How do I use a 4' box blade to grade my gravel road

[coloradotrout]

I have 1/2 mile of gravel road. Over the winter it got pretty cut up. I guess the theory is that the road should be tapered up to the center with ditches on one or both sides to get the water off as quickly as possible. My drive goes over a couple of small hills. The ditches are in mostly good shape except for some low areas where there is really only a ditch on one side. Also the road in general needs to be mounded up in the center.

I have a 4' box blade. How do I use it to do this?

 

[/pine]

Where there are ditches on either side you can form a crown in the center by adjusting the side-link of the 3ph to tilt the box....

I would start by ripping (scarifying) the area to be worked and then tilt your box and proceed to cut your crown...

Where there is a ditch only on one side your road should only pitch in that direction (no crown in the center)... culverts are needed to move the water from one side to the other when one ditch stops...

The idea is to get the run-off off the road surface (into the ditches) as quickly as possible...on hills the pitch of the road into the ditches needs to be steeper than the hill to prevent constant erosion of the road surface...

 

[coloradotrout]

Any tips or tricks to using the boxblade to do this? Four foot is about half the width of the road, so for the dual ditch scenario I'm thinking I just work it down one side and back the other. That one seems easy enough, except for where I turn around.

How do I deal with the box blade when it is full of material? Just try to feather it out as best as possible?

If I need to fill-in, do I just add gravel? or try to build-up with road material first and then gravel on top?

I'd like to top off the worst spots with some new gravel.

What I'm leary about is pulling up too much material and getting down to the underlying dirt. Maybe if I do that it all just settles back in anway, and I should just boldy go for it?

All I know is I can do a lot of damage real quick -- so I'm looking for tips to optimize the good experiences and minimize the bad ones.

 

[/pine]

First start with a short stretch of the road....

by starting with with your ripers down you will get a feel for the depth of the gravel....

It all depends on if you have enough depth of gravel to allow for the pitch...
I usually stockpile the accumulated material until I have the grade set...then I go back and re-distribute the accumulated material where it is needed...

The most important thing you will learn to do is adjust the top link on your box blade...if your blade has a cutting edge on both sides (front/rear) it is even better...if your forward blade is set (top link adjustment) to cut...the rear facing blade will be up so it is ideal for smoothing (in reverse)

 

[bellevuebill]

I too just got a new box blade. I am practicing with it now and have a few questions.
If I let the top link out I am smoothing the material in the box, right?
If I bring the top link in I am cutting.
Do you let the box blade float i.e. let it go all the way down, and adjust the top link from there?
I haven't even got to the scarifiers yet :confused2:
thanks

 

[beenthere]

We'll hope that you have enough depth to the gravel over the base to be able to work it up and spread it out. Then don't forget to drive on it before it dries out to pack it down real good.

Try to get the fines worked in with the larger pieces, and packed tight. Otherwise the larger pieces just roll around on top like marbles and do not good at all.

A blade that will angle is what I prefer, with the box blade and scarifiers to work it up first and move material to low spots. Angle the blade and build the crown. Then pack it till it is packed tight.

 

[/pine]

If I let the top link out I am smoothing the material in the box, right?
If I bring the top link in I am cutting.

Since you're new to the box blade...the easiest way to see what is happening is to lower the bb until the cutting edge just barely touches the ground...then adjust the toplink and watch the cutting edge...you need to slightly raise the bb to continue adjusting...

if your bb has a double blade (forward/reverse) and you set your forward facing blade to cut the rear blade will be ready to do the opposite (smooth) and vice versa...

[warning] whenever you are opperating the bb in reverse be careful to make sure you are only moving/smoothing loose or workable material...you do not want to jamb the bb into anything even remotely stationairy while in reverse...to prevent damage to the 3ph arms...

 

[DMW]

(Temporarily blocked due to reports of company closure) has a great video on boxblade use.
+1 to everything everybody else said.

Ripping the driveway first with just the scarifiers in the gravel makes the second part a lot easier. The material in the boxblade is for filling in low areas. Always try to maintain some gravel in it to do this. Do not keep cutting into the driveway until it overflows. The boxblade may not have enough weight for the blade to effectively dig in/smooth the gravel (depending on how well packed it is). Lowering the scarifiers so the just dig in just a little, and adjusting the angle of the blade will help a lot. I do this so I don't have to continuosly adjust the 3ph level. Don't turn with the scarifiers in the ground, try to go forward as much as possible. Feather out the excess material at the ends of the driveway. You shouldn't have more than 1 box full. If the blade angle is too aggressive, your rear tires will be squeezed down and the tractor will come to a stop. Not aggressive enough, the blade will float over the gravel.

Just a reminder to engage the boxblade from a stop. Do not just drop it into the gravel when travelling full speed down the driveway.

 

[Mock1]

Google Wilsonoutdoors.com. There is a real good set of videos
showing a Kubota BX and a four foot BB repairing a drive.
I learned a lot watching them, four in total.

Regards,David

 

[Snowman9000]

I just did my driveway. It's an annual thing. This year I decided to put a crown on it. The box blade didn't do a very good job IMO. All of the gravel would sag over into the low side of the box. So I switched to my regular rear blade, angled and tipped it, and cut the crown in short order. Then I switched back to the box blade to smooth things out.

In the end I realized I needed more gravel, so I had some tailgated onto the crowned drive at a depth of about 2-3 inches. I again dressed it with the box blade. Actually I could use that much more again. Either that or I can take down some of the crown. I've probably got 12" from peak to edges on a 10' width.