Dirt Moving Techniques To Leveling Dirt

[bmarshall1]

Hello...

I will be grading about 2 acres of my lot, i have a Yanmar EX3200 w/ a box blade and Ratchet Rake. Short of becoming a wizard with the control levers, is there a secret to leveling dirt/sand on one or two passes. What I am finding is that as the tractor follows the contours of the ground, so do the blades and thus I am not leveling, just grading the dips. Any hints?

 

[Tractorable]

I'm no expert, but it was mentioned on TBN to rip/till the soil on the high spots so that you can scoop it with the loader and move it to the low spots. A tooth bar on the loader helps.

 

[Rock Crawler]

Start with a level spot, flip the grader blade around facing away from you... and move backwards. That is the only way I have found to not have the shape of the earth effect what the blade is doing behind you.

Or you would need to manually raise/lower the box/grader blade to take high spots that your driving over.

 

[bmarshall1]

Start with a level spot, flip the grader blade around facing away from you... and move backwards. That is the only way I have found to not have the shape of the earth effect what the blade is doing behind you.

Or you would need to manually raise/lower the box/grader blade to take high spots that your driving over.

Thanks Rock Crawler - this is the kind of info I am looking for, I'll give it a shot

 

[jeff9366]

Start with a level spot, flip the grader blade around facing away from you... and move backwards. That is the only way I have found to not have the shape of the earth effect what the blade is doing behind you.

Or you would need to manually raise/lower the box/grader blade to take high spots that your driving over.

If you have turnbuckle AKA 'chain' stabilizers supporting your Three Point Hitch Lower Links do not PUSH the Box Blade with tractor in reverse without considering carefully if you will bend or break the unsupported stabilizers.

Cautiously PUSHING a Box Blade is a reasonable proposition only with rigid stabilizers supporting the Three Point Hitch Lower Links. Caution advised.

I use the Ratchet Rake bucket attachment for dragging dirt to fill depressions.

Ratchet Rake on the FEL bucket, Box Blade on the Three Point Hitch.

6/09/2016​

This post concerns Ratchet Rakes Vs. light Box Blades, such as the 60" Land Pride BB1260/346 pounds/69 pounds per foot.

I searched for the weight of kubota L3301 bucket but could not find a number. I presume L3301 bucket weighs approximately 240 pounds, extrapolating from other kubota specs. 68" Ratchet Rake weighs 88 pounds. Adding 240 + 88 = 328 pounds, pretty close to 346 pounds of BB1260 Box Blade.

In addition, the (operator controlled) weight of the FEL frame bears on the Ratchet Rake. Likewise, weight of the Three Point Hitch bears on the Box Blade. FEL frames weigh much more than ( 3X? 4X?) Three Point Hitch components. So, including some FEL weight, I guesstimate that ground contact pressure on Ratchet Rake and BB1260 would be at least equal, perhaps greater pressure on the Ratchet Rake.

Further in Ratchet Rake's favor you have articulation of bucket/RR combination in two planes from the operator's station and 1-1/2" serrated teeth on the Ratchet Rake.

Box Blade can be raised and lowered hydraulically from the operator's station. Box Blade angle of attack is adjustable via the Three Point Hitch Top Link, but not from the operator's station. Standard Box Blade does not have rippers, standard is a smooth cutting edge.

Ratchet Rake is capable of tearing up sod with its serrated teeth, the initial operation in much grading. The Ratchet Rake will not pull as large a load as a Box Blade but it may pull 35% of capacity of BB1260 per pass, with faster cycles. Ratchet Rake is more intuitive in operation than a Box Blade, which requires considerable experience to operate efficiently.

This is why I feel the Ratchet Rake is superior to light Box Blades for LIGHT grading.

I own both a Ratchet Rake and a Rollover Box Blade.

When I have heavy grading to do, I mount my 60"/625 pound (125 pounds per foot) Bush Hog (brand) Rollover Box Blade on the tractor's Three Point Hitch AND the Ratchet Rake on my FEL bucket.

 

[DwayneB]

I use the teeth on the box blade to loosen up the high spots then drag it to the low spots. Once I get things looking somewhat level I back drag with the loader in float for a smoother finished look if need be.
A grader blade on a tractor with draft control does a nice job to.

 

[4570Man]

I think you’d have to be a wizard to do any major corrections in 2 passes. I do pretty much what’s already been said and rip the high places and dump them in the low places. The whole process gets more difficult if there’s vegetation mixed in.

 

[swines]

I've had a rear blade and box blade for years. The only way I've found to level ground in two passes is with a power, rotary rake (Harley rake). The power rake has trailing gauge wheels that stabilize the implement for a fixed depth of cut / fill.

With a rear blade, one of the things you can do are finishing passes with the blade rotated so that the curved side is toward the tractor. The blade will simply drag the dirt without cutting. With a careful adjustment of the blade height with the control lever, you can fill depressions by pulling the dirt into the area. The more you work the area, the flatter it will become, but it will take more than two passes.

My suggestion is to work relative small areas, maybe 40 x 40 feet square, get that area level, go to the next area do the same thing and repeat until you have the entire area done. Then do final passes over the whole site to blend the smaller areas together.

 

[zzvyb6]

Make one of these from an old hay rake.

 

[airbiscuit]

The slower you go, the faster you will get done!

 

[butlmd]

I've had a fair amount of success using a box blade on the 3 point and floating it rather than keeping it at a fixed height relative to the tractor.
My Kubota doesn't have a detent on the 3 point control like the FEL does, so I usually just hold it down or use a bungee if I'm doing a lot of
grading.

Floating the blade keeps it from digging in when the tractor pitches on the rough ground. Perhaps you could do something similar with your
back blade?

 

[bcp]

You could do it the old way.

Use whatever you have to loosen the top several inches. Find a long, heavy beam, 12-16ft maybe, wood or steel and drag it across the area in a parallel pattern, then do it again crossing your previous pattern. Depending on how uneven it was, you may have to do this several times.

Bruce

 

[airbiscuit]

GAUGE WHEELS!

 

[David_Kb7uns]

If doing more or less straight runs, I will use the 3 point angle blade and set angle at 45 and do passes down the road and that will usually shave off the high spots and then reverse angle to other side and roll the material back in the other direction.

If trying to do leveling in field I use the box scraper with the rippers just barely touching the ground when level and use that to hit the mounds and tops of humps.

For pads I angle the blade closer to straight then 45 with the outward edge slightly higher and start in center of pad and drive in a outward spiral circle casting the excess dirt outward and have had good results that way.

David

 

[PILOON]

Hello...

I will be grading about 2 acres of my lot, i have a Yanmar EX3200 w/ a box blade and Ratchet Rake. Short of becoming a wizard with the control levers, is there a secret to leveling dirt/sand on one or two passes. What I am finding is that as the tractor follows the contours of the ground, so do the blades and thus I am not leveling, just grading the dips. Any hints?

If U grade in increments while driving backwards (I know a PIA) you will succeed,
The wheels need to be on a level base for good results and backwards will do the trick.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

Pushing backwards with a box blade will do pretty good, but you must have loose material before you try pushing. And pushing backwards will only fill in low areas. I will not take down high spots, especially if the material is not soft and loose.

What I have also done is pull the box blade across the area at several different angles. For example, if you pull it North and South the first time, pull it Northeast to Southwest the next time, or at a 45* angle from the first pull.

 

[AWSubie]

I drive figure 8s in an approximately 60'x60' area until the big hills are knocked down and the valleys are filled; then I move on to the next 60'x60' area.

 

[airbiscuit]

I have a rear blade and a box blade, but here's my tool of choice.

 

[Creamer]

A rear blade angled does it very well and then drive different directions each time across. The angling of the blade takes out the fore-aft rolling due to the wheels on uneven ground.

I find box blades great for loosening soil or for digging soil because if you keep it level as you go down you don't have this issue. One it is uneven but basically at the height you want it and you are just leveling that is where a land plane comes in - and if you do not have one you have to make your blade work like on.

 

[jmh1783]

Last spring I did about an acre. I tried a bunch of different things. My land is wavy. I tilled it first in three different directions. I ended up focusing on the high points and flattening them with my box blade then spreading outwards to try to push the material into the low spots. I tried a rake with only moderate success. I used a drag harrow in several directions to do the final smoothing and leveling. I'll be doing another two acres this spring. Hopefully I've learned something and it will take less time. You have to stay perpendicular to the high/low spots or you just propagate them.