Dirt Moving Techniques To Leveling Dirt

[butlmd]

I've had a fair amount of success using a box blade on the 3 point and floating it rather than keeping it at a fixed height relative to the tractor.
My Kubota doesn't have a detent on the 3 point control like the FEL does, so I usually just hold it down or use a bungee if I'm doing a lot of
grading.

Floating the blade keeps it from digging in when the tractor pitches on the rough ground. Perhaps you could do something similar with your
back blade?

 

[bcp]

You could do it the old way.

Use whatever you have to loosen the top several inches. Find a long, heavy beam, 12-16ft maybe, wood or steel and drag it across the area in a parallel pattern, then do it again crossing your previous pattern. Depending on how uneven it was, you may have to do this several times.

Bruce

 

[airbiscuit]

GAUGE WHEELS!

 

[David_Kb7uns]

If doing more or less straight runs, I will use the 3 point angle blade and set angle at 45 and do passes down the road and that will usually shave off the high spots and then reverse angle to other side and roll the material back in the other direction.

If trying to do leveling in field I use the box scraper with the rippers just barely touching the ground when level and use that to hit the mounds and tops of humps.

For pads I angle the blade closer to straight then 45 with the outward edge slightly higher and start in center of pad and drive in a outward spiral circle casting the excess dirt outward and have had good results that way.

David

 

[PILOON]

Hello...

I will be grading about 2 acres of my lot, i have a Yanmar EX3200 w/ a box blade and Ratchet Rake. Short of becoming a wizard with the control levers, is there a secret to leveling dirt/sand on one or two passes. What I am finding is that as the tractor follows the contours of the ground, so do the blades and thus I am not leveling, just grading the dips. Any hints?

If U grade in increments while driving backwards (I know a PIA) you will succeed,
The wheels need to be on a level base for good results and backwards will do the trick.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

Pushing backwards with a box blade will do pretty good, but you must have loose material before you try pushing. And pushing backwards will only fill in low areas. I will not take down high spots, especially if the material is not soft and loose.

What I have also done is pull the box blade across the area at several different angles. For example, if you pull it North and South the first time, pull it Northeast to Southwest the next time, or at a 45* angle from the first pull.

 

[AWSubie]

I drive figure 8s in an approximately 60'x60' area until the big hills are knocked down and the valleys are filled; then I move on to the next 60'x60' area.

 

[airbiscuit]

I have a rear blade and a box blade, but here's my tool of choice.

 

[Creamer]

A rear blade angled does it very well and then drive different directions each time across. The angling of the blade takes out the fore-aft rolling due to the wheels on uneven ground.

I find box blades great for loosening soil or for digging soil because if you keep it level as you go down you don't have this issue. One it is uneven but basically at the height you want it and you are just leveling that is where a land plane comes in - and if you do not have one you have to make your blade work like on.

 

[jmh1783]

Last spring I did about an acre. I tried a bunch of different things. My land is wavy. I tilled it first in three different directions. I ended up focusing on the high points and flattening them with my box blade then spreading outwards to try to push the material into the low spots. I tried a rake with only moderate success. I used a drag harrow in several directions to do the final smoothing and leveling. I'll be doing another two acres this spring. Hopefully I've learned something and it will take less time. You have to stay perpendicular to the high/low spots or you just propagate them.