Land Plane weight does it matter

[aeblank]

3/4" crusher run. Thinking to lengthen the top link so front cutting edges are off the ground and use the back of the rear blade to smooth?

X2
I have to do this seemingly despite how dry everything is. I'm in nearly pure sand, which i've always attributed as the source of my "problem".

 

[brown40]

I don't have a land plane--I have a box blade and rear blade, so there's no way to justify a plane... Everything else equal, I make weight the determining factor for purchasing decisions--especially when ground engagement is the job. If there's no clear winner more steel wins.

 

[crazyal]

When I was looking I ended up buying a BEFCO land plane. It was about the same price as the LandPride but came with the rippers. It's worked great for me.

 

[jenkinsph]

X2
I have to do this seemingly despite how dry everything is. I'm in nearly pure sand, which i've always attributed as the source of my "problem".

How do you have your blades set? Raising the blades if adjustable would help when running in sand. I have my blades set flush with the skids in sandy loam soil.

 

[aeblank]

How do you have your blades set? Raising the blades if adjustable would help when running in sand. I have my blades set flush with the skids in sandy loam soil.

They're set as shallow as possible, which I assume is flush (don't recall exactly).

 

[JerryK]

While weight of the LP may indicate a heavier ' build ', it also helps a little in the initial pass on your road to help the blades dig in. You 'usually' set it up so the rear blade is held down by the top link, if you don't it will tend to just ride up on the front blade... with the rear just going along for the ride. Once you get a mound of gravel built up inside the LP, the weight of the gravel is what makes LP cut down deeper and deeper into the bad spots. The blades are usually set at an angle, not to move gravel from side to side, but to help them slice/cut into the hard surface some. The Everything Attachments made LP's are pretty good units.

 

[JerryK]

3/4" crusher run. Thinking to lengthen the top link so front cutting edges are off the ground and use the back of the rear blade to smooth?

Run your LP backwards [ back up ] and it will level the lumps. Works great for me. Or you can use your FEL bucket dragging backwards....

 

[jenkinsph]

While weight of the LP may indicate a heavier ' build ', it also helps a little in the initial pass on your road to help the blades dig in. You 'usually' set it up so the rear blade is held down by the top link, if you don't it will tend to just ride up on the front blade... with the rear just going along for the ride. Once you get a mound of gravel built up inside the LP, the weight of the gravel is what makes LP cut down deeper and deeper into the bad spots. The blades are usually set at an angle, not to move gravel from side to side, but to help them slice/cut into the hard surface some. The Everything Attachments made LP's are pretty good units.

Sounds good in theory but is not accurate in practice.^^^^

Weight of the land plane grader scraper makes a huge difference in the first pass and subsequent passes.

The weight of the material being carried by the lpgs does contribute some additional weight but is not the major force providing downward pressure.

With angle blades at about 10 to 15 degrees there isn't much slicing effect and is over rated. One benefit of the angled blades is that you have spillage on one side of the plane primarily, with successive passes that overlap you can get a smoother appearance.

With a straight blade lpgs you can shorten the top link and cut at a uniform depth across the width. Not possible with angle blades, the leading edge will cut deeper on its side while the trailing edge will cut less.

In my world I would not lose a minutes sleep over the differences between straight and angled blades.

Weight per foot of width, width of skids, length of skids, cutting depth of blades and rigidity of the frame work are all important and will make a difference in how effective the lpgs is.

Gordon Gould pointed out years ago that clearance between the blades and frame to allow a free flow of materials is important. He is absolutely correct about this, both of my land planes could use more clearance in field work. When I have time I will modify my lpgs to allow more clearance.

 

[jenkinsph]

Run your LP backwards [ back up ] and it will level the lumps. Works great for me. Or you can use your FEL bucket dragging backwards....

Brian (Mountain View Ranch) and I both operate our lpgs in reverse frequently and I agree that it does help smooth the surface for a final pass.

 

[Michael Aos]

As a data point, I have the 437lb GS1548 w/QH05 on my 2016 BX2370. Seems to work great.