Moving material away from edges with box blade?

[the old grind]

A landscape rake wider than your tractor. Angle it to draw the dirt in. They are reasonably cheep.
Bought a nice used 7 footer for $400.00

This ^^^, for sure. A 7' landscape rake will pay for itself quickly in seat time saved. One of my CUTs' leveling link (rt side) has 3 holes for quick adjust, on another tractor I count turns up or down to tilt 2-3" hi-lo for either side. Turn the rake to 45^ as Rd1 says and walk along fences, curbs, brick borders, well as delicately as a JD5xxx can hold a tight enuf line. The 'upside' teeth should be just above ground, or more tilt may be indicated. Re-square, level-up, and follow up over all areas 1-2 quick passes to blend/level away from edges. (crown lanes/driveways this method, too)

What the L-rake does best (and blades don't much) is really scratch whatever sod, gravel, compost, stall muck you'd drag it across. No skipping because a rock or root tips it up and/or causes another ripple. Back blade is fine for uniformly loose and uniform gravel, etc, but needs angled to reduce ripples. IMO the rake does all that and more. Extra bite when you extend or swap out your top link for another 4-6".

I use a pre-owned 6' KK HD on ~5'-wide CUTs, and would recommend the 'KK-HD' in sizes larger or smaller. EA's top model is the 'Rolls Royce' of landscape rakes, and IMO exemplifies 'investment grade equipment'. Buy within budget, or borrow one to try out. I borrowed an EA 'deluxe' (my word) and hated to take it back to 'GP'. Best half-to-one $k tool you'll never have to service. t o g

 

[piaffepony]

This ^^^, for sure. A 7' landscape rake will pay for itself quickly in seat time saved. One of my CUTs' leveling link (rt side) has 3 holes for quick adjust, on another tractor I count turns up or down to tilt 2-3" hi-lo for either side. Turn the rake to 45^ as Rd1 says and walk along fences, curbs, brick borders, well as delicately as a JD5xxx can hold a tight enuf line. The 'upside' teeth should be just above ground, or more tilt may be indicated. Re-square, level-up, and follow up over all areas 1-2 quick passes to blend/level away from edges. (crown lanes/driveways this method, too)

What the L-rake does best (and blades don't much) is really scratch whatever sod, gravel, compost, stall muck you'd drag it across. No skipping because a rock or root tips it up and/or causes another ripple. Back blade is fine for uniformly loose and uniform gravel, etc, but needs angled to reduce ripples. IMO the rake does all that and more. Extra bite when you extend or swap out your top link for another 4-6".

I use a pre-owned 6' KK HD on ~5'-wide CUTs, and would recommend the 'KK-HD' in sizes larger or smaller. EA's top model is the 'Rolls Royce' of landscape rakes, and IMO exemplifies 'investment grade equipment'. Buy within budget, or borrow one to try out. I borrowed an EA 'deluxe' (my word) and hated to take it back to 'GP'. Best half-to-one $k tool you'll never have to service. t o g

I’m sorry my brain is not with it. EA is what brand? If it’s THAT awesome, then I wouldn’t mind investing if I could get rid of one of my other drags. (Chain harrow DR Power Grader that we usually tow with a gator). All these dang attachments are starting to take up a lot of space! (I miss my skid steer sooo much right now ).

 

[piaffepony]

I would probably make something sort of like this.

Field Tuff Adjustable Driveway Drag General General

The edge could have a little horizontal skid added so it wouldn't snag a tie.

Bruce

This would definitely be pretty easy to make with scraps I already have. I might just give this a shot. Thank you!

 

[Rebeldad1]

When I started using my landscape rake on my road I was very impressed. Got rid of my back blade and the box cutter.
The road started to show immediate results.

I wait till after a good two (ish) day rain spell and run the rake over the road. The biggest benifit of the rake is when I pull it very slow. It doesnt seperate the gravel from the dirt. This is my 3rd year using it and the road has never looked better.

 

[piaffepony]

When I started using my landscape rake on my road I was very impressed. Got rid of my back blade and the box cutter.
The road started to show immediate results.

I wait till after a good two (ish) day rain spell and run the rake over the road. The biggest benifit of the rake is when I pull it very slow. It doesnt seperate the gravel from the dirt. This is my 3rd year using it and the road has never looked better.

Nice! I need a landscape rake sooo bad. I’ve been on the fence about just selling the box blade. I found an adjustable angle grader blade on Facebook for $200. I was able to get the sides scraped more efficiently thank God! It’s also a lot easier to hook up by myself too.

 

[747driver]

I bought a used 5' sliding grader blade a few yrs ago. What a great piece of equip. I use it to keep our shallow ditches along our 1200' logging road clean. Great for as you have found out is how its easy to pull those built up edges back to the middle. It also makes nice culverts/ditches when you tilt and angle the blade ! Glad you found something that works for you !