My drive way ran away.

[Red Zebra]

Apparently my driveway did not like the recent heavy rains in middle TN and so promptly decided to relocate itself further down the hill!

Looking at the box blade to help with relocating and smoothing the rocks.
Has anybody adapted a 3pt box blade successfully for a 4XX tractor?

Have looked at the offerings at the Co-Op and TSC...but they look awfully heavy for the 425 to be able to back-pull a load on loose gravel.
The PT BB looks stout but more "basic"....maybe a little lighter?

Any input from you bretheren?

 

[Rivco]

For smoothing, leveling, and back grading dirt, gravel, and 3/4" stone I adapted a york rake for my 180...while it isn't as strong as a box blade it worked very well for my needs...plus it worked great for pulling out brush, leaves, and debris.

 

[KentT]

Apparently my driveway did not like the recent heavy rains in middle TN and so promptly decided to relocate itself further down the hill!

Looking at the box blade to help with relocating and smoothing the rocks.
Has anybody adapted a 3pt box blade successfully for a 4XX tractor?

Have looked at the offerings at the Co-Op and TSC...but they look awfully heavy for the 425 to be able to back-pull a load on loose gravel.
The PT BB looks stout but more "basic"....maybe a little lighter?

Any input from you bretheren?

I adapted a King Kutter XB 48" one that I bought at TSC -- simply because I had just bought it for the Kubota I replaced with the PT. I knew I wouldn't get my money back out of it if I let it go with the Kubota, so I kept it and adapted it to the PT.

But, I haven't used it enough to give you any feedback on it, though I do agree that it is quite a bit heavier duty than the PT box blade. The 425 seems to handle it's 295 pound weight with ease. I liked the fact that the King Kutter has agressive, adjustable (and replaceable) rippers in comparison...

It was quite easy to adapt it. I put the original bracing inside the lower hitch points (rather than outside as shown above, and then the PT's QA plate fits fairly well inside the 3-PT hitch framework. Just make sure that you angle the plate forward at the top -- toward the original rear of the boxblade. Match the angle of the PT's QA plate when fully lowered, allowing yourself some forward and back tilt. I had the guy who welded it up for me shorten the long (back) braces, angling the original 3-PT frame setup toward the rear (what becomes the PT's front), then weld the QA plate up inside that triangle. He welded all the "bolt-on" bracing and reinforced it a bit to be able to handle more pushing forces, though I don't recall exactly where -- and it's now in Tennessee so I can't snap a pic. As I recall, I had to do some trimming at the original 3-point hitch's two bottom points, to clear the "pivot bolts" on the PT's QA setup.

If I remember I'll get some pics when I'm down there in a few days... I don't pan to use it this trip (this is a spring-time planting trip) but I'll lilely be using in during the next planned trip in June to do some levelling.

 

[KentT]

For smoothing, leveling, and back grading dirt, gravel, and 3/4" stone I adapted a york rake for my 180...while it isn't as strong as a box blade it worked very well for my needs...plus it worked great for pulling out brush, leaves, and debris.

My used PT came from Rich with a modified Howse 60" landscape rake complete with guide wheels. I've used it a little, but not much -- I'm not to that point yet in my building/landscaping projects. One thing to point out is that Rich did not angle the QA plate when he had it mounted, so it's range of tilt functions is a bit out of whack...

 

[Rivco]

My used PT came from Rich with a modified Howse 60" landscape rake complete with guide wheels. I've used it a little, but not much -- I'm not to that point yet in my building/landscaping projects. One thing to point out is that Rich did not angle the QA plate when he had it mounted, so it's range of tilt functions is a bit out of whack...

I had the gauge wheels that came with the rake mounted for a while but found that back pulling the rake ( using the float on & off ) worked a lot better. I also replaced the attachment plate tilt Cyl. control valve with a float detent valve that worked very well for certain applications as needed. Because I mounted the rake very close to the attachment plate I had a very good range of tilt.

 

[Barryh]

For smoothing, leveling, and back grading dirt, gravel, and 3/4" stone I adapted a york rake for my 180...while it isn't as strong as a box blade it worked very well for my needs...plus it worked great for pulling out brush, leaves, and debris.

Hey, Richard hows everything these days?

I just ordered 45 extra heavy duty tines from ACS. I plan to build my own landscape rake. 4 to 5 ft with some tines left over in case a break a few.

Thinking I will bolt on a trailer hitch to the front bucket with reinforced steel on the front edge to make sure I don't bend the front bucket edge.

I plan to use it on the front with a 4 ft extension for raking leaves and debre out of my woods. I also would use it on the back for smoothing out ruts and ditches since I don't have a box blade yet.

How well do you think this will work for light duty grading with the extra heavy tines. I plan to mount it on a 4x4 steel tube for some added weight. maybe guide wheels when using it on the back

 

[Red Zebra]

Thanks all !

I like the idea of a landscape rake. It looks like it would work better for
what I want to do anyway.

PT's rake looks like a back scratcher....compared to the one offered by TSC.

 

[Rivco]

Hey, Richard hows everything these days?

barry,
As you can tell by the number of replies I've posted over the last few days...spring is here and I have a serious case of sellers remorse (PT-180 ) I might have to do something about that
If you look at the multi attachment frame I built for my pallet forks ( PT pallet fork thread ) you'll notice the 2" welded receiver. This setup might be a good way for you to have several attachments..including but not restricted to pallet forks, landscape rake, trailer mover, hydraulic boom lift (engine hoist ), work platform, grapple forks, hay forks, etc. etc. or what ever your imagination can come up with. Just weld on a set of FEL attachment brackets to the frame. I paid over
$ 500.00 for the York brand rake W/guage wheels....then I modified it to fit the 180 , so if you build a rake to fit your needs you should be able to do it for a lot less $$$. The rake worked very well for my needs, but it can't compare with a dedicated box blade.

 

[EddieWalker]

For gravel roads to last any amount of time, they need to be at least 4 inches thick. If your gravel washed off the road, then it will just do it again until you get enough rock on there to hold it all together.

The second problem that caused gravel drives to fail is not having enough drainage. If the water washes over the road, it will fail. No amount of gravel is enough if you can't get the water away from it. The faster the better.

Create drainage ditches, put in culverts and crown the top of the road. When that's done, buy enough rock to get your 4 inch minimum thickness and you'll just have to worry about minor maintenance over the years.

To maintain a gravel drive, add rock. Those who drag boxblades, rakes and other tools over their gravel drives are speeding up the process of erossion. One good boxblading session can take years off the life of the road. It might be smoother for awhile, but that's just temporary.

Eddie

 

[Barryh]

barry,
As you can tell by the number of replies I've posted over the last few days...spring is here and I have a serious case of sellers remorse (PT-180 ) I might have to do something about that
If you look at the multi attachment frame I built for my pallet forks ( PT pallet fork thread ) you'll notice the 2" welded receiver. This setup might be a good way for you to have several attachments..including but not restricted to pallet forks, landscape rake, trailer mover, hydraulic boom lift (engine hoist ), work platform, grapple forks, hay forks, etc. etc. or what ever your imagination can come up with. Just weld on a set of FEL attachment brackets to the frame. I paid over
$ 500.00 for the York brand rake W/guage wheels....then I modified it to fit the 180 , so if you build a rake to fit your needs you should be able to do it for a lot less $$$. The rake worked very well for my needs, but it can't compare with a dedicated box blade.

Thats actually what I'm doing with the trailer hitch idea, multi attachments for front and back.

Looking forward to seeing what tractor you do end up with. Another PT maybe?

 

[MossRoad]

For gravel roads to last any amount of time, they need to be at least 4 inches thick. If your gravel washed off the road, then it will just do it again until you get enough rock on there to hold it all together.

The second problem that caused gravel drives to fail is not having enough drainage. If the water washes over the road, it will fail. No amount of gravel is enough if you can't get the water away from it. The faster the better.

Create drainage ditches, put in culverts and crown the top of the road. When that's done, buy enough rock to get your 4 inch minimum thickness and you'll just have to worry about minor maintenance over the years.

To maintain a gravel drive, add rock. Those who drag boxblades, rakes and other tools over their gravel drives are speeding up the process of erossion. One good boxblading session can take years off the life of the road. It might be smoother for awhile, but that's just temporary.

Eddie

I tend to agree with your comments...

Why would someone want to drag scarifiers through a roadbed? It would loosen up everything that has taken years to pack down. We always had non-paved drives when I was a kid. We never used gravel, as it is round and won't lock together. Tires tend to push it out of the way and make two side ridges and one center ridge. Crushed rock or slag from a steel mill are better choices than gravel, in my opinion.

 

[KentT]

I tend to agree with your comments...

Why would someone want to drag scarifiers through a roadbed? It would loosen up everything that has taken years to pack down. We always had non-paved drives when I was a kid. We never used gravel, as it is round and won't lock together. Tires tend to push it out of the way and make two side ridges and one center ridge. Crushed rock or slag from a steel mill are better choices than gravel, in my opinion.

Once you get pot-holes or deep ruts, though, the ONLY solution is to cut down below them and respread all the material...

Filling a pothole or a deep rut is typically a "band-aid" that won't last...

 

[EddieWalker]

Kent,

I think we are in agreement here, but let me expand on what you said. If you have a pot hole or low spot, just dumping more rock on it won't fix it.

The new rock has to become part of the old rock, so you need to break up the old rock so that it will all lock together. For these types of repairs, I use the teeth in my backhoe, but I for smaller areas, I just use a pickaxe. My rock is too hard packed together for it to come apart by hand, but with the pointed end of the pickaxe, I can break it up. Then I dump the rock on top of the loose rock and smooth it out.

After you add the new rock, it's a simple matter of just driving over it a bunch of times to lock it all back together.

The rest of the road is not desturbed, so there is no fear of long term damage. The new area will quickly blend into the old rock and become just as strong.

Eddie

 

[Red Zebra]

Thanks Eddie. You're right. The gravel that has washed away was new layer put down while the house was being built. Planning drains/ditch to keep water from reaching the drive.

 

[ponytug]

I would just add that you want to add angular gravel, with fines. i.e. unwashed crushed rock. The fines are important to packing the roadbed together. For patching potholes, I would second Eddie Walker's comments, but that I usually add extra fines, i.e. clay/unwashed sand back into the hole to help it fuse. When you are done adding material, don't forget to compact it.

Depending where you are in the country there may be other materials available, such as slag, or blue rock, that will compact into a good roadbed.

One ranch that we were at had a heavy equipment operator that loved to drag the road with a box bland, and as a result it was always developing potholes...

All the best,

Peter

 

[LBrown59]

I tend to agree with your comments...

Why would someone want to drag scarifiers through a roadbed? It would loosen up everything that has taken years to pack down. We always had non-paved drives when I was a kid. We never used gravel, as it is round and won't lock together. Tires tend to push it out of the way and make two side ridges and one center ridge. Crushed rock or slag from a steel mill are better choices than gravel, in my opinion.

Slag is much better than gravel.
It's lighter so you get more of it per ton and it spreads farther than gravel.

 

[EddieWalker]

Slag might be alright for a gravel roadbase, but it's not as good as limestone or other rocks. The problem with slag is that it lacks the strenght of rock and breaks down fairly quickly. We have access to a glass looking black slag and a grey rock looking slag. The black stuff is pure junk, but the grey slag is fine for light use. It's no good for an underlayment or to pave over because of it's weakness. Another problem with slag is that it comes in one size at a time. You can have it mixed, but it's not the same as rock. From what I've seen, it's applied with the larger rocks first, then a layer of thinner rocks and then a layer of what they call fines. When you drive over it, it's solid and it looks great. Then after a few heavey rains, the fines start to disapear and the road gets rough. It just keeps getting rougher with use and rain.

Use what the highway and county uses on their roads. Allot of thought went into what they use and why they use it.

Eddie

 

[MossRoad]

Slag might be alright for a gravel roadbase, but it's not as good as limestone or other rocks. The problem with slag is that it lacks the strenght of rock and breaks down fairly quickly. We have access to a glass looking black slag and a grey rock looking slag. The black stuff is pure junk, but the grey slag is fine for light use. It's no good for an underlayment or to pave over because of it's weakness. Another problem with slag is that it comes in one size at a time. You can have it mixed, but it's not the same as rock. From what I've seen, it's applied with the larger rocks first, then a layer of thinner rocks and then a layer of what they call fines. When you drive over it, it's solid and it looks great. Then after a few heavey rains, the fines start to disapear and the road gets rough. It just keeps getting rougher with use and rain.

Use what the highway and county uses on their roads. Allot of thought went into what they use and why they use it.

Eddie

Perhaps the slag you are used to is not the same slag we are used to. We get ours from the steel mills in N.W. Indiana. It is grey and looks like volcanic rock, although it is much heavier than volcanic rock. We can get it in several different sizes, too. For a driveway, it works just fine. The thousands of rough edges make it lock together with no other fillers required. Just prepare your roadbed for drainage and lay down the slag 6" thick. That's it. No need to compact it. Normal driveway usage will pack it down very fast. It offers some great traction compared to crushed limestone or gravel. You don't want to fall down on it when riding a bike as it will skin the heck out of you.

I've never seen the black stuff you mention. Do you get if from steel mills?