Land plane/ grading scraper

senecak19 · Sep 8, 2013

Got a little work done today. I'm not sure how to accurately bend 3/8" plate so I ended up cutting the bottom slides, piecing them together and welding them. Looks a little rough, but a wire wheel and paint will fix that. Note, I didn't make the final bend on the end. Not sure what I want to do with that just yet. I did manage to get some more holes drilled. You'd think it'd be done in an hour or so, but I feel like I've been doing nothing but drilling holes. I guess the 3/8'th inch thick material is to blame. Five more holes to go and I'll be ready to finish welding everything.

jenkinsph · Sep 8, 2013

That will work on the skids. What are you using to drill the holes? I used a 5/8" holesaw to drill through the 4x4x1/2" angle iron

senecak19 · Sep 8, 2013

I'm using good HSS drill bits (no Chinese stuff). Starting with a spot drill and increasing in size until I hit the 1/2" mark which the grade 8 bolts fit through.

crazyal · Sep 8, 2013

After 3 years of use I've had to replace the skids on my GS. The gravel on my drive wears the front edge (where it's angled). You may want to think about making them easily replaceable.

jenkinsph · Sep 8, 2013

senecak19 said:
I'm using good HSS drill bits (no Chinese stuff). Starting with a spot drill and increasing in size until I hit the 1/2" mark which the grade 8 bolts fit through.

That is a lot harder way to do it than the holesaw method, with the holesaw you remove less material so it is faster and easier to do. With 3/8" material you could do that in 2 to 3 minutes max. per hole.

joshuabardwell · Sep 9, 2013

If you use a hole saw with a hand drill, do your very best to go as slow as you can. The RPMs of hand drills is too high for most sizes of hole saw, and will create excess heat, wear, and even may work-harden the piece instead of cutting it. I once heard the trick of cutting out a piece of foam with the hole saw, then soaking the foam in cutting fluid and setting it inside the saw while cutting, to keep the hole lubricated.

crazyal · Sep 9, 2013

One trick I do with hole saws and a hand held drill is I drill the pilot hoe first and use a solid 1/4" dowel instead of the drill bit to prevent the bit from catching and snapping.

senecak19 · Sep 9, 2013

Thanks guys. I'll give the hole saw a try. I have 5 more holes to go in the 3/8" thick angle iron. As for keeping the blades easily accessible, these 5 holes are the mounting holes for the blades.

People with long driveways are getting 3 years out of their scrap steel blades. I have no driveway at the moment. If I get this house my driveway will be relatively short. I'm hoping this thing with 3/8"x3" steel bar will uphold a while.

yelbike · Sep 9, 2013

joshuabardwell said:
If you use a hole saw with a hand drill, do your very best to go as slow as you can. The RPMs of hand drills is too high for most sizes of hole saw, and will create excess heat, wear, and even may work-harden the piece instead of cutting it. I once heard the trick of cutting out a piece of foam with the hole saw, then soaking the foam in cutting fluid and setting it inside the saw while cutting, to keep the hole lubricated.

That's a great tip. If only I could remember it when need it.

classacthollow · Sep 10, 2013

Another thanks, I will probably modify it to a 6' unit to meet the width of my tractor, It sure does look like a good one. There isn't a lot of them around our parts, they (dealers) would order one for me but I hate buying an expensive implement sight unseen. We do have a good steel yard fairly close and can do all kinds of special cutting etc. I can actually order some of the parts pre made.