on the bolts that hold the blades , Add vertical threaded rods to each side blade , which will be threaded through a fixed mount on top of each side rail , with a handle on top . Thus to change depth of blade on each side , it will be a simple situation of just turning the handle , moving that end of the blade to what ever depth I desire . In pictures above , I had to loosen all bolts , then slide blade to desired position and re-tighten bolts .I have seen graders / planes built with that type adjustment but some I seen had one handle which adjusted the entire blade were I want to adjust each end of blade differently . I have added more bracing from top of 3 point frame to back corners of side rails also , just have not taken any more pictures of grader since I first built it last summer .

Fred H.

 

[Rustyiron]

I have one of thesehttp://www.roadrunnerblade.com/index.html it works very well & the adjustable depth of cut is a must. I built one similar to the Roadrunner shown above but with the side plates & skid shoes moving rather than moving the blade assy. This will complicate a simple non adjustable build but it is worth it. My blade adjusts with a crank on each side from an 1" cut to about 4" above ground. This is for spreading piles of dumped material.

 

[94BULLITT]

John, are you going to used curved cutting edges?

I really like your LP Rusty Iron.

 

[crazyal]

Here's a link to Land Prides manual. If you look at the parts break down you can see how they do it. The blades are on a inner frame (#5) that has slotted holes. I think it has a range of 1" below the outer frame to a 1/2" above. If I was going to make one I would make the blades adjustable. Depending on how wet or dry your surface is will determine how high or low you set your blades. Also depending how heavy you plan on making it will also determine what height to set the blades at. When in loose gravel the extra weight will push the skids deeper into the gravel and will move too much gravel.

http://www.landpride.com/ari/attach/lp/public/manuals/303-230p.pdf

 

[PhysAssist]

Hi John,

I have no advice on, making a grader, but thanks for asking the question, because now I hafe even more information for when I do get around to making one.

Also I have to ask:

What are: a 5' "slasher blade", a "Jibb", and a "tree pusher"?

Thanks and G'Day,
Thomas

 

[BukitCase]

Rustyiron, your build really caught my eye a while back - so when I finally find that "tuit" (round, of course ) I'll be "borrowing" heavily from your ideas.

Thank you for all the pix, now if you'd just send me your Ironworker...

For others, to save searching

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/204355-road-grader-blade-progressing-pics.html

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/204942-road-grader-blade-add-3pt.html

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/202502-angle-grader-help.html

I know this is a pretty involved build, but after trying to get good results with my box blade I think it'll be worth the effort... Steve

 

[jwmorris]

I have one of thesehttp://www.roadrunnerblade.com/index.html it works very well & the adjustable depth of cut is a must. I built one similar to the Roadrunner shown above but with the side plates & skid shoes moving rather than moving the blade assy. This will complicate a simple non adjustable build but it is worth it. My blade adjusts with a crank on each side from an 1" cut to about 4" above ground. This is for spreading piles of dumped material.

What is the extra parts braced up on the rear and do you have more photos?

I think bukitcase answered my question with his first link. Looks to be a skid steer attachment to be used as a pusher.

 

[Jeembawb]

Dragalong

I do like your land leveller Fred - the one i bulit was a quick knockup out of stuff lying around and is still a work in progress. What i like about yours is the way you say it takes the material over to one side to create a crown, handy having the adjustable cutters for depth & angle. The only thing i don't like on most 3 pt hitch attached levellers is that (unless I'm missing something) they stay fairly rigidly set (even like the berends one below is fairly rigid, but maybe float mode & a deft hand on a hydraulic top link would cover it) so when you transition between grades (i.e. lumps & hollows) that you want smooth transitions for they either lift off the ground or dig in - I know you can try & feather the lift height etc but thats why I like the tow behind (set & go).



Here is a couple of pics of the work in progess Dragalong - some are while upside down when it was getting teeth & one is when it was using a bridle before it got the adjustable towbar (the front sleeve of it is a little bent after hitting a stump but I expected an issue with it because it was only thin wall stuff that was on hand at the time).



It is destined to get a set of wheels on the back mainly to lift to travel or reverse & maybe some slots in the front I beam to allow material thru & maybe some fingers that allow bigger rocks to go up over into the box to be able to deposit them somewhere else. As heavy as it is, more weight would be good (the wheels on back will help towards that) - one time when it had the bridle on, it hit a rock while going downhill and it flipped in the direction of travel - was like hitting a tree for a split second then seeing in the rear vision mirror this thing chasing me down the hill. The old patrol tows it ok but if its full of gravel going uphill when its slightly wet gets to be too much. When it gets extra weight with the wheels etc it might become a tractor or dozer job to tow it but at least with the hydraulic or electric actuated lift wheels i could release the load when it bites off too much.

Anyway - a lot of good ideas in one place I reckon too.