[KUBOTA B3200] Grader Blade / Box Blade Recommendation for Driveway Maintenance

[deezler]

Catskills

1.4M subscribers? WTH?

Is he here on TBN? I'd reach out and ask.

Yeah he's more popular then sometimes seems he should be. Some good content though.

He gets discussed here (dedicated thread if you search) but never seen a comment. He's too busy building stuff and buying huge machines.

Camarata Property Maintenance

camaratapropertymaintenance.com

 

[deezler]

Okay, got prices today for crusher run:

Low End: (1) truck load = 15 yards = $375 delivered ($25/Yard)
High End: (1) truck load = 12 yards = $600 delivered ($50/Yard)

Assuming I have to cover 300 yards this year: 300 yards = 900 feet

Surface Area: 900 Feet x 9 Feet wide = 8,100 Ft^2 = 900 Yd^2

So how do I convert 900 Yd^2 to truck loads? I am lost in the last step here...

That low end price is nearly too good to be true. My suspicion is that a big dump truck would show up and tell you it has 15 yards in it, but in reality it spreads more like 10-12. Been there.

The truck capacity is in CUBIC yards. If you spread to 6" thick, thats 1/6 or 0.167 of a yard deep. I usually calculate everything in cubic feet and just divide by 27 to get yards needed.

Whats even more fun is when you get quoted by the ton of stone, and have to figure out how dense and wet/dry the stone is.

In your case you have a big project needing multiple loads, so you can adapt on the fly for how many more you'll need to finish it out.

 

[paulsharvey]

The beauty of buying buying by the ton vs CY, is yiu get a scale ticket when they leave the rock pit. Doesn't mater much; it should be between 2300-2700 lbs per CY for most road base material; a washed rock will be lighter.

 

[paulsharvey]

Arguing with truck drivers on what percentage fill a truck is, of a theoretically cubic capacity is no fun.

If you are worried; a full truck should have a nice center front mound, small front corner holes, and pretty decent "holes" at the back corners. If there is no center mound, above the sideboards, your getting cheated.

 

[kozal01]

I know Im a bit late to the party here but if you havent picked up a rear implement already I would recommend a box blade over a regular blade. I have both and the box blade is much easier to get a level grade with and with the rippers it will work much better if the driveway ever gets compacted and rutted. My 5' Tarter box blade was $950 new, weighs 400 pounds and my small Kioti has no problem pulling it. The 7' back blade I have weighs less than my box blade. Once you get a good base down of course.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

Once it's dry out there, if the area you need gravel is pretty close to level and the first pictures represent it well, the driver should be able to tailgate the majority. I built about a 450' driveway last year and had 4 loads of SB2 Grade 7 tailgated on it. It ended up being deeper than it needed to be, 3 loads would probably have done it. Tailgating just means the driver will chain the tailgate so it will only open a few inches and drive while its dumping. It ends up about the width of the truck and the depth can be controlled by the speed of the truck within reason. If they do a good job with it, any type of rear blade would be ok.

Around here SB2 Grade 7 is called road base. It's probably 2-3 inch stone with the fines in it. It packs really well and stays put. I built up and crowned my base with shale that I dug on site then topped it with the road base. So far we have had some long, heavy soaking rains and it did not effect the driveway.

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[Forest_Man]

Yeah he's more popular then sometimes seems he should be. Some good content though.

He gets discussed here (dedicated thread if you search) but never seen a comment. He's too busy building stuff and buying huge machines.

Camarata Property Maintenance

camaratapropertymaintenance.com

What a luxury selling property maintenance services and not even needing to list a phone number to contact. I am jealous.

 

[Forest_Man]

That low end price is nearly too good to be true. My suspicion is that a big dump truck would show up and tell you it has 15 yards in it, but in reality it spreads more like 10-12. Been there.

The truck capacity is in CUBIC yards.

So when they sell you a truck load at 12 (or 15) yards, they are selling you cubic yards, a volume. That makes sense.

What doesn't make sense is that there is no way to verify how much you are actually getting?

 

[Forest_Man]

The beauty of buying buying by the ton vs CY, is yiu get a scale ticket when they leave the rock pit. Doesn't mater much; it should be between 2300-2700 lbs per CY for most road base material; a washed rock will be lighter.

I did get a quote by the weight: 15 yards or 2 ton = $375

15 yds = 2 ton
15 yds = 4,000 Lbs
1 yd = 266 Lbs

Something seems off. Either my ton>Lbs conversion (1 ton = 2,000 Lbs) is wrong or this is a very light way cubic yard of crusher run.

I'll call them tomorrow again to clarify this quote.

 

[Forest_Man]

I know Im a bit late to the party here

I hope not! Please join the party!

but if you havent picked up a rear implement already I would recommend a box blade over a regular blade. I have both and the box blade is much easier to get a level grade with and with the rippers it will work much better if the driveway ever gets compacted and rutted. My 5' Tarter box blade was $950 new, weighs 400 pounds and my small Kioti has no problem pulling it. The 7' back blade I have weighs less than my box blade. Once you get a good base down of course.

I have not picked up any driveway attachment.

This is the rollercoaster summary:

1. Started with box blade, after initial research on how to main gravel road - it seemed like preferred option.
2. Considered a rear blade, after discovering it is easier to create drainage swales with them - and the fact that they are way cheaper than box blade.
3. Discovered the Grading Scraper/Land Plane after watching a Kubota dealer video comparing and recommending the Grade Scraper over the Box Blade.

So as you can see, this party is in full mode. I appreciate your recommendation for the box blade over the rear blade.

Do you have any experience with a Grading Scraper as well?