Land Pride grading scraper

[mlevendo]

I have the grading scraper somewhat shifted towards the right tire. I can adjust this via a bar that attaches to the right 3 pt arm (anti-sway bar, some have check chains). I adjust the pitch (correct term???) via a manual crank on the right PTO arm linkage to either drop the right arm lower than the left or raise it above the left arm. It's really not that big of a deal. You can get by with a grading scraper that is smaller than 1/2 the width of the gravel driveway but if you have a grader that is wider than 1/2 the driveway you will destroy the center crown on each pass because of the overlap of excess grader width. When I am maintaining the drive the front blade is set down to about 1/4 inch or so and the rear is level with the skids just to level/smooth the material. It would think it should not take that much horse power to just maintain the driveway. I can not say for sure though because my Massey is 60hp deisel so power has never been a problem for me. In my before and after photos on page 6 you can see my tracks and the tracks from the skids on the grading scraper.

 

[Tom_H]

Well, finally got a chance to use the LP GS1548 today.

Nine days ago, I went down into the delta about 45 miles away to pick it up. About 5 miles on the way back, the trailer got a flat tire out in the middle of nowhere, on a narrow levee road. Now AAA doesn't exactly come repair or replace trailer tires in situations like this. I avoided major freeways by staying on back country roads. Took me 4 hours to get 40 miles home with that thing a floppin' away. There was that one country road that had to have the bridge out and forced me to get on the freeway for one darned mile. The breakdown lane was just wide enough for my tow vehicle and trailer. Danged semi's kept zippin' by goin' 70 mph and missin' that big side view mirror by a whole three inches. That was the longest 6 minutes of the whole trip. I thought the draft was gonna suck that mirror off 'a there more than once!

Well, anyhow, finally got the thing home, brushhogged the field, including edges of the drive, built a dolly, moved GS to dolly with FEL and chains, raked away excess hay, and started grading.

newtatoobob, I am happy to say that a BX has far more than enough tractive power to handle an LP GS1548. There are, however, two very minor issues which are easily overcome with a little adaptation.

The first issue is that the lift points on the GS are so far apart that the lift arms on the BX must be pulled almost to their maximum spread to fit between the two "ears" on each side. Spreading the lift arms so far pulls the GS up very close to the tractor. Being so close to the tractor made me have to crank the top link down to its absolutely shortest length. Even in its shortest length, the top link is still so long that the GS cannot quite sit totally flat on the ground. With the 3ph in the down position, the fronts of the runners are higher than the rear. The rears touch down, but the fronts cannot touch down because the top link needs to be shorter. When grading, the rear blade must dig in a bit before the front blade will engage the surface, and the rear blade is digging deeper than the front. Nevertheless, the unit functions. I believe there are two possible solutions to this problem. Searching TBN archives, I found that there is one single Cat. 1 adjustable top link model that is shorter than the one Kubota provides with the BX: the Tisco JSA1009. My local JD dealer is a Tisco supplier and has ordered one for me ($25). The other possible solution is to insert extra long forge draw pins in the "ears" on each inner side of the "ears" on the GS. I picked up two of these:

Extra Long Forge Draw Pin, Category 1 - 0265121 | Tractor Supply Company

at TSC. A standard length pin would bolt to the inner "ear" without reaching the outer ear. This extra long pin has two advantages. Though it is not long enough to have a nut fit beyond the outer "ear", it can have the lock washer and nut torqued against the inner "ear" and the remainder of the threaded portion extends all the way through, though not beyond, the outer "ear". This allows the second "ear" to help absorb any tortional stresses. The second advantage is that this extra long pin allows the lift arms to be spread even less than a standard draw pin, although the standard pins pointed inward would be better than placing the lift arms between the "ears".

The second problem is only for BX owners (like me) who have put a Woods BH6000 backhoe on the tractor. Matt Baynard (TBN member "Scrounger") was the first to report this problem. When the lift arms are at maximum spread, they will strike the 4ph "guide ears" before reaching full lift height. This is the case when the GS1548 is on the 3ph. It has not been a real problem. I can get the GS on and off my dolly (6" wheels) just fine. It's just that I cannot lift it as high as I could were the Woods 4ph subframe not there. If I go with the shorter top link solution for the other problem (unit won't sit flat), this striking prior to full lift will still occur, though it is not a significant problem. If I go with the extra long forge draw pins as the solution to the other problem, this striking will likely no longer occur, as the lift arms (being closer together) can go to full height without hitting those little "guide ears" on the subframe 4ph.

For someone who has a BX, but not a Woods backhoe, and wants to use the GS1548, you would only need to go with the Tisco top link. It would solve the "laying flat" problem and there would be no striking. A BX with a Kubota backhoe does not have this striking problem. Only those of us with a Woods bh subframe need to consider the extra long forge draw pins.

I might possibly decide to use both the shorter top link and the extra long forge draw pins. When everything is here, I will just have to experiment and see. I will post again after trying each solution, as well as both at the same time.

newtatoobob, if you go with the GS1548, it will work just fine with your BX. Just need to also get the Tisco top link.

 

[Compact1]

I've been using my Landpride GS1572 grading scraper for over 1 month now and I'm happy with it's performance. I purchased the 72" model because I wanted the scraper to be wider than the tracks on my TC-33 (33 engine HP). Here are a few things I've learned about the scraper:

• 
  It would much more difficult to use without a hydraulic top-link. Shortening or lengthening the top-link drastically changes the performance of the scraper.

• 
  The scarifers do a good job of digging to the bottom of pot holes and loosening the existing material so it can be re-distributed.

• 
  Once the scraper is mounted, I can lower the right 3ph lower arm about 2" below the left lower arm to create a natural crown in the road.

• 
  The 72" model is almost too wide for my 33-hp tractor. 1st gear is a must (when moving a lot of material) and sometimes I loose traction when the scraper is full...especially when going up hill. This can be remedied by changing the top link or lifting the scraper (slightly) to distribute the rock instead of "carrying" the rock. I'm actually glad I bought the 72" model because it will work perfectly when I upgrade to a larger hp cab tractor.

 

[mlevendo]

Compact1 must be doing more driveway rework than just maintenance. I don't have to adjust the toplink to perform maintenance (smooth, bring gravel back to the surface, and enhance center crown) on my driveway, once the top link is set correctly. For maintenance I don't ever fill the scraper with material. The front balde scrapes the surface material up and it flows over the front blade and mixes the material a bit between the blades. The rear blade is slightly higher than the driveway so it levels out the mixed material. My goal is to do the maintenance more often so I don't have to do much material rework to repair pot-holes and ruts. It's a great implement for doing all this type of work though.

 

[newtattoobob]

Sorry I haven't wrote back, been real busy with work. I did go with the 48' and I'm happy with it behind my BX1850. It did an excellent job grading my driveway. Tom-H which BX model do you have? I didn't have any of the problems hooking mine up. I haven't tried it yet in the dirt with my BX, I think it may have a little bit of traction problems there because I did use it a little bit in the dirt behind my ford 8N and with the scarifers down it seemed to spin a little bit.

 

[Tom_H]

My BX is a 2200. I have ag tires, which are a real advantage in this application, and drive in low range at low throttle.

 

[Tom_H]

I got the Tisco top link today. It is about an inch shorter than the one Kubota provides with the BX. It allowed the GS1548 to sit level on the ground instead of the leading (front) edge being slightly higher than the rear. It still was not short enough to camber in the opposite direction, however, so I also put the forge draw pins on, which solved the problem completely. I did not try using just the draw pins with the Kubota top link, however I think that may have worked.

It ocurred to me that extending the lift arms with Pat's easy change extenders may have worked as a solution, however the space between the "ears" may be too narrow for them to fit.

Early BX models did not have the same exact 3ph as today's models. Two other posters have reported that they have used the LP GS1548 on a BX with no issues, therefore I am guessing this situation is limited to early models. How the smaller BX models (1500, 1860) would do, I am not sure. I did discover that if the grader fills completely, enough drag can accumulate that my BX2200 can no longer pull it. A slight bump upward on the lift arms pretty much overcomes that however.

 

[mlevendo]

I used my grading scraper many times over the course of this summer. It works great. It is the best investments I made to ease the maintenance of our 1/2 mile gravel driveway. We had four 12yrd loads of class 5 dumped in an area that was pretty soft last spring. I used the grading scraper to distribute and shape the fresh gravel. It took several passes to get the job done with good results. I think I could have done it quicker with my rear blade though. Maintaining the driveway with the grading scraper is far quicker with better results than using the rear blade but I think for more major dirt work and shaping it is quicker to use the rear blade. With these two implements I can handle pretty much any task needed for my driveway... and of course my snow blower for snow removal.

 

[TripleR]

No buildings were on the 135 acres my wife and I bought but now we are finishing up our new house on the property. We had a pond dug in an area that was drained off by a drainage ditch that was put in by the local farmers many many years ago. Our future goal is to work with the DNR and Fish and Wildlife to do some native plants/grasses restoration of the land and then get it locked into a land trust as a native preserve. It's going to take a long time to do the restoration but it will be worth it in the long run.

We have a farm similar to that only it had an old house and barn. My father in law bought when he retired and we put in some ponds and stocked them and also took all of the land out of cultivation. We planted four varieties of native grasses as well as quite a few trees. He passed away several years ago and we are maintaining it now with the help of our children. It is a lot of work, but very well worth it. We maintain contact with ASCS and they have tours on it in the spring.

 

[Pushing_Tin]

Bumping this old thread. I bought a 48" LP/GS and it's amazing! It's so much better than my old box scraper was. I paid $1000 for mine, expensive but it will soon pay for itself.