Does a 3ph land plane need to have adjustable blades?

[Shenandoah MF1760]

I will need scarifiers for my particular driveway, I think. Right now I'm using a beat-up old Gannon roll-over box blade...

Doesn't the Gannon have scarifiers? My Rhino Ag roll-over box blade has 3 positions, pull, push or use scarifiers & pull.

 

[justtheengineer]

I believe the adjustments actually serves 2 purposes.

1. Allow for wear as some have said.
2. Allow just the blade section to be replaced if damaged by rock etc. Otherwise a bend here would junk the entire attachment.

I'm sure there are other advantages related to assembly labor, like being able to mount the blades before the blade frame is attached to the main frame.

I would add having scarifiers is a really nice feature. Feeding the blades loosened material will make them more effective at getting to level faster.

 

[jgoodma1]

I've had both, you want adjustable cutting edges. I currently have an EA and it's lack of adjustability is a point of frustration for me. They work much better when you can adjust the cutting depth. Also the cross tube part of the frame isn't high enough above the leading cutting edge so it plugs up easily.

Everyone is going to tell you to just buy a hydraulic top link, that does not solve the problem.

Thank you!

 

[jgoodma1]

Doesn't the Gannon have scarifiers? My Rhino Ag roll-over box blade has 3 positions, pull, push or use scarifiers & pull.

Well, it should, but it's so beat up that it only has 3 of them and the tips on those 3 are completely gone. I only paid a few hundred bucks for it and I use it more for its counterweight properties than its grading capabilities.

 

[bkibler]

My Woods land plane has adjustable skids. They're useful for enabling the outside edge to dig more to help set a crown, and to control the overall amount of cut. My tractor has a hydraulic top link, but with well-adjusted skids, it's so much easier to drop it to the ground, and have it work perfectly, without fussing with the topping lift every time I go over a crest or dip in the driveway.

 

[oosik]

This time of year my mile long gravel driveway turns to concrete. Over the 40+ years it's been here - the wind has brought dust, volcanic ash, etc onto the surface. All combine to make a VERY HARD surface. It's soooo hard - you can smoke the tires on your car and only leave rubber marks.

If I use my LPGS without the scarifiers - even at 800# the LPGS will have a tough time "breaking" the surface and doing its job of smoothing. One pass with the scarifiers down just an inch or so is all it takes. Most of the time the LPGS is used to fix shallow pot holes.

First pass with scarifiers down an inch or so. Second pass the scarifiers are down enough to stir up the very bottom of any pot hole. Then a few passes with the tractor to pack everything down.

 

[Fallon]

I have a 60" LandPride behind my L4060. Track is 72" so it's a foot to narrow. But even with loaded tires I can run into traction limits. So it ends up being about the right size I guess.

I'd say an adjustable blade should be important in theory. But I haven't ever adjusted mine in years of ownership or felt the beed to think about it. So as a matter of practice, it doesn't seem like a big deal.

 

[oosik]

My M6040 with FEL/grapple/rimguard loaded rear tires/LPGS will weigh right at 10,000 pounds. I always run in 4WD when using the LPGS. With scarifiers down - the LPGS can bring the tractor to a slow stop - if in 2WD. I really don't like digging holes with the rear tires.

Same with my eight foot Rhino 950 rear blade. 4WD provides the best results.

 

[Piston]

I have a Landpride GS2584 with scarifiers and adjustable blades. I have never once adjusted it and I have never once found the need for scarifiers.
I ended up buying a heavier duty grader made by Road Boss because I managed to bend my Landpride.

The Road Boss doesn’t have scarifiers, and has never needed them. It also has adjustable blades and although I haven’t adjusted them, I like having the option, because it is set rather aggressive from the factory considering my small tractor and HD land plane.
I do believe I will use the adjustability of the blades at some point, and I would recommend getting something adjustable. However, if you find a good deal on a used one that isn’t adjustable, don’t pass it up just for that reason, it’s obviously not a critical feature.

The difference between the Road Boss and Landpride is VERY noticeable! The Road Boss works considerably better in hard pack and I like the longer sides. It also has a lifetime warranty, and is built much better.

Landpride 846lbs vs Road Boss 1,100lbs
The Landpride is no slouch, but I was disappointed in how easily it was damaged. I know that a lighter duty 1584 would be very disappointing for my uses.

 

[scootr]

I have a land pride 84 inch model. It has 2 fixed blades. Honestly I'm not impressed with this attachment for road maintenance. It tends to dig deep and both blades angle towards the same side, resulting in a lot of material being thrown to one side. I would have liked to see opposing cutting edges and some type of depth control like hydraulic wheels or such. I disliked it on the road where a box scraper works wonders, but it works wonders in the soft dirt for weed abatement... meaning it shears all small growth and leaves a rockfree patch of dirt flat and clean. Immovable rocks embedded in the earth play havoc with this device, kicking it up and leaving a mess.

 

[oosik]

Piston - perhaps one of the reasons the Road Boss does not need/have scarifiers is because the leading blade is TOOTHED. That added weight doesn't hurt either.

The Road Boss is a very fine looking implement.

Strange - my Land Pride GS2584 does not move material horizontally - not at all. SCOOTR - if the blades are digging too deep - adjust them. They ARE adjustable to cut shallower.

 

[Fallon]

Piston - perhaps one of the reasons the Road Boss does not need/have scarifiers is because the leading blade is TOOTHED. That added weight doesn't hurt either.

The Road Boss is a very fine looking implement.

Strange - my Land Pride GS2584 does not move material horizontally - not at all. SCOOTR - if the blades are digging too deep - adjust them. They ARE adjustable to cut shallower.

Same. I got a back blade for crowning, No matter how i tilted it or tried could i get my LP land plane to move material sideways. The only thing that worked was doimg a herringbone pattern & lifting the 3pt in the middle to dump a small pile. Then comming back down straight to smooth all th small piles into a crown. It worked, but was really slow. Land planes just dont move material sideways even with 2 blades angled the samr way.

 

[scootr]

Thanks for the replies about the sideways material movement. I'll revisit the material action when I use it again. I guess I don't understand how it cannot move loose material sideways with both edges slanted to one side. After all that how a grader blade moves material And I had seen other planes with opposing angle blades which I assumed either cut better or kep material centered better or both. I could be wrong. This implement is new to me.

 

[Fallon]

Thanks for the replies about the sideways material movement. I'll revisit the material action when I use it again. I guess I don't understand how it cannot move loose material sideways with both edges slanted to one side. After all that how a grader blade moves material And I had seen other planes with opposing angle blades which I assumed either cut better or kep material centered better or both. I could be wrong. This implement is new to me.

A grader, back blade or snow plow is nearly vertical. The blades on a LPGS are usually 45 degrees or so. Not enough vertical face to push material sideways.

Angle on an LPGS is there so the blade hits a lump or ridge in 1 spot. More weight bearing down on 1 spot cuts. If it hit a ridge straight on it would likely jump or bounce & not cut.

 

[oosik]

SCOOTR - it's like FALLON said. It's all in the design of the implement. The land plane is designed to cut the surface and have the material move up and over the blade. The rear blade is designed to cut the surface and with the tall blade - the material CAN move horizontally. Providing you have your rear blade angled.

The blade on the LPGS is not tall enough to contain and move the material horizontally. At least, not much of the material.

 

[scootr]

I'm gonna have to use it more and learn for myself. I suspect you guys are correct. It did a great job on some rock free dirt where I was doing weed abatement with it... cutting the wild mustard and T-weed off. If that's all it does it is worth it to me there.