scraper / grader plans?

[darylcress]

I took a box blade and made a tongue that attaches to the 3 point hitch points and added wheels in the rear. I have a cylinder on the hitch to change the angle of the blade, a cylinder to raise and lower the wheels, and a cylinder to tilt the blade. It works so much better then any box blade ever did because tractor movements do not effect the scraper.

 

[Taylortractornut]

I've operated a a box blade such as this. Its great the way it works. Down south they are called a Bee Gee board. Many companies such as Reynolds and Miskin make them for Larger prime movers. A land plane would be the best if you have enough tractor. Im building one thats about 20 feet wide to pull with the D5 at work. Cammond and Purdy are a few small scraper makers. Do a Google search for Drag Scrapers and youll get lots of pics for ideas.

 

[amafrank]

If you put the steering wheel on the proper end (the tail ) of the RV 10 the bumpyness won't be as critical. Bungee gear on the Tri-pacer has pretty good bump absorbtion too. We used to have a drag for a dirt strip out in New Mexico that was made from railroad ties with angle iron tacked on the corners to protect the edges of the wood. There were 8 or so ties chained together with varying lengths of chain to keep the spacing from making harmonic lumps. First couple were about 2 feet apart and getting longer toward the middle than smaller again to the rear. We used a 4 wheel drive bronco to pull them down the runway at 15-20mph in spring and late fall to even things out. It worked well out there....
not sure about life in the green belt.

Frank, former owner of taylorcraft and Bellanca cruisemaster.

 

[Knotbored]

If I understand this your grades are already ok but the lumps/bumps left by the grader are too rough. I also have a box blade and have very little sucess leveling that last couple of inches so I think I can visualize your situation.

After my house foundation was filled and the lawn area was graded with a cat I had (to a smaller size) your type conditions. I dragged it with a 7' long channel with a very heavy logging chain looped behind it. It was amazing how quickly the lumps and bumps were leveled out. After seeding I then pulled the same chain using a 2X4 to spread it over the seeded area to cover and distribute the seed.
I used a lawn tractor to do it, and the grading contractor was amazed it was done so quickly. Note I did this immediatly after the grading and the top several inches of soil was very loose-not compacted at all.

 

[PILOON]

I maintained a private road using a 'drag grader' that I fashioned after what the public works used on dirt roads back in the 50's in rural Quebec.

The drag consisted of 2 lateral members with 3 cross 'grader bars'
The front grader bar was at probably a 20 deg angle to the lateral so that the loose material would travel from left to right.
The next grader bar used a slightly greater angle to make the loose material travel the opposite way (right to left).
Third grader bar was like the first causing the material to again move to the right.

I'll add that the middle bar was made about 6" shorter at the right end so that the loose material would be caught by the back blade.
As well the front blade was shorter on the right end so the middle blade would catch that spilled loose material.

This whole rig can be made from , say 4" x 4" angle stock everything being well welded with perhaps a few corner braces.

Being a rigid frame it does an excellent scalping job of high spots and moving (kinda sifting) the material in a sorta zigzag fashion therby filling in the low spots.

From experiance we found that the best towing setup was 2 chains from each front corner attached to the tow vehicle as widly apart as possible.
Also we discovered that looping the chain throu a small scrap tire made for an excellent 'shock absorber', the tires would simply streatch whenever we'd snag a rock or root.

At the time we pulled this around with an old willis jeep with fantastic results but it would be an easy pull with any tractor.

The reason for the middle blade having a greater angle is that with the front and back blade both tugging sideways in the same direction the greater angle of the center blade compensates somewhat for the side forces.
On the otherhand 4 blades with same aggles would accomplish the same thing but with more drag.
Also I always saw only 3 bladed rigs.

I might add that the overall dimensions made for about an 8ft x 8ft sorta square framework with the middle blade being about midway between the front and rear.

I could also add that we first made our scraper from 6' x 6" wood merely bolted and having 3/8" x 3" flat steel lagged to the front as 'kutting edges'.
It lasted a long time till it plumb rotted away.

And I am also a pilot and ex AC owner (C-170B and later C182).
ps; the 170 was the best fun bird but the 182 faster.

Good luck!

 

[crofutt]

OK, I see lots of ideas and really appreciate the help. After looking at all the ideas I formulated my own and would like opinions of how you think it will work. Here are the design criteria and why I choose to design it this way.
1). The box Scraper I have now works fine for everything I do without the addition of the wheels EXCEPT smooth this new runway.
2). After I get the runway smooth, I will likely never use again so I don't want to spend a lot of time fabricating.
3). I plan to use the wheel assemblies from the Jinma finish mower to cut costs.
4). There will be a tongue on what is the left side of this drawing that will attach to the tractor with a pin.
5). I can adjust the height of the wheels by adding/removing spacers on the vertical shaft.

OK, feel free to shoot holes in this idea. I'm not sure I really NEED the front wheels but I believe I would get a smoother finish with them and allow a VERY light cut. I want to make this runway smooth enough to land just about anything that can get in and out of a 2000 foot strip. I plan to sell in the not to distant future and the smoother it is the more potential buyers there may be.

Thanks
Bill

 

[shaley]

Just thought I'd chime in here. You shouldn't need the front wheel(s) because the 3PH hitch linkage is of a parallel geometry and will prevent the front from pitching. You just need rear gauge wheels. I'd use one on each side.

 

[crofutt]

Just thought I'd chime in here. You shouldn't need the front wheel(s) because the 3PH hitch linkage is of a parallel geometry and will prevent the front from pitching. You just need rear gauge wheels. I'd use one on each side.

I didn't plan on using the 3pt hitch, rather just tow it behind the tractor via some sort of A-frame tongue and a ball or pin hitch. I want to take VERY light cuts, just shave off the high spots. When attached to the 3pt it wants to cut too deep. The runway has already been smoothed with a grader and would be fine if I were putting stone down or even paving it, but I want to make it really smooth and it will remain grass. The plan is to smooth it with this, roll it with a big roller then use this again to shave off any irregularities. Roll again. I'm not arguing with you, just not sure if I explained it right the first time.

 

[RonMar]

I also agree with Shaley, you won't need the front wheels on your box. Once the rear wheels are in place, you will be able to VERY accurately control the depth of cut with the 3PH toplink. The rear wheels of the tractor will do the same thing that the front wheels in your pic would do. The 3PH structure holds the impliment at the same angle regardless of 3PH height. With the rear gauge wheels in place, you run the 3PH in float so the impliment is always at it's lowest possible position(rideing on those rear wheels. If you want less cut, you lengthen the toplink which raises the front of the box scraper. Since the wheels are touching the ground in the back, they are the pivot point and everything forward of them, including the blade will move upward as you lengthen the toplink.

On your drawing, unless you add some easy method to jack up the box between the wheels, it will be difficult to transport without cutting inplaces you don't want it to cut. By using the 3PH, you can build this simpler and you will be easilly able to raise and transport or turn around without tearing into something you maybe don't want to.

Good Luck.

 

[rutwad]

I maintained a private road using a 'drag grader' that I fashioned after what the public works used on dirt roads back in the 50's in rural Quebec.

The drag consisted of 2 lateral members with 3 cross 'grader bars'
The front grader bar was at probably a 20 deg angle to the lateral so that the loose material would travel from left to right.
The next grader bar used a slightly greater angle to make the loose material travel the opposite way (right to left).
Third grader bar was like the first causing the material to again move to the right.

I'll add that the middle bar was made about 6" shorter at the right end so that the loose material would be caught by the back blade.
As well the front blade was shorter on the right end so the middle blade would catch that spilled loose material.

This whole rig can be made from , say 4" x 4" angle stock everything being well welded with perhaps a few corner braces.

Being a rigid frame it does an excellent scalping job of high spots and moving (kinda sifting) the material in a sorta zigzag fashion therby filling in the low spots.

From experiance we found that the best towing setup was 2 chains from each front corner attached to the tow vehicle as widly apart as possible.
Also we discovered that looping the chain throu a small scrap tire made for an excellent 'shock absorber', the tires would simply streatch whenever we'd snag a rock or root.

At the time we pulled this around with an old willis jeep with fantastic results but it would be an easy pull with any tractor.

The reason for the middle blade having a greater angle is that with the front and back blade both tugging sideways in the same direction the greater angle of the center blade compensates somewhat for the side forces.
On the otherhand 4 blades with same aggles would accomplish the same thing but with more drag.
Also I always saw only 3 bladed rigs.

I might add that the overall dimensions made for about an 8ft x 8ft sorta square framework with the middle blade being about midway between the front and rear.

I could also add that we first made our scraper from 6' x 6" wood merely bolted and having 3/8" x 3" flat steel lagged to the front as 'kutting edges'.
It lasted a long time till it plumb rotted away.

And I am also a pilot and ex AC owner (C-170B and later C182).
ps; the 170 was the best fun bird but the 182 faster.

Good luck!

This sounds like something I may want to do. How deep did your blades cut?
Any adjustment you would make after seeing how it worked?