Not sure how to level a large area

[Soundguy]

Could a person run a level string across one end and follow that by lowering and lifting the box blade? Or possibly a laser light of some type one that spins like brick layers use. Just throwing out some thoughts as I've got to tackle the problem in the next couple years.

Get a lock level, a measuring stick, and a fixed stick.

set your lock level up on your fixed stick ( shovel handle, with shovel planted in the ground ). Plant this off the 'pad' area that you are leveling. Now, establish what grade you want to fill or cut to by using a 2nd shovel to either build a flat top pad, or cut a depression. Pad or depression only needs to be about a shovel with wide on the sides. Put your measure stick on that pad / depression, and have someone look thru the lock level and see what the measurement is. Now.. go to other areas and cut depressions or make pads, and build up or cut down till the person looking thru the lock level see's the same number as before.. Congratulations.. you just shot grade.

Now.. you have a building pad or excavation site that has markers on it that you can cut or fill to. The raised pads or cut depresions will be grade markers. You can stick fancy 'flags' in them to mark them, or just cut some flags from sapling branches to help make them visible.

This is haow many road contractors did it before lasers were commonly used... I've walked many hundreds of miles of subgrade and finish grade doing it this way.

Soundguy

 

[weesa20]

I just did a bunch of leveling in my back yard and it came out quite well. I tilled it all up first and the used a lawn roller and tractor to re-caompact the area a little (it was tilled becasue I needed to mix in amendments to the soil). The I used the box blade in the float position with a tie-down strap attached to the ROPS to hold the blade about 1/4 inch above a flat surface. Then I drove in a figure eight clockwise then counter-clockwise over the whole area. the box blade cut off the high spots and emptied in the low spots. with the blade in the float position, it was pretty much the same height above the ground no matter what the tractor was doing (relatively flat to begin with- no trenches)

the I cranked out the top link so that the front edge of the front blade was off the ground and the back (rounded) edge of the back blade was hitting the ground. This less aggressive edge allowed the top of the area to be "Fluffed" up again in prep for seeding.

One other thing- moisture content will make a BIG difference in how this goes. The soil needs to be dry enough to spread but not so dry that i just blows away in the wind.

Afterwards I took the 36" landscape handrake from Lowes and scratched the surface, seeded, re-scratched the surface and then hand rolled (lightened roller) the area for good seed contact.
Sorry no pics- I was working solo
W

 

[Raddad]

Why is a road grader so long?

Why is the blade between the wheels in the middle of the grader?

You guys do more work than I want and have developed tractor skills that are beyond the novice. The key is gauge wheels. Fast, easy and foolproof.

 

[Soundguy]

The moldboard is pretty long, and you want it to get at some pretty steep angles.. thus you need clearance in the front.. thus the machine is longer. Mid mounted ledt the operator see better.. plus the hinged a-fram design of many graders is best supported from a mid point, vs a front or rear.

To get into tight areas, many graders can articulate, and also slope the front wheels.

If ya want a smaller grader.. get a huber maintainer..

Soundguy

 

[Raddad]

Physics man physics. Moldboard length, viewing and angle are not the main reason. The longer the wheelbase the less effect the up and down motion of either set of wheels has on the height of the blade. This is what lets a grader flatten so well. Grandpa understood this concept.

Gauge wheels make your impliment into a mini grader.

 

[Soundguy]

Physics man physics. Moldboard length, viewing and angle are not the main reason. The longer the wheelbase the less effect the up and down motion of either set of wheels has on the height of the blade. This is what lets a grader flatten so well. Grandpa understood this concept.

Gauge wheels make your impliment into a mini grader.

You can't have a very long moldboard if you don't have the front clearance for it.. thus having limited front clearance would make a long moldboard less usefull.

All the reasons i mentioned come into play.. not just the 'physics' of the wheelbase...

Soundguy

 

[bx23barry]

Land planes don't have a rotatable moldboard (really a box blade) and use a very long wheelbase for leveling. The same and only reason graders have long wheelbases. On a grader the moldboard shift can allow the blade (moldboard) to rotate with a short wheelbase if need be so that is a non-factor. I have thought about mounting a box blade on a 4 wheel trailer thing (maybe just front and rear gage wheels spaced out for a long wheelbase) but my real issue is getting rid of the slope in the pasture. The water runs pretty fast in the winter washing away topsoil and making a few ruts. It is only about 8’ fall in about 500’ but when it gets saturated the water from up the hill just pours off it. I’m gonna start just cutting a ditch this year (I hope). Had to use the wipers today for the first time in at least 4 months.

 

[Soundguy]

Long wheelbase has more than 1 reason... In fact.. I'd wager that most of the systems on a piece of equipment like that have at least N+1 purposes, or reasons for being installed.

Don't forget that many graders can articulate at up to a 45' angle, and then compensate with the front steering wheels, so that the front and rear are running parallel tracks with a roadbed inbetween them, and a wheel base if you measured front straight back to where the rear would be. We've had grades from 7' moldboards and up, some with wheel base as short as a farm tractor of similar size... biggest thing that stuck out in my mind for difference of operation was less blade maneuverability the shorter the wheelbase... but then.. what do I know... ( by the way.. just to be clear...I'm not discounting the concept of long wheelbase being conducive to leveling.. I'm just stating that it is not the exclusive purpose for it... )

Soundguy

Land planes don't have a rotatable moldboard (really a box blade) and use a very long wheelbase for leveling. The same and only reason graders have long wheelbases. On a grader the moldboard shift can allow the blade (moldboard) to rotate with a short wheelbase if need be so that is a non-factor. I have thought about mounting a box blade on a 4 wheel trailer thing (maybe just front and rear gage wheels spaced out for a long wheelbase) but my real issue is getting rid of the slope in the pasture. The water runs pretty fast in the winter washing away topsoil and making a few ruts. It is only about 8’ fall in about 500’ but when it gets saturated the water from up the hill just pours off it. I’m gonna start just cutting a ditch this year (I hope). Had to use the wipers today for the first time in at least 4 months.

 

[Egon]

Okay, a picture of a grader at work. Note the windrow.

The blade angle can be changed:
horizontally, verically, tilted, extended and can also be raised or lowerd

Allows the operator to keep wheels on smoother ground, dig, roll over and mix, raise and leave dirt, carry dirt forward and many different combinations in between.

It is a very nice experience watching a competent operator at work.

 

[Mosey]

Since I don't have gauge wheels, a box blade, or a landscape rake, I can see this is going to take a lot of time by going over it and over it many times. So, maybe I'll put the kids to work? Please see the thread Save age for kids to start driving tractor? for this discussion.