Box Blade or Landscape rake?

[Kenster]

I am nearing completion of my driveway project. I had borrowed a neighbor's box blade to level and our long driveway. I had a truck load (14 yards) of "flex base" (looks like caliche to me) delivered. It was fairly wet when delivered so came out in big clumps instead of a good smooth drop/spread. I had to drag it down the driveway with the box blade. I spent hours yesterday on my '52 8n smoothing things out and doing a pretty good job of leveling a couple of swales.
Then I made repeated runs with my pickup truck to pack it down. Hopefully a nice gentle rain will arrive soon to settle it all in. The driveway has a gentle slope down to the paved road and I have a mild crown down the center. Hopefully, this will let water drain away quickly.
This afternoon I will attempt to break up the big piles of caliche on the four car parking pad in front of the house. I have rippers/hooks/teeth/scarifiers... whatever you want to call them. I figure to break up the big piles that neither the box blade alone, nor my dirt scoop could dig up. They just skimmed over the top. It may be damp at the bottom of the piles but if I can break it up and spread it around today, by tomorrow it should be nice and dry and easier to spread and smooth with the box blade.

So, since I'll have to eventually return the box to my neighbor I'll be in the market for my own iimplement. Hopefully, I can find a decent one on Craig's list or the local farm auction. I would like opinions and reasons on which implement would be best for me for maintaining the driveway: Box blade of landscape rake.
I like the idea that a rake can be angled, maybe even tilted? I can't think of any other need for either, other than occasionally smoothing out ruts created in our sandy meadow when some idiot does a U-turn in the meadow rather than using a driveway or the next intersection to turn around. I figure the box or the rake could handle filling in and smoothing out the ruts.
I would appreciate your suggestions. By the way, while my neighor's box is only four feet wide, I'll be looking for a five footer. If I get a rake, I think I'll get a six footer so that, with an angle on it, it will still cover the tire tread marks.
Thanks!
Ken in Bellville, TX

 

[JB4310]

This is the age old question, there's usually a couple of discussions on this at any given time, so I'll just keep it brief.

If it's just to maintain driveway, I would say a wide rake with wheels.

JB.

 

[GPintheMitten]

I only used a landscape rake for a small amount of time. Others have more experience with them, but I have a hard time seeing one being as effective with driveway maintenance as a box blade.

I had long (1200') gravel driveway in the country for about 25 years and tried to do maintenance with a back blade for most of that. It worked ok. But when I used a box blade with the scarifiers in the the last couple of years of ownership, I found out that I should have bought one decades before. It was a great tool for gravel driveway maintenance.

I could not put as much crown in with the box compared to a blade but if you had both like I did in the end, then you would be fine. I also decided that the crown was not as important after I got sufficient gravel in place.

 

[matt_isserstedt]

I'd say a rear blade would be considerably more useful than a landscape rake for gravel. Those thin fingers don't look like they'd do well for anything aggressive.

 

[Thomas]

Rake w/drop down blade might fit the needs.

 

[turbo660]

Keep in mind that a rake may be great for finish work, it won't dig in to hard packed gravel very well.

but if you are on a tight budget, and your neighbor will let you use his box blade, the rake would be alot cheaper,

 

[rambler]

I haven't actually used one, but a box blade never seemed to be the right thing to maintain a driveway - worked well to build it I'm sure, they rip down with the teeth, and they haul material around with the box.

For maintaining a crown & preventing washboard surface, something you can angle would seem a lot better.

I'll throw out the 3rd option - a back blade. A solid version of a landscape rake. A back blade will do a lot of either of the other 2 - it is heavy enough to do some dirt moving, and angles and you can use it swiveled backwards so it won't be too aggressive. It would be the middle ground.

The landscape rake will do well for freshining up the driveway, I run mine up & down the driveway 2- 3x a year, and it really works nice. You'll like it.

There will be times it won't seem real aggressive if you need to actually move some gravel, or in hard dry times.

The box blade will tend to leave a washboard for you because it doesn't angle. It magnifies the up & down bumps as you go over them. It won't do light touchup very well.

As someone suggested, if you can borrow the box blade, getting a rake to compliment it will be great.

If you can only use/ afford one implement, the simple back blade might be the middle ground you are looking for.

It's a difficult choice bewteen the 3.

--->Paul

 

[BungeeII]

I have a 7' rear blade, a 6' landscape rake and a 6' box blade. Hands down, I'm able to do a better job with the box blade. I find it easier to set the edge of the driveway, without a row of gravel being pushed out too far too the edge. Even with the rake or blade at an angle, it's hard to keep the gravel from pushing out into the lawn a bit. With a box blade, I'm able to run the edge of the blade right where I want it and know that it's final. I believe it does a much better job of filling potholes, and I believe I can establish a better crown, too.

 

[zzvyb6]

I have a 6' boxblade and an 8' landscape rake. Landscape rake does the best job every time (with a caveat): You need to have guage wheels on it so that the leveled gravel sets the plane of the road, you need to have it big enough such that it is wider than than tractor wheels when angled out, and you need to use a chain for the upper link so it can float in a level position no matter what bumps or holes you tractor runs into.

I cut the rake to 45 degrees to comb the gravel towards the center of the road in each direction and then set the angle to zero and comb the top section flat. With a wide enough rake, you can do 1 lane of the driveway in each pass and it will be Road Commission Approved quality. The little teeny weeny rakes are for scratching dirt. Get one big enough to be proud of the result. You can hang a few hundred lbs of weight on the rake if you need to dig a bit deeper into the base.

BTW, my box blade has the hydraulic top link and it will pull the gravel up and along. But, the rake makes it into a driveway instead of a logging road. Best driveway so far has been made with crushed asphalt. No more dust, quiet, stays put, looks nicer that crusher dust and easier on the snow plow skids.

Use a back blade if you like roller coasters....

 

[SPIKER]

I've got all 3 6' box, 6' blade and 6' landscape rake. the first one I bought was the box blade, I'm glad I did. For an all around tool it is the best one hands down. as long as you know how to use it!

going forward is for moving material, works for snow plowing moving as well as moving dirt & gravel down the drive. for final leveling work backing up works like a charm. the box blade is heavier and is less susceptible to damage for new users. (though I did manage to do some good damage to mine backed into a large stump..) A hyd top link makes changing the angle of the blade probably much easier, I dont have one so you have to make sure you tilt the blade correctly for the direction you are going. using the scarfers is only needed when digging up hard packed stuff something neither of the other two implements can or will do. Tilting the cutting edge into the dirt will pull it up tilting the cutting edge away form the dirt will level and compress the materials... (Note I say materials as I use mine for leveling dirt a LOT I bought the landscape rake last and have hardly used it... I went back to the box blade as it simply works better, note I dont have gauge wheels which may add weight to the landscape rake and help it work better...)

the rock rake moves material only if it is loose and is light so it does not penetrate and move much material...
back blade is similar only works better for snow and not as well for finish grading of surfaces.

Mark M

 

[Kenster]

Well, there is a large disparity of opinion here. I think I'm more confused than ever. There are strong proponents of box blades, back blades, AND landscape rakes.
I've decided that, since I can always borrow my neighbors box blade, I will end up buying either a rake or a back blade. I may hold off until the driveway needs some work. Then I'll borrow a back blade from another friend and give it a test drive. I don't know anyone with a rake that I can borrow. I'll have no other use for a back blade than to maintain our driveway. A landscape rake can be used on our property to round up fallen limbs, etc.
I realize neither a rake nor a back blade work well on hard packed roads so, when that time comes, I can borrow the box with rippers to loosen things up, fill holes, etc, then use a back blade or rake to smooth it all out and redo the crown.
A six foot back blade or rake, set at 45 degrees should cover up a five foot wide tractor tread, shouldn't it?

Also, keep in mind that I have an 8n. It's the perfect tractor for me and my needs, but it does not have any down pressure to help an implement dig in.

 

[SPIKER]

this is an example of what you can do using a box blade. I think this pic is pretty good, even though I had to lower the resolution a bit I added text as to what I did using my BOX BLADE



the pic is hard to tell that where I was standing taking the pic to the corner of the p-barn is probably 6' from base to lowest point and back up ~3' to the barn corner...



there are other pics of more work I did there from start to finish of the pole barn all done with the box blade attached. I would imagine that there was over 300 yards of soil moved in and around that area...
click one of the pics and then in upper left hand corner of the image page click back to Album.



Mark M

 

[JDGreenGrass]

I restored my gravel driveway with a 6' TSC CountyLine rear blade. I really liked what the blade did for me.

For starters it gave me a nice straight edge. I achieved this by angling the blade to pull the edges back to the center of the driveway...which also began a nice crown.

When it came time to finish grade it I quickly learned that going slow is the key. By going slow (low range, 1st gear, slow) the blade did an excellent job of filling the low spots and keeping the gravel where I wanted it.

I was real happy with the finished product but, I will admit, I am not afraid of a little hand work.

A couple of pictures of the project....

 

[Kenster]

JD, Great job. Thanks for showing me what a back blade can do. I like that clean, sharp edge along the drive but it raises a question. The crown on the drive will drain the water to the edges, which appear to be lower than the adjoining turf, so the turf acts like a dam, preventing the water from draining into the yard. Where does the water go? Down the drive to the road beyond?
Won't that eventually dig a trench along the edge?
Also, was the dirt/gravel in your drive hard packed before you started working it? My new drive is caliche which, once watered in and packed down, will be almost like concrete. If I have to rework it, I'll have to use a box with rippers to tear it up and redistribute the material. Then a back blade would come in handy to smooth it out and rebuild the crown.
Thanks again!
Ken

 

[JB4310]

Yeah JDGreenGrass, that looks good. But if you took a rake over that drive in your pics, it would be beautiful


Kenster, the crown down the middle is designed to shed water to the sides so it's not running down the middle causing serious erosion.

You will get some erosion in the gutters, but that's better than having your drive surface wash away.

Since your question was about maintaining an existing drive and not building a new one, I still think the rake is the way to go, it's a very forgiving tool that has the shortest learning curve out of the 3 rear implements discussed here IMO. Look at my avatar, I love the Box but in this case....

Don't be fooled by it only being a fluffy finish tool, it will move some material, it's a steel rake, you know what you can do with a hand held steel rake. If you maintain the drive regularly with the rake you shouldn't need the other implements for major repairs. With the gauge wheels, you just lower the 3 pt and drive, no need to adjust up and down on the fly. You almost don't even have to look back there, unless you want to see how nice it looks.

Good luck, JB.

 

[sodamo]

A couple weeks back we got 25 inches rain - really did a job on my drive which is mostly 3/4 minus crushed on an old, but poorly built road that sufficed for cane haul trucks and equipment. Much of it washed to the sides, into the grass. Took me about 4 hours with my 6 ft rake. Did my best scrapping it out of the grass toward the middle, moving some with my FEL back up hill, then many passes with the rake angled. In some places the ruts were 6-8" deep. To be honest, I didn't have a great deal of hope when I started and dreaded the thought of another load or two of more rock at $500 per load. If I had gone that route then likely would have used my boxblade to get it distributed and finished with the rake. I'm pleased to say the results were well worth the effort without buying more rock. Even the wife likes how it came out.

Perhaps I'm not as accomplished as others with the boxblade, but usually I find finishing with the rake provides a better product.

Best of luck with yours. Your own rake and the borrowed BB sounds like a good combo.

 

[JDGreenGrass]

JD, Great job. Thanks for showing me what a back blade can do. I like that clean, sharp edge along the drive but it raises a question. The crown on the drive will drain the water to the edges, which appear to be lower than the adjoining turf, so the turf acts like a dam, preventing the water from draining into the yard. Where does the water go? Down the drive to the road beyond?
Won't that eventually dig a trench along the edge?
Also, was the dirt/gravel in your drive hard packed before you started working it? My new drive is caliche which, once watered in and packed down, will be almost like concrete. If I have to rework it, I'll have to use a box with rippers to tear it up and redistribute the material. Then a back blade would come in handy to smooth it out and rebuild the crown.
Thanks again!
Ken

Thanks for the props guys.!!

The 2 pictures I posted are "mid-stream."....or, work in progress.

The gravel on the edges, when finished, is higher than the lawn.

And, yes, the gravel was hard-pack when I started. Some have said here that the BB will dig and break up the top surface and a blade won't.??...In-correct. The blade did a great job of digging. or loosening the top surface. I could have deep if I chose to.

Also, in the 2nd picture I posted....if you look closely there are humps and valley's. The finished product had none of this....all due to going very slow allowing the blade to "carry" material, or gravel. And that was without wheels.

I absolutely love my back blade.

 

[Kenster]

Since my 8N doesn't have any down pressure, I'm not sure how well a blade will dig into hard packed road. But... with one friend having a box blade, and another having a back blade, I think a six foot rake is the way to go. Then I can share the rake with my other friends and borrow their implements as needed. Plus, the rake will come in handy cleaning up around our wooded property.
How much are guage wheels likely to add to the cost? Is there a cheaper, bolt on, alternative?

 

[JB4310]

Since my 8N doesn't have any down pressure, I'm not sure how well a blade will dig into hard packed road. But... with one friend having a box blade, and another having a back blade, I think a six foot rake is the way to go. Then I can share the rake with my other friends and borrow their implements as needed. Plus, the rake will come in handy cleaning up around our wooded property.
How much are gauge wheels likely to add to the cost? Is there a cheaper, bolt on, alternative?

First of all, none of our 3pts have down pressure, so your not at any disadvantage there.

The sharing thing is a great idea, each of you only has to buy one implement, but have the pick of all 3.

As far as the cost of gauge wheels, they do whack you good for them, but just pay for the stock ones and don't fool around trying to make your own, JMO

JB.

Here's a pic of mine.

 

[SPIKER]

I heard you had access tot he 4 foot box blade, probably pretty undersized for th 8/9N a 6 foot would be better fit and would work much better than the 4' one.

since you have access to that and a back blade then by all means go for the 6' rock rake.

they are excellent devices for finishing work. I bought mine after I did all the heavy landscaping work, & had hopes of using it for maintaining trails in the woods. It works well for that IF there is some ATV trails that already have the vegetation knocked down. If the weeds are up and the sticks twigs and such are there then it is a real pain to keep the rock rake going well. I think of all my 3pt implements it is the least used... heck as a matter of fact where are ya at maybe we can deal


I think my recommended suggested first implement to buy would still be a box blade...



Mark