Land Pride grading scraper

[Jaylegger]

Ok guys thanks, this is what I would consider compelling evidence to stick with the 48" unit as I often grade when the ground is damp due to the relative ease of breaking through the surface. With luck the 48" will at times be too much for the tractor then I'll never have that nagging thought to try the larger one. As consolation at least the 48" offers the highest weight per foot of blade at around 109 pounds per as opposed to 102 :thumbsup: .

Thanks to all.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Ok guys thanks, this is what I would consider compelling evidence to stick with the 48" unit as I often grade when the ground is damp due to the relative ease of breaking through the surface. With luck the 48" will at times be too much for the tractor then I'll never have that nagging thought to try the larger one. As consolation at least the 48" offers the highest weight per foot of blade at around 109 pounds per as opposed to 102 :thumbsup: .

Thanks to all.

Once you get it and use it, please come back and give us a report on it. Good, bad, if it is too small, pictures using it. I'm sure we would all appreciate it.

 

[Jaylegger]

Once you get it and use it, please come back and give us a report on it. Good, bad, if it is too small, pictures using it. I'm sure we would all appreciate it.

I'll definitely be doing that. That's of course assuming I don't do something stupid like purchase the 60" just to prove you guys correct. In that case you may not here from me.

 

[irvingj]

Jaylegger, Ive been thinking about it for over a year, and I just plunked down $1299 for a DR Power Grader in the 60" size. I'll pick it up when weather permits, most likely within the next few weeks; if you like, I can give you feedback on that machine after I've used it.

In going through old records, I've found that I've been spending between $300 and $700 every three to five years on driveway maintenance; hopefully, the DR thing will take care of that....

I went with the 60" because my driveway's about 12' - 13' wide, and I'm thinking the GC should be able to handle it OK. Anyway, the check's in the mail!

In the future, I'm also planning to bring in a lot of topsoil to replace the sand in my lawn for some major landscaping, and it should prove useful there, as well-- I hope.

 

[ManAtArms]

Just to chime in here...I used to have a DR Power Grader, then bought a GS1560. The GS1560 is much more capable, heavier, more aggressive, and is WAY more heavy duty. The DR would be good for a very small tractor or ATV. I can pull the GS1560 behind my M59 and it holds up fine. The only thing better than the Landpride for driveway maintenance is a Harley rake, but they cost 6 times as much.

Just a guess, but I would think you would need about 40 horse to pull the 60" unit with the teeth down, another alternative is to not lower the teeth all the way and make more passes. Also I think this will also depend upon how heavy your tractor is and how hard the ground is.

-Mark

 

[irvingj]

Thanks for the input, ManAtArms. My tractor is small, driveway's not in horrible shape.... That Land Pride unit is heavier, I can see that. I'm hoping I don't need something quite so heavy-duty.

I'm also keeping in mind the 6-month return policy DR touts, should it not prove effective. Time wil tell.

 

[ManAtArms]

Thanks for the input, ManAtArms. My tractor is small, driveway's not in horrible shape.... That Land Pride unit is heavier, I can see that. I'm hoping I don't need something quite so heavy-duty.

I'm also keeping in mind the 6-month return policy DR touts, should it not prove effective. Time wil tell.

irvingj,

The DR unit is nice light duty unit. If you have a good base of crushed stone or dust it will work very well.

Weak spots include the tow arm assembly (watch for bending when you turn) and the scarifying teeth, as they can get knocked out of wack if you hit a nice subsurface rock. The towing arm has a shear bolt. It works well, and I would recommend you buy a 5 pack so you have them.

The only other issue with it is the weight...you can only put so much weight in the plastic box. Again, if you're dealing with a nice surface that needs to be touched up, or dragging a ring, it works very well, but it just can't put the down pressure on the ground like a 3-pt. grading scrapper can.

As you mentioned, the good thing is that DR has an excellent return policy, so if you have any issues you won't be stuck.

Good luck and enjoy!

 

[irvingj]

Thanks. I'm hoping it will be just about right for the job.

When I built the house 24 years ago, the driveway went WAY overbudget-- it's quite wet here, with underground flow, and even some springs upslope about a half mile.

Fortunately, the VT gentleman I hired to do the excavation convinced me not to skimp; for the 200' main part of the driveway, he had 360 tons of 5" stone brought in, topped by another 145 tons or so of what we call "crusher run." It was very sound advice, and I'm glad I listened to him.

It has held up admirably over the years, but does require work every so often to fill in the inevitable ruts that form due to water from heavy rains.

Here's what it looks like when not covered in snow or ice (like today....:

 

[Gordon Gould]

Jaylegger - Your getting good info here. But I had a thought - I believe Land Pride makes a version of the GS1560 without scarifiers for less money ( Alas it is lighter but you could add wt ) anyway you could use your trusty boxblade for the scarifier passes and then switch to the GS1560 to finish up.
Just a thought.
Also the GS1560 has so many adjustment points: Blade depth, scarifier depth and number of scarifiers down, plus with your top link could lift the blades so you were just running the scarifiers. You could always make it work by picking the right day (conditions) or trading off the number of passes you make. But if you wanted to be fast about it on any given day go with the GS1548. Good luck.

 

[ManAtArms]

You should have no problems using the DR power grader on that driveway. However, if you wanted to dig down 4" and then smooth the surface I would say you need a grading scraper.

-mark

Thanks. I'm hoping it will be just about right for the job.

When I built the house 24 years ago, the driveway went WAY overbudget-- it's quite wet here, with underground flow, and even some springs upslope about a half mile.

Fortunately, the VT gentleman I hired to do the excavation convinced me not to skimp; for the 200' main part of the driveway, he had 360 tons of 5" stone brought in, topped by another 145 tons or so of what we call "crusher run." It was very sound advice, and I'm glad I listened to him.

It has held up admirably over the years, but does require work every so often to fill in the inevitable ruts that form due to water from heavy rains.

Here's what it looks like when not covered in snow or ice (like today....:

 

[jenkinsph]

Jaylegger - Your getting good info here. But I had a thought - I believe Land Pride makes a version of the GS1560 without scarifiers for less money ( Alas it is lighter but you could add wt ) anyway you could use your trusty boxblade for the scarifier passes and then switch to the GS1560 to finish up.
Just a thought.
Also the GS1560 has so many adjustment points: Blade depth, scarifier depth and number of scarifiers down, plus with your top link could lift the blades so you were just running the scarifiers. You could always make it work by picking the right day (conditions) or trading off the number of passes you make. But if you wanted to be fast about it on any given day go with the GS1548. Good luck.

I agree that using your boxblade for the scarifier passes and using a landplane grader without them would be a more economical approach. If you have limited power and weight I would go with the 48" model.

 

[Jaylegger]

Thanks everyone for the replies. irvingj, good luck with your grader and yes report back. I already have the Landpride on order but your thoughts on that particular grader would be appreciated.

Gordon, I thought about going scarifierless but where my boxblade is rather light (240 lbs.) the scarifiers always had trouble digging into the hard packed road so the extra weigh of the grader will definitely speed up that process.

I ended up ordering the GS1548 thanks to everyone's excellent input on the matter. Despite that, however, my gut is still telling me the 1560, on the ground I'm using it for, would be manageable for the tractor (yes I'm stubborn). I've also now had two Landpride reps (one head office employee and a local distributor rep) tell me my tractor should handle the 60" ok. Also, I was at a tractor supply outlet yesterday and they had a 4" boxblade on display and I was surprised at how small that thing was compared with my, only 1 foot larger, 5 foot boxblade. It gave me pause yet once again regarding the 4 foot grader being too small which didn't at all help with my post purchase anxiety.

The decision to buy my tractor took about 10 minutes.

By the way irvingj, I just installed the joystick for the chute and rotator motors and it's one slick unit. My wife has the camera but will post some pics in the MF thread later.

 

[irvingj]

"By the way irvingj, I just installed the joystick for the chute and rotator motors and it's one slick unit. My wife has the camera but will post some pics in the MF thread later."

Saw the pics, very slick!

And yes, I'll be happy to report back on the DR (60"); might be a while, however-- got a lot lof trees to clean up after the last storm! Thinking it would be nice to be able to actually see the driveway surface again; this is what it looked like yesterday, and then this AM.

 

[powerstroke444e]

Got a 48 inch landpride this weekend and got to use it, local dealer in litchfield il told me take it home if you don't like it bring it back LOL. I have half mile of drive with lots of heavy trucks on it and needless to say it will not be going back I should have taken photo but didnt think about it till I was done.
I am glad I went with the 48 as I am able to stay on each side of the crown. I put it behind the b26 and was amazed how it worked.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Got a 48 inch landpride this weekend and got to use it, local dealer in litchfield il told me take it home if you don't like it bring it back LOL. I have half mile of drive with lots of heavy trucks on it and needless to say it will not be going back I should have taken photo but didnt think about it till I was done.
I am glad I went with the 48 as I am able to stay on each side of the crown. I put it behind the b26 and was amazed how it worked.

:thumbsup: Congradulations on your new grader :thumbsup:

Another name added to the growing list of believers.
And I think the more you use it the better you will like it.

gg

 

[powerstroke444e]

:thumbsup:Gordon Gould;And I think the more you use it the better you will like it.


I agree just wish it was a little less wet as it still to wet to work on most of my drive.

 

[Jaylegger]

For a quick follow up, I picked up my GS1548 today and within 45 minutes after getting it home I had the road graded. Whatever apprehension I had with whether it would be worth the cost over just continuing to use my boxblade and the question of what size to get have all been erased or should I say obliterated. What a wonderful tool for grading these scrapers are, with no more than the dealers setup which set both scrapers approx 3/4 inch below grade the grader worked far better than I expected and has exceeded all expectations. I managed to finish the driveway, without using scarifiers, in about a third the time it takes with the boxblade and the end result is remarkably better (excellent mix of fines and course stone).

Regarding the size question of whether to get the 48" or 60" scraper I'm glad I listened to those here who convinced me to to go with the smaller unit. The pull on the tractor is a little more than I was anticipating with the grader loaded up. It's no problem at all in low range but more speed is definitely your friend with this grader than low range can muster. Operating the GC2600 in high range at 2500rpm is just about a perfect match of gearing and power, if I went with the 5 foot model I'm sure there'd be some bogging at times. The 48" model feels just right with the GC2600.

The only thing that has attempted to take the shine of this purchase is the dealer ordered it in orange not yellow and the scarifiers did not accompany the shipment. Despite the implement being this rather nauseating and putrid orange color to say I'm pleased with this purchase would be a slight understatement. :thumbsup::thumbsup: I thought my boxblade did a great job, and it did, but this grader/scraper is definitely the correct and better tool for the job.

Here's a couple photos of the grader and a couple snippets of the final product.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

You have become another believer, no longer a doubter. :thumbsup: These grader blades are simply unbelievable with how well they work. ALL of them, big, small, heavy, light they all seem to work very well. It seems like unless you have used or seen in person how well that they work, people just do not believe how well that they do indeed work.

I have not come across one single person here on TBN that has one of these grader blades that is not happy with it and yet when someone asks about them, there is always someone that is against them for one reason or another. Those of us that have them know better. Sorry about the paint job. You could always repaint it, that's what I did.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Thanks for reporting back. Glad you are happy :thumbsup: and got the size that was right for you. Seeing a picture of your tractor it looks to me like you made the right choice. As Brian said, everyone who has one new you would be happy. Have fun.

 

[Jaylegger]

Much of my apprehension purchasing this grader was due to watching the two videos floating around on youtube of the unit in action. Imo, both the Kubota dealer vid and the Everything Attachments vid both portray the grader in a rather unimpressive light. In both videos it appears to me that it would take an unusually long time to grade a road using this grader when, at least in my circumstances, nothing could be further from the truth. Perhaps it's just me but when both the blades load up with cascading gravel it's symphonic.