How to spread gravel ????

[ANiforos]

Hi. I am the new owner of an L-2800. I live on six acres, mostly wooded, except for the 600 foot gravel driveway and the 1300 foot private gravel road. I have been here for approximately 18 years and have always wanted a tractor to scrape and maintain our driveways and road. I really could not justify buying a tractor since several times a year we neighbors (four of us) got together and paid a guy down the road to use his tractor and scrape it for us. Charged us about fifty dollars between the four of us. Very Cheap. So, I'm retired now at the young age of 54 and I thought......I've always wanted to do this myself, **** it, I'm going to do it. So now I'm the proud owner of a L-2800. I have a 6' scrape blade that adjusts all sorts of ways, and a 5' box scraper.

I have practiced some on my driveway with both implements and did a really good job. Proud of myself, being a first timer and all.

Then us neighbors got together and put down 105 tons of gravel on our private road. Don't now if many people know this or not, but the quarrys in North Carolina are mostly Vulcan Materials. They have this "Good Neighbor Policy", where anyone who lives within a one mile radius of one of their quarries, can get a "load" of free gravel/stone. How it was explained to me was that a load was a load. If we brought a pickup truck, it was a load. If we brought a tri-axle dump truck, it was considered a load. Each homeowner on this road was due one load free per year. So all six of us got together and paid a local dumptruck owner $70.00 an hour to bring us our six free loads. That worked out to $70.00 for each of us to get six loads 9 (approx 17 tons each load) of gravel. OK, sorry for the diversion here, but I wanted you to know what was going on here.

So I scraped my driveway and did a good job. Then they bring 105 tons of gravel to the private road. I wanted to spread it some and this is where the problem lies.

I would be scraping and spreading, and all of a sudden, there would be little hills, kind of wash boardish. Each time I went over it, the blade would just rise over the uppermost portion of the tiny hill and it just got worse from there. What am I doing wrong? Is my tractor too small, is the wheel base to short, is the gravel too deep to begin with?

Thanks for any input anyone can give me.

Alex

 

[gwdixon]

One of the things that you might try is to lenghen the top link of your box blade until the front blade just barely doesn't contact the ground. The blade on the rear of the box blade will do the smoothing.

Then put the blade fully down (in float) and travel slowly. As your wheels go up and down over the little mounds the box blade, being in float, will remain in contact with the ground and will level out the bumps in a couple of passes. If the front blade grabs too much gravel then lengthen the top link a little more until it is set just right to dig off the very tops of the mounds.

Good luck. I sounds like you have a nice cooperative neighborhood.

 

[magicheater]

So I scraped my driveway and did a good job. Then they bring 105 tons of gravel to the private road. I wanted to spread it some and this is where the problem lies.

I would be scraping and spreading, and all of a sudden, there would be little hills, kind of wash boardish. Each time I went over it, the blade would just rise over the uppermost portion of the tiny hill and it just got worse from there. What am I doing wrong? Is my tractor too small, is the wheel base to short, is the gravel too deep to begin with?

Thanks for any input anyone can give me.Alex

Try using your loader bucket as you go along. Also go in reverse and back drag any irregularities out before you give the final grade. It gives you two different venues to deal with but once you get it under control you can just use the 3PT and the box/back blade.

 

[timswi]

Try using your loader bucket as you go along. Also go in reverse and back drag any irregularities out before you give the final grade. It gives you two different venues to deal with but once you get it under control you can just use the 3PT and the box/back blade.

That's the way...Back dragging with the FEL using float and pressure does a really nice job. I usually do this with 50 ton per year.

I found that just dumping the tri-axle and spreading it myself works better. Some drivers can tailgate, and others can't. When it's bad it's really bad and takes me longer to straighten out and it can be really frustrating. That's just me though.

 

[General Lee]

If you have access to a landscape rake, give it a try. I've had good success with a rake. Especially when the gravel is loose.

 

[Toolguy]

I have had good luck with a rear blade by putting it on an angle. The angle keeps the blade from following the hills and valleys. That is how the county scrapes the gravel roads around here. The angled blade will move material sideways and it will level as it goes. It will take more than one pass to get it flat. Just a slight angle is all you need. 20 to 30 degrees should do it. Experiment with it and see what works best for you. Good luck.

 

[rdsaustintx]

If you have access to a landscape rake, give it a try. I've had good success with a rake. Especially when the gravel is loose.

x2. Especially if the rake has gage wheels.

 

[Deano]

Rake with gauge wheel gets another vote. Also, try turning the blade backwards and pulling it across the gravel.

A bunch of good suggestions here. One will work best for you. In the meantime, you are retired and what else do you have to do??!!:thumbsup:

Deano

 

[ENTS]

...Vulcan Materials. They have this "Good Neighbor Policy", where anyone who lives within a one mile radius of one of their quarries, can get a "load" of free gravel/stone. ...

REALLY?? Nearest Vulcan quarry from me is in Elkin. Too far to qualify

I've found the best is the rake. Mine doesn't have wheels but still does an excellent job. Good luck and have fun.

Later,

 

[Argosy]

Back blading works best for leveling loose material.

Spin the blade around and set it at the least angle to move material to the center when you're moving. Shorten the top link.

The curve of the blade makes it dig in, especially if the top link is extended to give it even more angle. If you reverse everything it will ride on the surface, the weight of the blade will be enough to flatten the loose material.

 

[TripleR]

Pretty much all of the aforementioned will do it, though back dragging 1900 feet is not something I would want to do on a regular basis.

I have a rake, back blade and 7' box blade and use the box blade more than anything. For smoothing, I find tail dragging the box blade works best for me. I have a hydraulic top link which I highly recommend. With that, I can feather the gravel out really well and go from simply smoothing to moving material.

If you want to crown your road, a back blade is probably going to work better.

Whichever method you use, don't get discouraged as it takes time and practice to get good at it.

I have addressed methods to use on your existing equipment, but there are better set ups if you want to spend the money.

 

[sixdogs]

Some good stuff here.
Best for me is back blading as noted and another vote for a landscape rake on wheels. Wheels really help.
I have also used a spike harrow--- on bone dry ground--- with good distributional results as annual refresher.
Same with a chain harrow.

 

[LostInTheWoods]

Alex,

As a new tractor user, you might find some good info here:

How To Video Demos - Implements & Attachments

They have some good how-to videos on a variety of tractor attachments. I don't think they cover moving gravel, specifically. But still some good stuff.


I have a long, hilly gravel drive and have had good success with maintaining it with a box blade. If you let the box "fill" with gravel as it moves, the added weight will drag it along and smooth out those washboard humps. Because the drive is so hilly, I've learned to adjust the height of the 3PH as I'm going uphill. This keeps enough gravel in the BB to smooth the road, but not so much as to bog down my little BX series tractor.

 

[Jay4200]

Thanks for any input anyone can give me.

You need a york rake or blade with gauge wheels.

JayC

 

[Deere Dude]

That's the way...Back dragging with the FEL using float and pressure does a really nice job. I usually do this with 50 ton per year.

I found that just dumping the tri-axle and spreading it myself works better. Some drivers can tailgate, and others can't. When it's bad it's really bad and takes me longer to straighten out and it can be really frustrating. That's just me though.

A few years ago I had someone deliver a tri-ax full of road gravel and wanted him to spread it down my 250' driveway. He started out good but when he got to the end of the drive by the mailbox, 1/2 of the load went in one spot. I only had a small garden tractor with a blade but it took all day to straighten that mess out before we could leave the driveway. Last time I got him. If you get a good spreader, keep on getting him.
Great ideas coming on grading. I had a tough time to.

 

[wvpolekat]

evenly

 

[radair]

These guys have it pretty much covered but I would add one thing; when grading or back dragging with the FEL, keep it full of gravel. Works much better.

 

[ANiforos]

Thanks everyone for all the tips. Lots of good advice here it seems. I will be trying out different things and seeing how different methods work.

 

[gstasny]

Swinging the blade around is the best advice given, when working with low piles of loose material.
And angling the blade a significant amount will also allow it to "bridge" across/above some of the low points, allowing material to fall into said low areas. Even if you create a strong crown in the middle, that's easy to knock down to whatever height you desire.

 

[Jay4200]

A few years ago I had someone deliver a tri-ax full of road gravel and wanted him to spread it down my 250' driveway. He started out good but when he got to the end of the drive by the mailbox, 1/2 of the load went in one spot. I only had a small garden tractor with a blade but it took all day to straighten that mess out before we could leave the driveway. Last time I got him. If you get a good spreader, keep on getting him.
Great ideas coming on grading. I had a tough time to.

It's a crap shoot when it comes to a dragged dump. I put down 20 tri-axles on my driveway this summer. The first guy did a good job. The second guy made a mess - the dump stopped halfway out then started up again, leaving a big hole in the middle. I had to move most of the second half of the dump back, which was already spread out - I probably ended up losing 1/3 of that load as a result. I requested the first guy for all of the rest of the loads. I'd say his success rate was ~70%. For all I know, the first guy was better and just had an unlucky dump.

To the OP - I remembered something last night - if your are getting little washboards when you drag your blade, it means you are going too fast. Slow down and it will run smoother.

JayC