Grading Thoughts on using subcompact for gravel drive grading ?

[DMW]

Having used an 60's era International B250 with a 6' rear blade (comparable to the Oliver) and an SCUT with a 48" boxblade with scarifiers on a 300' gravel drive, the SCUT won handily. There should be an adjustment on the 3pt arms to angle the boxblade to form a crown if needed. The boxbalde stays on the tractor all the time as a loader counterweight. Going wider than the tractor isn't always a good thing, it is too easy to catch it on things while driving past solid objects. Without the counterweight, the rear tires will lose traction with a heavy bucket load, allowing the tires to spin, rutting the grass, and making it unstable on slopes.

Go larger if you eventually plan on adding attachments like a post hole auger, or operating in wooded areas. The SCUT is too low to operate well.

Never missed the rear scraper blade. Had I got one for the SCUT, it would have sat unused for years, and haven't used the B250 in over a decade.

EA's land plane is really nice, but my driveway isn't long enough to warrant the expense.

My preference would be for turf tires. 4WD and a bucket of gravel provide good traction, also stops a lot of the rocking horse motion that produces washboards.

 

[oosik]

Will a subcompact maintain my driveway. Well - if its winter snow, then a rear blade should handle that. Or a front blade or hydraulic blower on the FEL. Cleaning ditches, grading potholes & washboarding, crowning. That will have a lot to do with how "hard" your driveway sets up in the summer. Or you could try to play footsie with it, in the spring & fall when it's damp. If it sets up hard, like mine - you need something with a LOT of weight for summer.

I have a mile long gravel driveway. Over the years - 37+ - the top coat is now gravel, sand, volcanic ash, dirt & dust. With moisture, the makings of good old hard concrete. I had a rear blade - 96" @ 565 pounds = 70 pound per foot of width. Great for snow removal - good for a sparkler light show in the summer. I upgraded to a rear blade - 96" @ 1100 pounds = 138 pound per foot of width. I grade with care in the summer now - a stupid mistake, it will ALL be in the ditch.

Personally - I doubt that you can find a rear blade that's heavy enough to grade, ditch, crown and repair potholes. And won't tear a SCUT 3-point system to shreds.

Check out the Owners Manuals on any tractor that makes your "list". If you have a driveway that sets up hard - you will need a rear blade that is, at least, 100 pound per foot of width - maybe more. If it's a "soft" driveway - you might get by with less.

I keep harping on a rear blade - it's the most universal implement for driveway maintenance. I also have a 820 pound Land Plane Grading scraper and a 710 pound roll over box blade. Both are SELDOM used on my driveway.

 

[PILOON]

We maintained a 3 mile gravel/dirt road for years with a drag, and it was well travelled by 75 owners and their guests etc.

Our drag consisted of 3 blades, all at different angles so that the loosened material could move sideways to fill in the dips.
Basically the 3 blades were welded under 2 lengths that were parallel to the road.
Reason for 3 blades was to eliminate the drag from rising and dipping when towed.
The whole rig was approximately 8ft by 8ft square with a platform to add weight.
Placing more weight on the curb side encouraged a crown to be formed.

Now 2 blades were all at different opposite angles thus making the lose material travel into the dips all while scalping the highs.
The last blade actually acted as a finishing blade.

For many years the drag was towed by an old willis jeep.

Our main problem was steep hills and driver lack of knowledge when they'd use kickdown halfway going up thus starting washboard effect.

Such a drag is not something you can buy due to shipping considerations but any local welder can whip one up.

I own a CUT and have a rear blade (and know how to use it) and can attest the drag is far superior for maintenance, and not long ago made a 5 ft one for the 20hp CUT using 3 x 3 angle stock.

 

[oosik]

PILOON is right. A drag is an easy implement to use, can be sized to your tractor - not likely to cause damage to your tractor.

 

[JFoy]

Hey Randy,

First of all, welcome to the forum. I'm south of Winston-Salem in Davidson County. I have a BX25 and like the others, I would recommend a B series. Sink Farm Equipment in Lexington is a great place to look at Kubotas. Ask for Greg Beck.

To put things in perspective, I have a 4 foot box blade for my BX. On hard clay, I can drop my rippers down to say 2 inches and be fine. I drop them all the way down and it will bring my BX to a halt. So yeah, a B series would do better.

Good luck,
John Foy

 

[Randy Gann]

Hey Randy,

First of all, welcome to the forum. I'm south of Winston-Salem in Davidson County. I have a BX25 and like the others, I would recommend a B series. Sink Farm Equipment in Lexington is a great place to look at Kubotas. Ask for Greg Beck.

To put things in perspective, I have a 4 foot box blade for my BX. On hard clay, I can drop my rippers down to say 2 inches and be fine. I drop them all the way down and it will bring my BX to a halt. So yeah, a B series would do better.

Good luck,
John Foy

Thanks for all the information and replies. Since all my past experience has been with old Ag tractors, I think I will be happier with something just a little bigger than a subcompact. The B Series looks promising. Had a neighbor that had a 4wd B back in the 80's with a 3pt finish mower. Can't recall exact model but he used that until he upgraded to a Kubota diesel front deck mower . . . Which appeared to be tractor with the driver facing backward.

 

[Code54]

I really think you will like a "B" size over a BX. I love our little BX25 but recognize it has some short coming. The BX is very nice for landscaping work around the house, mowing, working a smaller garden but when it comes to doing more major dirt work it does not have a lot of weight and that makes things slower and/or a bit harder.

Try and get a look at several makes/models and sizes and see what you think. Some dealers are really good about letting you try it at your place to see if it works for your uses.

 

[lpigott]

While the subcompact will be able to do everything it is a compromise and depends on how much time you have and whether having one machine handle tractor chores and mowing chores is all you can have. I have about 5 acres of yard to maintain and did it for over 15 years with my BX2200. I always ran the bar tires on it and never tore up the lawn. That said, IMO the BX or any subcompact is best served in either a pure mowing setup (with FEL removed and belly mower installed) or a tractor setup (with belly mower removed and FEL and rear implement installed along with a belly plate installed. While I got by fine doing the switch off back and forth, that gets old and many times you find yourself doing FEL work with the mower left on or mowing with the FEL on. Neither is a good thing, especially if your wife is involved. It grew to be a PITA to me to do the switch off. Fast forward to present times; I stopped mowing my yard, had a friend that does lawn service work start doing it and it is well worth it. It gives me so much more time to do other things and my wife does not have to deal with doing it when I am away at work. This allowed me to remove the belly mower and leave the FEL and skid pan on year round. I maintain and am improving around 100 acres so I have 3 tractors but not having to deal with the lawn cutting and keeping the BX in super wheelbarrow mode is nice. It all comes down to time and money and how much each is worth to you. I maintain 1/2 mile of gravel road and have done it many times in the past with the BX with good results, just takes time. Now I generally leave a scape blade on my 3930 and catch the sides and then hop on the 7060 with the 7' box blade to finish. This takes about one hour total for a perfect finished drive vs many hours for a so so finish with the BX. Main thing I keep on the BX in the summer is a 60 gallon PTO spray rig which works awesome on trails, roadsides, flower beds and fields, it is also the handiest wheel barrow year round now.

 

[fried1765]

Will a subcompact maintain my driveway. Well - if its winter snow, then a rear blade should handle that. Or a front blade or hydraulic blower on the FEL. Cleaning ditches, grading potholes & washboarding, crowning. That will have a lot to do with how "hard" your driveway sets up in the summer. Or you could try to play footsie with it, in the spring & fall when it's damp. If it sets up hard, like mine - you need something with a LOT of weight for summer.

I have a mile long gravel driveway. Over the years - 37+ - the top coat is now gravel, sand, volcanic ash, dirt & dust. With moisture, the makings of good old hard concrete. I had a rear blade - 96" @ 565 pounds = 70 pound per foot of width. Great for snow removal - good for a sparkler light show in the summer. I upgraded to a rear blade - 96" @ 1100 pounds = 138 pound per foot of width. I grade with care in the summer now - a stupid mistake, it will ALL be in the ditch.

Personally - I doubt that you can find a rear blade that's heavy enough to grade, ditch, crown and repair potholes. And won't tear a SCUT 3-point system to shreds.

Check out the Owners Manuals on any tractor that makes your "list". If you have a driveway that sets up hard - you will need a rear blade that is, at least, 100 pound per foot of width - maybe more. If it's a "soft" driveway - you might get by with less.

I keep harping on a rear blade - it's the most universal implement for driveway maintenance. I also have a 820 pound Land Plane Grading scraper and a 710 pound roll over box blade. Both are SELDOM used on my driveway.

I don't consider that "harping"!
A rear blade IS...."the most universal implement for driveway maintenance"!