Driveway grader/ farm and feed bunks

[buffdawg69]

Hi all,

I have been looking at a lot of threads on how to build a 3 point driveway grader. I have found a lot of good home projects. I also like the tractor dual edge land grader, and want to build something along that line. I go back and help my dad farm when he needs help. I am a welder now, but when I go home there are times where I hit my head on the cab. With a air ride seat its not all that bad, but not all of his tractors have that lol, esp the one that pulls the feed wagon. I don't really know how to lay it out so I can build it, but more important I want to make the 3 point hook up more on the curb side so when I hook it up, more of the grader is on the driver side ( going along feed bunks). I am not a draftsmen or eng. Will it still function the way it should if I were to off set the 3 point hook to the curb side? What is the best width and length to use? What angle should I have the 2 blades at? I was also thinking about dropping the curb side blades down 1/8th so water would drain away from feed bunks and drive way. I don't know if that's a good idea or not, and if that's to much or not enough. So basically I have the welding down, just not the rest lol! I will weld it with 100% Co2( short arc) good penetration . Or just spray with C10. Any tips I would appreciate! thank you. I will post pics if I get something figured out and built.

 

[Wagtail]

Best of luck on your endeavour Mate. Welcome to TBN from Downunder.

(Sorry, I can't help you with anything else. Truth be told, I breath a wee sigh of relief everytime my tractor or Ute starts when I turn the key! :laughing

 

[john40981]

Hi Mate, I asked a similar question about making a land plain for my driveway and tracks on my farm. Some info and pictures on that posting may help.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/287452-land-plain-blade-height-help.html

John

 

[hddnis]

You can offset or make it wide enough to stick out past the tractor on both sides. If the blades are angled to move material towards the feed bunk that will tend to slope the road away all by itself. Adding in an angle feature for more slope can be done, it adds another linkage to the works which is more complicated, but if you need that ability it is well worth the trouble to make it that way.



Mr. HE

 

[buffdawg69]

Thanks guys for the help. I will send some pics when i am finished. I am thinking about taking apart an old field drag and using them in front of the grader. I think right now I am going to stay away from sloping it. That will limit it to only grade one way and not being able to do a u-turn. I have a friend who has a bunch of old snowplow blades that i think should work just fine. I am going to make it wider than the tires. As soon as I started a thread ( which i have never done). It was the first thing that came to mind. DUH! I am thinking about sitting blades at an 45 degree angel

 

[buffdawg69]

angle ooppss

 

[buffdawg69]

I guess I should word it a little better. I am going to set the blades to cut at 45 degrees. And the depth is another one I am unsure of. I was thinking 1/4 inch because its hard gravel packed with JD 8640, Big combine, silage cutting etc. But after reading your threads seems anywhere to 1" to 3/4.

 

[buffdawg69]

I will be posting some pictures soon. I went with a 9' X 7" land grader. I went 9 so it stuck past the tires. I am using old snow plow blades. I should have pics up in the next few weeks

 

[hddnis]

Looking forward to pics.



Mr. HE

 

[Willie B]

To me at least, it seems that forming potholes does raise the rest of the road only a little bit. If you cut 99% of the surface just a little bit, you have enough material to fill potholes. Three point hitches are adjustable side to side. Don't worry about that. Besides if the road is already contoured, one side of the tractor is lower anyway. My concern is that when you grade a road, you fill the low spots with soft material. It soon pounds out again. To eliminate a low spot you need to rip up the hard areas too, then create a homogenous surface.
I drove the gravel roads in a nearby town, I was amazed at how smooth they were. Later I met the road commisioner, and asked about it. He said it takes all year to get roads hard, grading them takes you back to square one. Instead, he fills holes with "pack mix". "I can fill every pothole in town before noon. If I grade, I'll have to fill them again next week.

 

[BHD]

most feed lots in our area use a box blade scraper to do drives and level and move dirt and even shape the corrals at times, many times called a speed mover, I have a old John Deere unit.

PS Series | Orthman Industrial

2013 Speed-Mover 1010T For Sale In Fredonia KS - Valley Auto Sales

with the rear wheels one can set it for leveling of surfaces, dumping the load, and on mine and most have one rear wheel that has a fine tune, so if you want a tilt you can raise or lower one wheel to achieved that,

in the second Url one can see some have weight boxes to help them cut,

they work great, can move a lot of dirt, and level like a pool table is flat ,

about the only thing they do not work very well at is snow removal, and that is because snow forms blocks and does not flow like dirt,
and one needs a large area to dump the snow and you have to drive over it and work from the far end or you will end up with so much you will spin out or get stuck as there is a mound of snow between the tractor and the blade, you some times can not get the blade over or the tractor backed up, but you can remove snow if you think and watch what one is doing,

 

[Willie B]

My latest brainstorm is an undermount grader blade for a big Case 580K backhoe. In the 1940s American Road Machine built machines based on the Ford, and Farmall tractors. Or when I was a kid the town I live in (low budget) used an old Gallion tow behind road grader. Its biggest challenge was a tractor able to pull it. The town used a John Deere 40 crawler.