Anyone running a skid steer land plane / leveler on their tractor?

[cstamm81]

I'm looking for a better tool than the loader bucket or a rear mounted box blade for my upcoming projects and property maintenance. I have a lot of leveling in my future, as my property has a lot of slopes and uneven lawn surfaces. My goal is to make things much easier to mow. I also maintain some short gravel / asphalt milling roads. I do not believe a pull behind land place would work well for me, as I'm working on a lot of uneven terrain and in between a lot of trees. I've done a lot of leveling over the years by back dragging front buckets, with fairly good success, and I like using loader mounted implements better than 3PH ones.

I ran across this last night: Dirt Works land plane for leveling, skid steer attachment
It looks pretty interesting, and seems like it could handle my jobs and give me better results.

I then remembered Jenkins Iron, who makes these: Land Leveler Skid Steer Attachment | Jenkins Iron & Steel
The Jenkins units are cheaper, even with hydraulic scarifiers, plus free shipping.

Does anyone have experience using land planes designed for skid steers on their tractors? I'd be looking at pushing it forward for certain jobs, and back dragging it for other jobs. I also have the option of using my Bradco 3PH to SSQA adapter and running it on the 3ph. I'm essentially looking for a swiss army knife type tool, but I don't want to destroy my loader with one. I'd run it mainly on my L5740, and occasionally on my little Mahindra.

 

[metalbender]

Loader arms aren't made for that abuse, stick with pulling the land plane. Too many people think their tractor is a dozer, far from it. Only takes one three ft rock with three inches sticking out. The iceberg will win.

 

[CoyPatton]

One commenter mentioned large rocks and damage to your loader.
My comment is concerning tree roots. With the same focus in mind.
Bottom line is that tractor loaders are build very differently from skid steers.
I would not do it!

 

[cstamm81]

Thanks for the advice, makes sense with the way the typical skid steer land planes are designed to be used.

Am i wrong in thinking the Quality Welding unit is a different animal though, as far as potential loader damage? Dirt Works land plane for leveling, skid steer attachment
My thought is it's only 43" deep, and does not have scarifiers. Although it sits out further than a bucket, it seems the damage potential is much less.

 

[shooterdon]

Thanks for the advice, makes sense with the way the typical skid steer land planes are designed to be used.

Am i wrong in thinking the Quality Welding unit is a different animal though, as far as potential loader damage? Dirt Works land plane for leveling, skid steer attachment
My thought is it's only 43" deep, and does not have scarifiers. Although it sits out further than a bucket, it seems the damage potential is much less.

Of you know there are no huge roots or rocks, I think you would be fine with it.

 

[bdog]

Why not buy one and configure it for 3 point mount?

I do 90% of things with my skid steer and will concur that skid steer arms are much stronger and designed for this type of use vs a tractor. Tractor loaders are great for many things but are not designed for this type of use. I have a grader blade attachment for my skid steer and it is designed such that the boom is all the way down resting on the stops when using it And the stops have ears on each side that prohibit any side to side movement.

 

[cstamm81]

Why not buy one and configure it for 3 point mount?

I do 90% of things with my skid steer and will concur that skid steer arms are much stronger and designed for this type of use vs a tractor. Tractor loaders are great for many things but are not designed for this type of use. I have a grader blade attachment for my skid steer and it is designed such that the boom is all the way down resting on the stops when using it And the stops have ears on each side that prohibit any side to side movement.

that makes sense, thanks for the explanation on the skid steer loader arms.