Rake Will a landscrap rake grade my driveway?

[TDVT]

I have both a 7' rake & a 7' blade as well as about 800' of driveway, some of which is pretty steep. Without a doubt the rake is more useful. The rake can do the job by itself if necessary, though I use both. The blade is better for making "water bars" across the driveway for drainage & it is really good for re-grading out the crushed ledge or Stay-mat as they call it around here (rock+stone dust that compacts), but if I could have only one I would have the rake.

That pulverizer looks pretty cool. Similar to an idea I had the other day.

I was working on cleaning up a section of a small side road, had the blade on, but it had a hard time cutting into the compacted soil. I started to think about adding a bar mounted up near the hitch with some box-blade scarifiers (or teeth like the pulverizer) mounted on it. If it was far enough forward the blade could still angle, a feature I use alot.

Anyone seen anything like that?

 

[Egon]

I'd prefer a rear blade but it must have gauge wheels on it to be able to work properly.

 

[vic4news]

I use a rake with gage wheels to grade my hard-pack driveway. It handles rain ruts very well. I also use it to maintain a crown on the driveway to help minimize rain ruts. It's easy to do with the wheels since you can set one side higher than the other.

Vic

 

[dangerdoc]

I've seen a lot of posts that seem to point to a landscape rake being a great implement for a gravel driveway. I'm trying to minimize my implement expense. I need to groom and maintain some rain ruts and undulations in a new gravel driveway. My first thought was a rear blade, and although some have success there, others thought box blade. However, rake seemed to come up regularly.

My question is . .will a rake really help revive and level undulations and dips or is it more for a "final" loose gravel finishing sweep? They look pretty delicate for hard packed material . . but I'm new to this.

I maintain 1/2 mile gravel drive on hilly topography. A blade is essential for fixing washes, ruts and pot holes. However, a rake is great for freshening up the drive. Rock will eventially dissappear into the road. A rake will help separate the rock from the fines and bring it back up to the surface. It will also do a reasonable job on ruts an very shallow potholes if you keep up on it.

 

[mx125]

I maintain 1/2 mile gravel drive on hilly topography. A blade is essential for fixing washes, ruts and pot holes. However, a rake is great for freshening up the drive. Rock will eventially dissappear into the road. A rake will help separate the rock from the fines and bring it back up to the surface. It will also do a reasonable job on ruts an very shallow potholes if you keep up on it.

I had almost crossed off the rear blade . . but now it seems many do like that implement for grading. I'm now more confused . . but that's good! So you find no problem scraping hard pack to fill in washes/rain ruts? Out of interest, my JD2320 is 24hp . . would you recommend a 5' (as my dealer does) or a 6'?

 

[jbrumberg]

I have both a landscape rake and a box blade. I can windrow my ~200' gravel drive as well as crown and level it with the rake, but it looks "raked" until it rains. My box blade can level out the drive and leave it looking pretty smooth. Just my $0.02 . Jay

 

[easygo]

I use a 6' rear blade and my tractor is only 21HP. Needless to say I try not to take very large bites. That said last fall I did a major rearranging in the parking area in the front of my house to improve drainage. The blade worked well and the tractor was able to handle it (nearly full blade) as long as I was pulling along lose gravel. I would say if you do go with the blade get the gage wheels. They are very very helpful to make a nice surface. I don't have the wheels and can say it would be a lot better if did.
As many people recommended do the grading after a good soaking rain. It will make the job a lot easier.

ps: blades can be had for less then rakes

 

[mx125]

I use a 6' rear blade and my tractor is only 21HP. Needless to say I try not to take very large bites. That said last fall I did a major rearranging in the parking area in the front of my house to improve drainage. The blade worked well and the tractor was able to handle it (nearly full blade) as long as I was pulling along lose gravel. I would say if you do go with the blade get the gage wheels. They are very very helpful to make a nice surface. I don't have the wheels and can say it would be a lot better if did.
As many people recommended do the grading after a good soaking rain. It will make the job a lot easier.

ps: blades can be had for less then rakes

Thanks for that. Yes . . my gut tells me a 6' would work. However my dealer has a 5' Fronteir in stock that he claims is $650. The 6' at another dealer is $850. Box blade came in at $1150, but is showing a month wait. Rakes seem to be close to the BB in price.

If I break away from my JD quick hitch I can save a little but would have to remove the hitch for the BB/rake/blade use.

 

[porky69]

I use my rear blade for maintaining my gravel driveway.

I turn the blade around (so the cuttig edge is facing backwards - like you were going to push in reverse), set it on an angle and drive forwards (once up and once down the driveway) leaving a windrow down the center of the drive way. Once I have the windrow I set the blade, still facing backwards, straight across and drive forwards straddling the windrow. Or if you wanted you could leave the blade facing forwards and drive backwards, but it takes a little more attention to keep it even.

The driveway has to be semi-loose in order to use this method, but I find it alot easier to control as the blade does not want to dig in or lift up as you drive over small humps and holes (driveway is not perfectly level).

 

[dangerdoc]

I had almost crossed off the rear blade . . but now it seems many do like that implement for grading. I'm now more confused . . but that's good! So you find no problem scraping hard pack to fill in washes/rain ruts? Out of interest, my JD2320 is 24hp . . would you recommend a 5' (as my dealer does) or a 6'?

I would get the longest blade that I could afford and my tractor can pull, along with the ability to offset the blade.

Setting the blade at a sharp angle really helps cutting in and moving material from the edges in. The offset lets you reach past your wheel when the blade is angled. You can reach out into the grass and pull the stray gravel back into the drive.

Then you turn the blade backwards and decrease the angle, it does a real good job of spreading the loose rock and filling in dips. It will also counteract the dips you get with the cutting edge.

As far as cutting into hardpan, it is best not to try to do it all in one shot. Each pass will shave a little giving you more free material to move around for filling in the ruts and holes.

Driveway grading for me is a Zen experience, the tractor moves slow, the dirt rolls and the problems gradually go away. You don't hurry, you think but mostly about what you will do on your next pass, not necessarily about the pass you are making.

Sometimes, blading is my favorite thing to do on the tractor.

I got the rake last year. It's great for freshening the drive but a completely different experience. It works better the faster you go. A couple of passes and you are looking for something else to do.