How do you use a landplane

[4x4moses]

I have a long gravel driveway, and frequently use my son-in-law's Land Pride landplane. Working with it recently, I tried three different positions, but didn't see a lot of difference in the result. How do you use your landplane; front tilted slightly down, front slightly tilted up, or as flat as possible? I've always heard that flat is best; but having the front tilted slightly up (about 1-2 inches) seems to put less strain on the implement.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

Flat, I even added 1/3 longer "shoes" out of 2" Angle Iron.

Land Plane in action

 

[Gordon Gould]

I run mine flat also. Flat while it is working. When you start to pull the front blade will want to dig in and it may cause the back end to lift slightly so lengthen the top link a little so that the runners are flat while cutting.

gg

 

[thclimer]

I let mine lay flat and float. About the only adjustment I'll is to raise one side to create more of a crown in the driveway, then I still drop it to be flat but don't really allow it to float.

 

[Striker70]

Something about the Land Pride Land plane not shown in these pictures is that the cutter bars are adjustable for height. There are two bolts on each side that allow the cutter bars to "work" higher or lower depending on how you cut the surfaces. Maybe you have them set high now ?? I use lower setting for dirt and higher for gravel work.

 

[Lavender Valley]

I use a box blade; it works best when full of gravel, the weight keeps it down (cutting), so high spots get cut down and holes filled. As the tractor rear hydraulics only lift your land plane would maybe operate better full of gravel to stop it bouncing.

 

[Fallon]

I have a top cylinder, so adjustments are easy. For ripping front down. That gets the rippers in, or if they aren't down all the weight is on the front blade to cut in better. Less relevant if you don't have rippers in the front. But still getting all the weight on one blade is important if things are super hard & it's not cutting in.

For general use I run it level.

For finishing & smoothing I'll run it with the front blade off the ground. It's easier to take small cuts & use the toplink along with the 3pt. You can taper things off by slowly lifting the rear blade off the ground by levering the blade off the ground with the trailing edge of the skids rather than just lifting with the 3pt.

If I didn't have the toplink I'd run it level.

 

[Tpondel]

Have a planer as well and need help.

Thanks everyone.

 

[WM75Guy]

I added some recycled asphalt to my driveway, some spots were getting thin. My Land Pride grader scraper came with the blades level with the skids as shown in this picture. It dug into the driveway leaving a trench. I loosened the 3 bolts on each side and raised my blades as high as possible. The blades are only about 1" higher than the skids. I then ran it flat on the skids. It left a nice smooth surface without disturbing the underlying material.

 

[oosik]

I have an 84 inch Land Pride Landplane with scarifiers. The actual adjustable blade is set 1.00 inches below the side skid.

Even though the entire unit is fairly heavy (800) - it does not do well in the late summer when the driveway is hard as cement.

I use this unit when my. mile long gravel driveway is still damp.

I run the entire unit - dead flat. Helps cut the crowns and fill any valleys. I run with the scarifiers cutting about an inch or so into the surface. Allows all the material to bond together as a unit.

There are only two areas ( about 50 feet or so ) that need this kind of work every spring.

 

[Gordon Gould]

I run mine flat also. Flat while it is working. When you start to pull the front blade will want to dig in and it may cause the back end to lift slightly so lengthen the top link a little so that the runners are flat while cutting.

View attachment 4422194

gg

Mine are fixed at 3/4" below the runners. I don't want to just move the loose material on top into holes or depressions. I want to cut the surface and grade it.

gg

 

[Shawn T. W.]

My Bush Hog brand also has fixed blades, about 5/8" below the runners, until I bolted 1/4" thick angle iron to the bottom of the runners ... Not only did I feel like it was cutting/digging too much, as it was clogging up the top above the blades on the right side, but the increased length by 50% makes for a smoother/flatter driveway ...

As you can see from the video I posted earlier, my driveway doesn't have ruts, washouts, washboard ... I mostly use it to keep the weeds from growing in it ... I don't drive on it much either ...

 

[wendlingknives]

How well does a land plane work vs a grader blade for crowning a dirt road? Trying to decide which to get. And by dirt road, this is for east texas red clay type deer lease trails. Theyre pretty rutted from rain and all. Id like to find something better than my box blade to create a crown and let rain runoff down the edges (hopefully) to have less washout

 

[dieselscout80]

I am wanting to take the high spots off in our pastures and distribute the dirt to the low spots. I was thinking that a land plane with rippers would work.

I think adjusting the rippers to engage the ground say a 1/4” above the skids and the blades at about a 1/2” above the skids.

Would my TC45DA (hydrostatic transmission) pull a 8 foot land plane setup as I described above.

 

[Fallon]

A land plane does a very poor job of crowning. It will move a decent amount of material forward or backwards, but almost nothing side to side. Angled blades look like they should, but don't. If I'm crowning with my land plane I'm doing a herringbone path down the road 30' at a time diagonally down the road.

A back blade will crown loose material WAY faster than a plane. But a back blade doesn't have enough weight or stiffness to loosen up packed dirt or gravel. It will just skip over the top. Unless you have a big machine & super heavy back blade. You'll need a land plane or box blade, possibly with rippers to get things started.

It's possible to do the diagonal thing with the land plane & crown. It's often not possible to cut with a back blade.

Skimming off the tops of ruts does little long term. Loose material pops right out of the hard ruts. You need to rip the whole road & smooth it out together so it packs in properly. Loose material around hard material just moves back out.

I use my land plane a lot more than my back blade.

 

[workinonit]

If the blades are not below the runners a landplane won't do anything at all. When I built mine I fashioned it after one I had used with offset blades. I set the blades 1" deeper than the runners. It's the best leveling device I've ever used. I also have 2 box blades that just sit but they do have their purpose. Just not leveling.

 

[Tomtint]

It's best to have it flat and have the front blade about 3/8" lower than the rear blade....Lower if you really need to cut. The idea is to have the front blade do the planing, have the material flow over it and then have the rear blade feather out the material as it goes.

 

[dieselscout80]

I’m not wanting to disturb any GRASS except where there are high spots in our pastures.

This is the reason for wanting the blades slightly above the skids.

If there high spots across the width of the land plane I want them cut down/leveled.

 

[Gordon Gould]

How well does a land plane work vs a grader blade for crowning a dirt road? Trying to decide which to get. And by dirt road, this is for east texas red clay type deer lease trails. Theyre pretty rutted from rain and all. Id like to find something better than my box blade to create a crown and let rain runoff down the edges (hopefully) to have less washout

Like Fallon says - A land plane is a lousy tool for crowning. A rear blade is what you want. Your tractor is plenty big to do blade work. The heavier the better. I am not familiar with Texas red clay but I have no problem cutting into my packed gravel driveway using a LandPlane 1572 blade and 30 hp tractor. Setting the angle of attack to get the best cutting action will help. And you can always add weight to your blade. But too much is abusive. Plan to do your work around the weather. Work when the road is at it most workable consistency.

Fixing washout rut from our 2024 flood

Crowning

gg