Rear Blade How to grade a driveway? Need help please

[ksshooter]

Comments like this are not only incorrect but they also don't help the OP get his job done. He has said that he would like to stick with the rear blade at this time. Recognizing that, and the fact that a rear blade might not be the easiest tool to use for a beginner, we should offer advice that will help him use it effectively to get his job done. There are a lot of roads that are maintained by nothing more than a rear blade and they are kept in good shape.

I must agree wtih Gordon. I have used only a rear blade and you can repair the washboard with just it although I must admit it got easier when I got a box scraper. I must agree with what most other folks here have said..RIP IT UP FIRST...THEN FIX IT. If you just fill in the low spots the "repair" will not last very long. If all you have is a blade you have to angle it and just keep going over it until you rip out the washboarded area. Driving the tractor in reverse to refill the low spot is definitely useful. It is not an easy task but the more you do it, the better you will get.
Here is the best advice I ever found regarding maintaining a gravel drive. The article I found said there are three things to focus on ...drainage, drainage and yes you guessed it drainage. You have to build a crowned road with ample drainage sides. At least that is what works here where I live. Once you have established a good crown life gets much easier. I angle and tilt the blade heavily on both sides of the drive and pull the gravel/dirt up on the road. It may take more than one pass each way. Then eash the angle and tilt to about half of what was maximum and move the tractor about a foot or two towards center. Do that both directions. When I have mounded it to the center I turn the blade backwards, straight and level and do down the middle for my final pass (or two). You want to keep low spots and water out. Keeping it in good repair and getting the water off (crowning) is what works for me. Good luck :thumbsup:

 

[whiskywizard]

One aspect I haven't seen mentioned yet is the importance of compaction, and maintaining it.

In general, the less material you loosen and move around, the better off you are. That is, add new material when repairing, rather than loosening already-compacted material.

This doesn't quite fit the OP's situation - he does need to knock down the whoop-de-doos first, but after that, he should avoid raking and scraping when he can.

For potholes, NEVER scrape up the hard surroundings; always add new fill.

This will also help with drainage, as was suggested above.

 

[beppington]

IIRC 4 degrees is a pretty standard road & driveway slope aka crown angle, which equates to tilting a 4' blade 3-1/4", 5' blade 4-1/4", a 6' blade 5" and a 7' blade 5-3/4".

Put your tractor on flat ground & tilt your blade until the high side is above the ground by the applicable amount I've shown.

In many cases the first time (few times) you grade with the blade tilted like this, only the lower corner of the blade will actually touch the ground, until eventually after a number of passes your crown fully develops to where the entire blade contacts the ground most of the time. This is where an angled blade also helps: It directs the material removed from the lower corner of the blade toward the middle of the road where you want it to be higher.
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[CharlieR]

TravCity - does your rake have gauge wheels or can it be fitted with them?
That's what I use is a rake with gauge wheels then the rake floats up and down and the results are almost like having a road grader with the mid mount blade. It'll take a few times back and forth but eventually you'll get it flat using what you already own!:thumbsup:

 

[Trav City]

TravCity - does your rake have gauge wheels or can it be fitted with them?
That's what I use is a rake with gauge wheels then the rake floats up and down and the results are almost like having a road grader with the mid mount blade. It'll take a few times back and forth but eventually you'll get it flat using what you already own!:thumbsup:

No my rake doesnt have gauge wheels. Thanks again for all the great advise.

I have been researching a Land Plane and used ones are very hard to come by. The Frontier LP1160 runs 1290.00, I have also found a couple of nice 6' box scrapers for around 500.00 and could probably unload my rear blade pretty easily to help offset the price.

Knowing my main goal is to keep my driveway smooth, which would be the best one impliment to have? The John Deere Dealer was pushing hard on the Box scraper over the Land Plane.

Thanks Again. Rich

 

[sandman2234]

I own a box blade and built a "landplane" out of stuff i had around (hey, I got a lot of junk). When the landplane (ie Dura-Grader) or in my case Dava-Grader named after the guy that I dumped all of the parts on, to build it for me, lol (what are good friends for????)hit the dirt road, the box blade got pushed to the back of the row, and hasn't been out since. It really makes a HUGE difference. If you can weld, have acess to scrap metal, or know somebody that can, there are several "builds" of landplanes on this site. Mine probably has the most pictures, but all have there own good points.
If I had to buy one, I would probably continue to use my box blade, and maybe fabricate a set of training wheels for it...(in effect, making a landplane out of it) which has also been done for a rear blade.
Here is mine...

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/175396-dava-grader-process.html

David from jax

 

[beppington]

I have been researching a Land Plane and used ones are very hard to come by. The Frontier LP1160 runs 1290.00, I have also found a couple of nice 6' box scrapers for around 500.00 and could probably unload my rear blade pretty easily to help offset the price.

I would guess that's because they work great :thumbsup: It takes to search & find the right threads, but you can read about the satisfaction of other owners on here. Can't recall a single negative response. It levels dirt so well, I've thought there must be more required of me than just dropping the plane on the ground & driving.

No need for a box blade anymore for me. It doesn't do exactly what a box blade does, as far as moving one bigger pile of dirt at a time, but close enough that I just don't need a box blade.

It is longer, so takes up more room in storage & when turning.

Knowing my main goal is to keep my driveway smooth, which would be the best one impliment to have?

Except for getting an actual road grader, the land plane will definitely do the job better than a box blade. Set the tilt angle & go. "Grading for Dummies" (like me!)

The John Deere Dealer was pushing hard on the Box scraper over the Land Plane.

Could be that he's never used a land plane. My seemingly very knowledgeable, experienced tractor-repairman-turned-tractor-salesman (boss said he had to) said he never had used one or seen one used. He wanted to see mine in action but so far we've never met up.

 

[beppington]

I believe this would be the next step up above a land plane (aka grading scraper), if you care to get more serious/ spendy:

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I maintain over 2 miles of roads-drives. I have the 4 most common implements that people use on their roads. A box blade, a rear blade, a landscape rake and a land plane grader blade. IF I could only have one of these implements to maintain our roads with, it would be the LPGB hands down, no question what so ever.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Knowing my main goal is to keep my driveway smooth, which would be the best one impliment to have?

For me that is a hard question. For ten years I maintained my road with nothing but a rear blade. It did everything I needed. Then I built a land plane grading scraper. It is now by far my most used road tool and you can see it does a great job on all parts of my road which has a lot of variation in its make up along the way. But at times I still need or want to use the old rear blade to adjust the contours in the spring or after major storms.