Road maintenance - Tuffline v. Grademaster v. Roadboss

[Charlesaf3]

Thanks very much - no such thing as too long when you are saying interesting stuff.

Top-n-Tilt is a hydraulic top link, and hydraulic side link, so you can adjust the angles on things. Guess it works to transfer pressure from the rear wheels to the implement in some sense.

Tough to tell from what you're describing whether its more or less the same - any chance you could put a picture up?

Its nice to have threads like this full of information for those who come along after, whichever one one ends up owning. And nice for me, as I still haven't bought one! Thinking if I end up maintaining the association dirt roads, I'll get them to pay for it...

 

[Lewiston]

I think this is what he was referring to. Picture taken from Dura-grader's site

How do you like Dura-Grader's 6' utility? I would be using it behind a Kubota 4740 (45hp) to maintain a private 3/4 mile crushed granite driveway.

-Rik

 

[BFreaky]

Hello everyone.
Can someone tell me why are the blades placed at an angle and what is the difference if you place them straight? Are both blades placed on the same height level or is the secondary placed a bit higher so the material can go under it? How big is the spacing between the blades, and how high are they?
I'm thinking of building something like that for myself...but there is a little difference...besides road grading, I would need it for landlevelling at my farm...does it work good on the ploughed land too?
Thank you

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Hello everyone.
Can someone tell me why are the blades placed at an angle and what is the difference if you place them straight? Are both blades placed on the same height level or is the secondary placed a bit higher so the material can go under it? How big is the spacing between the blades, and how high are they?
I'm thinking of building something like that for myself...but there is a little difference...besides road grading, I would need it for landlevelling at my farm...does it work good on the ploughed land too?
Thank you

With the blades on an angle, they cut wash board out of a road better than if they were straight. My blades are both down the same amount, but other guys have said that their rear cutting edges are up a bit. In my eyes, if it's raised, why have a cutting edge at all? All you would need is a bar to help distribute the material. I would either have the front blade a bit higher or both the same height if I were to build a unit. My blades are about 24" apart, and I have been thinking about changing that to between 32"-36". Depending on how much room that I have. My unit cuts a 7 foot path and my sides are 7 foot long, great for leveling. Most units today are 6 foot or shorter where as the longer the better for leveling. I have used mine on disked ground before, never after a roll-over plow though.

The angled blades are supposed to move the dirt to the side so as to move material away from the edge of the road. What I have found is that little if any material moves from side to side, for me in my conditions anyway. There are several guys here at TBN that have built their own grader blades and have been very happy with them. If you are going to use this on roads, I would mount the blades on an angle if I were to build a unit myself. Typically the sides are either 12", 18" or 24" tall.

 

[jenkinsph]

Hello everyone.
Can someone tell me why are the blades placed at an angle and what is the difference if you place them straight? Are both blades placed on the same height level or is the secondary placed a bit higher so the material can go under it? How big is the spacing between the blades, and how high are they?
I'm thinking of building something like that for myself...but there is a little difference...besides road grading, I would need it for landlevelling at my farm...does it work good on the ploughed land too?
Thank you

I built mine with straight blades because most of my use is for land leveling or more accurately land planing. You could go either way angled or straight as it seems mine works well for road work too.

I had some old mounds or bumps that needed cutting down in a field back in March. We tilled the entire field and ran the plane over it to get it all smooth and averaged out. Works fine as long as the ground is worked enough.

If and when I build another one it will have a hydraulic ripper and adjustable depth for the blades, I think this and longer skids is the more important issues. Right now if I have to do alot of ripping I use my heavy duty boxblade, having rippers built in would make the grader more useful.

 

[BFreaky]

Thanks for the information. This is my first encounter with this kind of machine since there are no such machines around here (I'm from Europe). I've already built some other machines at home, but this one seems very interesting and it could be usefull around the farm...
This is the attachment that people around here use for levelling of ploughed land, and it works great, but only on soft grounds, and that's why I don't like it, it's not versatile...



I've also built this rear blade all by myself, and it works great, but then again, there is a problem with it when I want to grade a hard rocky road...it just jumps up and over the rocks...



That's why I'm looking for a machine which can do all that by itself...

 

[gwjd]

hey that home made blade looks good in fact better than most you can buy, implement weight may be the issue it appears you have some tube stock in it try adding weight used railroad rail works well not sure where you get it though. it tips the scales at over 100 pounds per foot in sum instances

 

[jenkinsph]

BFreaky

Here are some pics of mine with straight blades, weighs about 950 lbs with two 8' grader blades.

 

[BFreaky]

hey that home made blade looks good in fact better than most you can buy, implement weight may be the issue it appears you have some tube stock in it try adding weight used railroad rail works well not sure where you get it though. it tips the scales at over 100 pounds per foot in sum instances

Well, the blade weights about 570-600 kg (not exactly sure), but will that solve the problem? Anyway, the blade pushes the material and this graders that you use spread it evenly and that's what I like the most...
If any of you wuld like to make the blade at home, I can help with blueprints and advices; It's really simple actually, you just have to love alot of welding . This is the back side:



..and two images when it was a work in progress:




I made many machines for my own use at home because it's cheaper that way, you just need some time and a good idea.

jenkinsph

Thanks for the images. Is this a original JD grader? Are the side plates high enough?

 

[BFreaky]

I have just one more question... How low under the skids do the blades have to be to work good? And what are standard dimensions of a cutting edge (width, thickness, height)
Thanks