Land Plane diving in and overloading

[scootr]

I have heavy duty rear blade and LPGS. Hydraulic top link is the only way to go. Unless you get your jollies - up and out of the seat making unending adjustments. Makes attachment of all my implements go easier also.

Even if you are okay with a manual crank top link you won't do the job as well as a hydraulic link. I maintain 1 mile of improved dirt road. I find constant small top link adjustments allow me to cut and fill as needed while moving. This is the key to getting good long term results.

 

[jwmorris]

I made the one I have from a box blade and welded the blade mounts to sheets of steel that line up with punched slots in the side. This allows you to lift the blades completely above the surface you are dragging over, only allowing a "cut" on high spots.

That 2" ball on the back is so I can drag this 3000 lb roller behind it for compaction.

Cutting up the box blade for the plane also gave me a box I could use to drag over lose material to level with.

I do have a hydraulic top link but I don't use it with either of those.

 

[oosik]

You are so right, scooter. And you make - and see any adjustments - "on the go". You don't have to accept - well, that's good enough. You "tune" the attachment until it's doing "exactly" what you want.

 

[scootr]

You are so right, scooter. And you make - and see any adjustments - "on the go". You don't have to accept - well, that's good enough. You "tune" the attachment until it's doing "exactly" what you want.

Speaking of tuning attachments. I put a cylinder on my rake so I could change the angle on the fly. I added a water barrel on the LP so I could cut the hard packed washboard on the road. A water barrel allows infinite weight adjustment depending up the volume of water up to nearly 500 pounds.

 

[chim]

I've only used homebrew landplanes (two) and both had chains for toplinks. The dig and drop were regulated via raising and lowering the 3PH arms. We thought of the mount to be more like a bush hog and didn't want the rigid toplink that could interfere with the landplane following the contours.

 

[Quaffer]

I put a cylinder on my rake so I could change the angle on the fly. I added a water barrel on the LP so I could cut the hard packed washboard on the road. A water barrel allows infinite weight adjustment depending up the volume of water up to nearly 500 pounds.

That's a very nice setup Scootr!

 

[gsganzer]

I've only used homebrew landplanes (two) and both had chains for toplinks. The dig and drop were regulated via raising and lowering the 3PH arms. We thought of the mount to be more like a bush hog and didn't want the rigid toplink that could interfere with the landplane following the contours.

That was my thought too, seems like you'd want it to float like a bush hog.

 

[nyone]

I made the one I have from a box blade and welded the blade mounts to sheets of steel that line up with punched slots in the side. This allows you to lift the blades completely above the surface you are dragging over, only allowing a "cut" on high spots.

View attachment 5051355View attachment 5051354

That 2" ball on the back is so I can drag this 3000 lb roller behind it for compaction.

View attachment 5051367

Cutting up the box blade for the plane also gave me a box I could use to drag over lose material to level with.

View attachment 5051356

I do have a hydraulic top link but I don't use it with either of those.

Do you find that the ripper teeth are needed alot with this land plane setup?

 

[jwmorris]

Do you find that the ripper teeth are needed alot with this land plane setup?

If I am maintaining roads, they are up. More often than not the rippers are up with blades cutting 1/2" below skids.

I have used them on ground where I would have otherwise needed to go get something else to tear up the ground first.

Quicker to raise/lower them than swap implements and they already existed.

I have also never needed to add any additional weight to it.