Michigan member says Hi

markhait · Apr 3, 2017

Hello everyone.....I'm Mark from the Great Lakes state of Michigan.
I only live on 3 acres, but between my large pond and being on a private gravel road, it's about time that I seriously consider buying a tractor. I share our road with 3 other houses and a 50 acre horse boarder. The horse farm generates the most of the traffic and they're supposed to maintain the road because of that. Well, they don't and after 14 years of having my teeth rattle, I think I'm going to finally get off my high horse and be proactive.
I bought 3 tons of limestone gravel on this past Saturday and hand filled in about 1/3 of the pot holes in the road. The worst areas are still yet to come too!
I did an ok job, but certainly not what's needed for the long term.
What I'm thinking of doing is buy a tractor and box scraper. I'm the first house on this road and so I'm thinking about just maintaining from my driveway down to the county road. That's about 12 feet wide by about 350 feet. As you get closer to the county road the worse it gets.
I'm hoping with all your help, maybe you can steer me in the correct direction.
Thank you in advance!

davesl708 · Apr 3, 2017

Hi. Welcome.

Lots of smart people here at TBN.
Good luck with your search for a tractor.

zzvyb6 · Apr 3, 2017

Hi there !

I live in Brighton Township, also on a county dirt/gravel road. I have a 6' box blade and am 8' landscape rake. Believe me when I say that the rake (equipped with trailing gauge wheels) does the best job of smoothing out the roadway, freshening the gravel and producing a bump and hole free road. The box blade might be useful for scraping up some heavily packed dirt, but can't produce the same effect as the rake.

You need a rake that is more than the width of your tractor's wheels when it is angled to 45 degrees. This high angle digs up fresh stone, combs it to the side (center) and fills in the holes. Then you run it down the center at zero angle to produce a crown topped ridge.

Feel free to stop by and I can and will show you a before and after condition. A landscape (a.k.a. York) rake has dozens of closely spaced tines that dig into solid or loose material. The rear mounted gauge wheels ride the finished roadway behind the teeth, so that rough road tractor motions don't disrupt the smoothing process. I sometimes run down the county road as well as my driveway because it can become a tank trap from all the garbage truck traffic (sudden stopping tends to dig holes).

the old grind · Apr 3, 2017

^^ This ^^ and :welcome: from way up North .. near the 43rd parallel.

You can do fairly well with just the LR, but the gauge wheels can be cobbed together from just about anything handy and shouldn't be a big deal to come up with. It's by angling the tines that we prevent ripples that a Box Blade pretty much guarantees. For me, the BB is a snow tool more than a dirt tool, esp since I finally got my own LR.

t o g

oosik · Apr 4, 2017

Welcome to TBN and the forum. I have a mile long gravel driveway - nearest neighbor is 4.5 miles away and I have a few implements for maintenance of the driveway. Rear blade - works good for winter snow removal and dredging gravel up & out of the ditches. Not so good for summer maintenance. Roll over box blade - good for moving large amounts of material from here to there, filling in large pot holes. Land plane grading scraper - good for filling small pot holes, eliminating washboarding and smoothing things out. I also use my front end loader(FEL) and bucket to move material, spread it and level & compact it. My preferred implement for overall driveway maintenance is the LPGS.

Both the land plane grading scraper(LPGS) and the roll over box blade(ROBB) have adjustable teeth - scarifiers - to tear up the ground in and around pot holes. Pot holes must be scarified so the new material you add will bond with what is already there.

I have found that with a LONG driveway - maintenance is a continuous situation. There is always something that needs repair or can be improved/upgraded.

I agree with you 100%. If the others have proven unwilling to provide any road maintenance - then do that which is only yours. Maybe they will get the hint.

Winter snow removal with the rear blade is easy and a pleasant job. Summer maintenance can be difficult because my driveway will become concrete as it dries out after the spring rains. For 27 years I tried to get it done with a 28 horse power tractor and matching rear blade. It took me that long - I'm Norwegian - to realize I needed bigger equipment. I now have a 64 HP tractor and matching implements and this does the job - it still takes time though.

I pull the gravel out of the roadside ditches with the rear blade - its there because of winter snow plowing - heap it up on the driveway and level it out with the LPGS. I scarify the pot holes with the ROBB and bring in new material, spread and level with this same implement. I use the LPGS to smooth everything out, get rid of any washboarding and blend in the pothole repair material with the remainder of the driveway.

If your driveway has a good gravel surface, then you can move material/gravel with the bucket on the (FEL) and maybe forget about the box scraper. I would suggest a tractor in the 35-40 horse power range and a land plane grading scraper with scarifiers. I would suggest a rear blade for winter snow removal. If you get drifting and large amounts of snow - you might want to consider a 3-point snow blower. If you don't need a blower - don't get one - they can be a real PITA(pain in the azz) and will lead to nothing but a stiff neck and shoulders.

The LPGS is a good driveway maintenance implement - easy to learn and use. Basically you hook it up and drag it. The box scraper is good also - it takes longer to master but moves material well.

I have no experience with a landscape rake but many on TBN use them with good results.

Take a long look down the road and determine the size tractor you will need - a properly maintained tractor can/will last a lifetime. Properly sized implements will be determined based upon the tractor you purchase.

markhait · Apr 4, 2017

Wow! Thank you so much for all the thoughts and replies!!! See that I've already learned something....somehow I just naturally thought you "needed" a box scraper to grade a road....apparently not so.
zzvyb6 I live in Milford Twp....we're almost neighbors! If you have some time in the next few weeks I'd love to be able to stop by and pick your brains on this in person.
Both my sons play travel baseball and so my schedule is usually full, but I'm sure I could sneak out during the week sometime. I work in Howell and so would be driving right by you every night on my way home.

Thank you all so much for the quick replies and your input!!!