Working with the jumbo landplane

[flusher]

One of my neighbor's three 10 acre irrigated alfalfa fields needed to be leveled and resloped so it would drain more evenly and not cause excessive runoff into a neighbors olive orchard. Here's what he used for that job.



It's a D7 Cat pulling a giant landplane. Gets the job done really fast:thumbsup:

 

[RDrancher]

Very cool! I haven't seen one of those since the 70's, grading acreage outside the Ventura / Oxnard area near Pt. Mugu.

 

[TripleR]

Nice picture and interesting too. I have watched the progression of equipment used over the years; always found it interesting to watch.

 

[bcp]

Are you sure those photos aren't about 50 years old?

All I've seen lately are large wheeled tractors pulling laser equipped scrapers.

Bruce

 

[boggen]

all it is, is a motor grader. but longer wheel span and bigger blade / frame work. to deal with tractor / dozer pulling it.

personally would prefer to have a smaller version for about 30 to 40 HP tractor. to help deal with some dirt and gravel roads here on the farm. to nock out some of the hilly ness within the roads.

 

[TripleR]

all it is, is a motor grader. but longer wheel span and bigger blade / frame work. to deal with tractor / dozer pulling it.

personally would prefer to have a smaller version for about 30 to 40 HP tractor. to help deal with some dirt and gravel roads here on the farm. to knock out some of the hilly ness within the roads.

We use one of these; works great, but it takes a little bigger tractor, you may find a smaller version.
BB45 Series Drag Scrapers | Land Pride

 

[flusher]

Are you sure those photos aren't about 50 years old?

All I've seen lately are large wheeled tractors pulling laser equipped scrapers.

Bruce

Took those photos a few weeks ago. My neighbor also uses a large laser controlled gannon box for some field preparation work.

That field previously was producing alfalfa. After the work with the big landplane, he planted sudan grass rather that reseeding immediately with alfalfa since alfalfa is allelopathic (produces chemicals in the soil that are toxic to its own seedlings). The sudan reached about 3-4 feet this week so he mowed it with the Hesston swather yesterday (in 100+ temps, 10% humidity -- it should be ready for baling in a day or so).

 

[Piston]

Triple R,
How do you like the drag scraper compared to the standard box blade setup? Advantages/disadvantages?

 

[boggen]

We use one of these; works great, but it takes a little bigger tractor, you may find a smaller version.
BB45 Series Drag Scrapers | Land Pride

that would be nice as well. but... there is a difference. between that, and what i would like to have. to help remove the longer and wider valleys. ya a dozer or like with laser setup could possibly work. but *shrugs*

 

[TripleR]

Triple R,
How do you like the drag scraper compared to the standard box blade setup? Advantages/disadvantages?

Pros: The Drag Scraper is very easy to move dirt and feather edges, due to it's length and method of attachment, it gives an overall smoother, less dips, surface. It works really well on larger areas when you have a lot of dirt to move or on long roads without road ditches especially. It worked great putting 2" rock on a steep hill with a 70 HP heavy tractor as I could pick up a lot of material and deposit it evenly up and down the slope.

Cons: It is worthless in small areas, only works one way while a box blade especially with a hydraulic top link works both ways. It doesn't have rippers, so in really hard ground it picks up less soil. Not very maneuverable and is harder to transport though you can pull it with a truck unlike a box scraper.

A combination of both is really ideal. My brother and I bought it to prep our home sites, mine was about three acres and was rough cut by a dozer and dirt buckets cutting down over thirty feet in some areas and we had to constantly re-contour it as it settled and for final prep before planting.

We have several miles of roads on our farms and it was great for that. A lot of farmers around here have them to keep their equipment lot in shape.

that would be nice as well. but... there is a difference. between that, and what i would like to have. to help remove the longer and wider valleys. ya a dozer or like with laser setup could possibly work. but *shrugs*

View attachment 273058

Yes, it would be too small and short wheel base for your needs.