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: