Box Scraper Land Plane for Ford 1100...

[TIDE HSV]

I have an extensive graveled parking area plus drive. I've recently had the entire area re-graveled. There is one slope connecting the parking area and the drive. My contractors advised purchasing a grader-scraper for the gravel, which tends to migrate downhill/downstream over time. The little Ford supposedly develops around 13 HP. I'm looking at the Land Plane, now owned by John Deere, I think, and the Land Pride scraper-grader now owned by Kubota. The Land Plane is available only in 5'. The Land Pride has a 4' model, which is something like 430 lb+. The 5' Land Plane is around 70-80 lb heavier. The Land Pride is about $300 more, as priced around here. The 5' Land Plane requires a minimum of 18 HP. The 4' Land Pride says 20 HP minimum. My landscaping contractor says that the Ford will handle either easily, just moving gravel. Any experience out there?

 

[jbrumberg]

I had a Ford 1100 in many ways I wish that I still had it. For moving gravel I agree with your landscaper. IMO

 

[TIDE HSV]

I had a Ford 1100 in many ways I wish that I still had it. For moving gravel I agree with your landscaper. IMO

Thanks! Did you have a box or something similar you moved gravel with it?

 

[jbrumberg]

All I had was a dual hydraulic frontend 4' dozer blade and an old weighted down car hood to move and level gravel/sand for the 150' of driveway I managed then. It took forever, but it worked. I would have liked to have had a rear blade or boxblade for it back then.

I checked tractordata.com. The 1100 has a lifting force of 881#’s at the 3ph. I had appropriately sized Woods tiller and rotary cutter that it handled really well. If I remember correctly both were ~40”.

It was a great little tractor. I traded it in for my current tractor. Replacement parts may be hard to find nowadays.

Good luck have fun.

 

[TIDE HSV]

Thanks. That's helpful. My tractor isn't fitted with the front end, so I have to use the 3 pt. At 881, it sounds like the 70-80 lb lighter of the 48" Land Pride (Kubota) may be really important. It's just not the steel; it's the extra gravel the 5' would pick up. Here are some pix of my back parking area and drive to give an idea of the job...

 

[jbrumberg]

TIDE- You have a really nice place. Unless there is a balance issue with your tractor-blade setup I really do not think the extra blade length matters in this case; all you are lifting is the blade. You are moving the material not lifting it. How much you move is blade height dependent if I understand you correctly. You could make it work with the 13HP, especially in 4WD in lower gearing. If I remember correctly my gear driven 1100 had 3 ranges with 5 gears forward. Just my $.02.

 

[TIDE HSV]

Thanks! I was checking several nearby dealers and almost didn't call the one furthest away, which was still only around 60 miles. Boy, am I glad I did. Not only were they $200 under what my landscaper could get for a dealer price, I found out that there's a GS0548 model which only weighs 300 lb, with thinner steel. That was even cheaper by another $150 or so...

 

[TIDE HSV]

BTW, the gearing is as you remember it but, without the front bucket, only 2WD is available...

 

[jbrumberg]

It really pays tp shop around for attachments. Like you I am 23 miles from any population center; much farther for decent tractor stuff. My original family owned NH dealership went out of business due to market forces. They were ~20 miles away and would do home service as needed. I still miss them.

I really do not think that you will have any problems with 2WD for what you intend to do.

 

[TIDE HSV]

I'm in Huntsville, AL, so in the middle of 6-700K people. It's just that the local dealers understand nothing but MSRP. I just bought an X370 JD riding mower from a dealer about 30 miles away. The "local" dealer wanted MSRP - period. The salesman even told me he'd sold two that morning. (IOW, don't even try bargaining.) The dealer I bought from sold it $1000 cheaper and delivered it - free. I guess it's just one of the problems of living in an affluent area. OTOH, there's this - US News, so go figure...