Thanks for all the replies! Seems like a land plane would be a good investment for me. I'm really leaning toward building my own. Would a 5 foot plane be too much for my little Yanmar 1700? The drive is mostly flat with one incline in a sharp turn.
Very true Gordon. My flat driveway does have a valley. Right in the middle. Steep entrance - 150 feet across - steep out. I've never had problem with the LPGS in the summer - in the valley.^^^^ All true about the ease pulling 7'er but you also said your road is flat. A good hill makes a huge difference.
gg
When it comes to land levelers and planes higher quality definitely pays for itself. All it takes is one well placed root or rock and the cheaper ones get all bent out of shape. Next thing you know your "plane" will be anything but flat.I have a Yanmar 1700 I bought to maintain my gravel driveway, about 1/8 mile. 1/3 of the drive is solely mine and 2/3 of it are shared. My part is #57 gravel and basically just need to spread/level the gravel. The remaining 2/3 is finer material, packed hard with some potholes. I have a 5 foot grader blade and used it to spread gravel on mine, but couldn't get it nice and level.
I am thinking a land plane may be more useful for my situation. Looks like it could get the gravel on my part nice and level and I could use it on the shared part without risk of making it worse. If this is accurate, what do I need in a land plane? I'm thinking 4 foot wide? Does it need scarifies to fix the potholes? Would one of the cheap ones ($600-800) work for this situation or is it worth it for the beefier ones ($1500-2000)? Also considering building one myself.
Any suggestions? Thanks!
I used a 72" landplane for several years behind my old Kubota L3010 to maintain my 1.25 mile private gravel road. The 30HP tractor had no trouble pulling it, but due to the numerous grade changes, I had difficulty adjusting it so it wouldn't move more material than was necessary. I eventually sold it and bought an 8' York rake with scarifier, flip up grader blade and gauge wheels.
Actually, I added the T&T kit after I sold the landplane. Yes, it likely would have helped. I probably should have kept the LP but I needed cash to buy the rake.I am surprised that you had trouble controlling the aggressiveness of your landplane on the fly with your hydraulic top link. For my landplane set-up the hydraulic top link allows a lot of finesse when encountering grade changes. Allows me to keep the skids flat on the surface thru a grade transition. Maybe it is a matter of landplane geometry difference ??? Even on flat going I use the T-L to keep the cut the way I want as the road surface changes. Shorten the top link for a more aggressive cut. Lengthen it for less aggressive.
gg