Attachments for trail maintenance?

[sportbikerider78]

Hey guys..I'm new here and new to tractors in general. I work on everything myself and love to learn.
My family recently logged our 275 acres and we had the loggers bulldoze miles of trails before they left. The trails are still pretty rough (roots poking out, rocky soil and some muddy places..sticks and limbs around from logging). I've got some real hours of seat time to make this nice.
My Yanmar EX2900 has a front end loader and I'm buying a 5' brush hog to keep weeds down in the trails. What would you guys suggest to groom and keep the trails in good shape? We will be riding atvs and dirt bikes on them.
My first thought was York rake. I think a box scraper might be too aggressive..but i'm absolutely open to suggestions.
The soil is clay, rocky and sandy. Terrain is hilly. Lots of trails i can go down...but not up.. The entire place is wooded. Im sure sticks in the trail will be a constant issue. Id like to not get off the tractor for every stick.

Thanks!
Dave

 

[sea2summit]

Everything attachments land leveler would be my recommendation.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Ideally it would be nice to have multiple implements. No one grading implement is the perfect implement to do all the tasks at hand.

A box blade to move larger amount of material from point A to point B.
A good offset-able rear blade, this allows you to shape the roads-paths much easier for controlling water-runoff.
A land plan grading scraper or LPGS. This type implement has to be the best implement to use for simple general maintenance of a road.
A landscape rake. A good landscape rake is a great implement for final grooming of roads or paths.

Any of these implements that you get should be heavy, nothing light weight. The heavier you can afford, the better it will perform for you.

Just my :2cents:, good luck.

 

[sportbikerider78]

I agree. No 1 attachment will be perfect.

If you had to settle on one...what would you get?

I'm not too concerned with making the trails like a park...more just trying to make them rideable without thrashing you around.

What about a box blade with teeth?

 

[dlctcg]

So I agree with Brian & you... No 1 attachment will be perfect... But if I had to choose just one it would probably be a landscape rake with gage wheels & a flip down blade....

I own a box blade with rippers / scarifiers... a Land plane (which I love) & a landscape rake with gage wheels (no blade... yet). I will say the landplane gets the most use on the driveway.. but the rake get just as much between the drive & the trails.

 

[jeff9366]

My Yanmar EX2900 has a front end loader. I'm buying a 5' brush hog to keep weeds down in the trails.
What would you suggest to groom and keep the trails in good shape? If you had to settle on one...what would you get?

Consider a Ratchet Rake attachment for your FEL bucket.

T-B-N ARCHIVE: https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums...ratchet-rake-today-fel-bucket.html?highlight=

tractor ratchet rake site:tractorbynet.com - Google Search

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ratchet+rake+grading

 

[coobie]

If the trails are rough skim the top with 3 pt rototiller.Rent one for a few days then use land plane.

 

[John_Mc]

Land Planes/Land Levelers are great for driveways and gravel roads. I would think the would be next to useless on my woods trails - my terrain is too rough, rocky, and root filled for a land place to be of much use. If you are turning your trails into something that approximates driveway consistency, a Land plane might make sense to do ongoing maintenance. I just don't need my woods trails that clean or smooth, so I never get them to the point where I could use a land plane on them.

I put my trails in with the bucket on my FEL and my box blade, but those were the tools I had. I've used a back how from time-to-time, and occasionally my two neighbors who each have mini excavators do some work on the trails for me (but that is more during initial trail building or when we need some major maintenance/repair).

Remember that what makes the logger happy isn't necessarily the best location for a recreational trail. I'm not sure what part of the country you are in, but around here if you have trails steep enough that you can go down them, but not back up, on your ATVs and dirt bikes, you are likely to have ongoing erosion issues. It's best to put some though into where you really want your trails to go and design the layout for durability form the start, rather than setting yourself up for ongoing maintenance headaches.

When you get a chance, fill in your profile with your location. The answers to a lot of tractoring questions will vary depending on where you are and what your local conditions are. Having your location in your profile can help folks tailor their answers to your situation.

 

[buck12]

We maintain miles miles of trails on our hunting leases. All the implements mentioned are useful. One I did not see mentioned is a grapple. It can be used to clean up the mess left from logging and used for general clean up of trails. My grapple is my second most used implement behind my bush hog.

What you need really need depends on if you want manicured trails or trails that are passable.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I agree. No 1 attachment will be perfect.

If you had to settle on one...what would you get?

I'm not too concerned with making the trails like a park...more just trying to make them rideable without thrashing you around.

What about a box blade with teeth?

Probably a box blade. One of the most versatile implements that there is.

Again, heavier is better. Maybe even a roll over box blade. (ROBB):thumbsup:

 

[MF243RedTop]

Mine would be 3 implements..
Each has it's own specific uses..like mentioned already..
Angle blade
Box blade
Landscape rake..

All need to be heavy duty...snapping, pulling roots moving rolling rocks can be tough on equipment.

Since the trails were dozed.. I'm thinking you may need to pull some fill back to the middle if you don't want standing water in places.
That's where the angle blade excels in it's use..
Box blade for filling holes left, pulling roots dragging/pushing rocks out the way.
Rake for sifting finer rocks roots and debris..
Likes been mentioned no 1 attachment for all..

 

[sportbikerider78]

Thanks for the advice guys. I appreciate it and enjoy the education.
I'm in Upstate NY near Saratoga.

Pretty much everyone mentioned a box blade of some kind. I will give that a shot and see how we do.

I'll also revisit this in the spring...or if we have a thaw..and post pics of the trails so everyone can see what I'm working with.

 

[sportbikerider78]

Thank you for posting this as well. I had never heard of a ratchet rake. I watched 5 videos on it and I could see it being really handy.
My other 2 projects are clearing a 1 acre lot behind my house and removing brush from our lake property. Very cool tool...particularly for the price.

 

[airbiscuit]

1. However wide you think the trails are now, they will be 1/2 as wide when things grow back up.

2. A disc harrow would be my weapon of choice (over and over and over again)

 

[sportbikerider78]

Very cool..but I think there are too many rocks.

One complication is that the property is an hr away from my house and I have 3 little kids. If I was retired....this would be an entirely different story..I'd spend all week there.

Time is short and good enough will have to do..for now. I just want it to the point where the fillings will not get knocked out of my teeth.

I think ripping the rocks out and some simple smoothing is a great place to start.

 

[airbiscuit]

This!

 

[Code54]

If it is rough with rocks and roots, honestly it is going to be tough on a tractor. Every think about renting a small - Medium dozer and clean it up and smooth it out. FAR better than a blade and if the loggers "made trails" they dont really bother smoothing the trails. If you have to you can always back drag with a dozer (not really how a good operator would do it but works). This would also let you move dirt to the low spots quickly and get it in a position where the tractor with a brush hog and back blade could maintain it in the future without beating your eqpt to death.

 

[dfkrug]

I'm not sure what part of the country you are in, but around here if you have trails steep enough that you can go down them, but not back up, on your ATVs and dirt bikes, you are likely to have ongoing erosion issues. It's best to put some though into where you really want your trails to go and design the layout for durability form the start, rather than setting yourself up for ongoing maintenance headaches.

I would define a 'trail' as a narrow path that you can traverse on foot, or on a horse, ATV, or bike. Mine are 48" wide at their widest, and 33% grade at their steepest (3:1 pitch). A 'road' is what you have, IMO, when it is wide enough to allow wider vehicles like 4x4 PUs, jeeps, tractors, and SxS UTVs. Might be a rough road.

So a trail is gonna have limited tools available to maintain them. I love my recently-acquired 3-ft wide mini-excavator with thumb, which can get up a 40% slope if conditions are optimal. Using the dozer blade on it works if going downhill on slopes less than about 30%. But you have to use the bucket as a downhill outrigger.

There are also the walk-behind mini-skidsteers, which seem to be very popular, esp with contractors. I may soon have a DitchWitch SK500 project here.

I recently got an ATV with diff-lock, so I can go UP my steepest trails now.

 

[sportbikerider78]

If it is rough with rocks and roots, honestly it is going to be tough on a tractor. Every think about renting a small - Medium dozer and clean it up and smooth it out. FAR better than a blade and if the loggers "made trails" they dont really bother smoothing the trails. If you have to you can always back drag with a dozer (not really how a good operator would do it but works). This would also let you move dirt to the low spots quickly and get it in a position where the tractor with a brush hog and back blade could maintain it in the future without beating your eqpt to death.

This is true..but we had the loggers already back drag with a dozer. Some huge stumps remain..but you can go around them. Not an issue.

 

[sportbikerider78]

I would define a 'trail' as a narrow path that you can traverse on foot, or on a horse, ATV, or bike. Mine are 48" wide at their widest, and 33% grade at their steepest (3:1 pitch). A 'road' is what you have, IMO, when it is wide enough to allow wider vehicles like 4x4 PUs, jeeps, tractors, and SxS UTVs. Might be a rough road.

So a trail is gonna have limited tools available to maintain them. I love my recently-acquired 3-ft wide mini-excavator with thumb, which can get up a 40% slope if conditions are optimal. Using the dozer blade on it works if going downhill on slopes less than about 30%. But you have to use the bucket as a downhill outrigger.

There are also the walk-behind mini-skidsteers, which seem to be very popular, esp with contractors. I may soon have a DitchWitch SK500 project here.

I recently got an ATV with diff-lock, so I can go UP my steepest trails now.

Yep..4' is good enough for me!
Oh I can go up and down all of it with dirt bikes and atvs. I was speaking about equipment. I've been riding atvs, dirt bikes, sportbikes..my entire life.