Land Plane

[450]

I am fixing to build me a land plane and have a couple of questions.

1) How far apart do the 2 cutting edges need to be?

2) My blades will be angled instead of straight across so what is the best angle?

3) How steep of a angle should the cutting blades be to the ground?

There are no stores up here so I can go look at one to figure this out so hopefully you guys can help me. Thanks

 

[shui5612]

What are you wanting to accomplish with the land plane? Do you want more scraping or better leveling performance or filling in potholes? Do you want your plane to collect as much material as possible or scrape more? What type of grade are you looking to use the plane on?

For question 1, depends on how many bladed you're wanting to put on the plane, could be one to four is usually what I've seen. Especially when angled you want your material to travel to one side of the plane and then the other. The more blades you have the better the result will be per pass.

2. The steeper the angle the more they will bite in and move. Material to one side. Meaning that you might get an overflow of material on one side and the second blade (angled other way) might not be able to keep up.
So the more angled your blades are, the more they will work on filling in potholes on either side rather than the center which would rely on the material filling in the pothole only when it's being transferred from side to side.

3. The angle of the blade to the ground will depend on whether you want to scrape or fill in/ "move" material more.
Yet again depends on what type of grade you're in and how compacted it is, etc.

Reason being is that ive helped build a couple planes that are used for ATV trails and narrow roads that are designed to create a "crown" in a single pass (the blades do not go all the way across the plane, but rather 1/2 to 3/4 of the way and only 1/3rd at the end (leaving a 1/3 in the center empty). While they are designed to plane dirt roads and gravel roads, they perform horribly on larger roads due to the creation of multiple crowns.

 

[YLee Kioti]

I am fixing to build me a land plane and have a couple of questions.

1) How far apart do the 2 cutting edges need to be?

2) My blades will be angled instead of straight across so what is the best angle?

3) How steep of a angle should the cutting blades be to the ground?

There are no stores up here so I can go look at one to figure this out so hopefully you guys can help me. Thanks

After watching the video from EA, the angle is 10 degrees on theirs.

Sorry can't help on the other questions.
Enjoy the build.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

10-15 degree angle is typical as is a 20"-24" spacing. Don't count on moving material side-side. It just does not do it more than an inch or so. They are great implements though, I have two of them. A 5 footer at 800lbs and a 7 footer at 1400lbs.

 

[Fallon]

Material doesnt move side to side. The angled blades help to prevent the whole blade from jumping or stalling when hitting a bump (washboard). That way only part of the blade is hitting the lump at any one time, increasing its cutting power.

Which basically means angle isnt that important.

The longer your LPGS is & the further apart the blades are the smoother it tries to make things. Essentially the same reason a road grader is so long. It averages any bumps out across the length of the machine.

 

[oosik]

I have a Land Pride - land plane grading scraper - LPGS. Its the GS2584 - 84" wide & 800 pounds. There are two down turned angle irons( 7/16" thick - 3"x3") with a reversible 1/2" thick by 6" tall blade bolted on each angle. These go across the unit at a 5 degree angle and are separated by 20" between blades.

Like Brian - and everybody who has used a LPGS has said - the unit WILL NOT move material horizontally.

This unit does a great job of smoothing. It has a zero learning curve - - hook it up - pull it.

 

[CADplans]

The dilemma with getting over 10-15 degree angle is that the landplane gets L O N G !! :confused2:

I got more than 15 degrees,, but, that was the max because of the length of the sides that I had,,
(IIRC, I ended up with 20 degrees,,,)

 

[bcp]

And if a blade is angled much, there will be quite a difference in height from side to side if you tilt the landplane up a bit in front.

Bruce

 

[crazyal]

My BEFCO has an inner frame that the angle iron is welded to that holds the blades. That slide up and down on the side skids. It's not much more work but it allows you to adjust the height of the blades. I find that I like the blades about a 1/2" to 3/4" of an inch above the skids for my final pass otherwise it will dig in too much. Not really what you asked but thought it could be helpful. Also weight is your friend. Make something that can hold cement blocks. It'll allow you to fine tune it to your tractor. Too light and the blades will skid over packed gravel while too heavy will act like an anchor.

 

[450]

Thanks for the info and the LP will be used for filling in potholes/washboard on gravel roads/driveways. I’m thinking it will be 6’ wide and 5’ long(the sides). The final weight will be around 600 lbs. I have a 6-way rear blade coming with the tractor also.