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.