How to stop rippling when spreading/dragging with back blade

JimnAZ · Jul 7, 2015

Hello,

I have a Mahindra 3616 and recently purchased a 7' adjustable rear blade. Currently I'm trying to fix a road we use. We have plenty of clay dirt and cinder mix that I consider as road base. While I spread this on the road, I get a lot of ripples/waves/ridges. (Not sure proper word to use.)
What am I doing or not doing that is causing this? The more I go over it the more the tractor follows those bumps and just makes it worse.

Any help or tips are greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Jim

coobie · Jul 7, 2015

JimnAZ said:
Hello,

I have a Mahindra 3616 and recently purchased a 7' adjustable rear blade. Currently I'm trying to fix a road we use. We have plenty of clay dirt and cinder mix that I consider as road base. While I spread this on the road, I get a lot of ripples/waves/ridges. (Not sure proper word to use.)
What am I doing or not doing that is causing this? The more I go over it the more the tractor follows those bumps and just makes it worse.

Any help or tips are greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Jim

Do you mean the blade is bouncing up and down while you grade?If so slow down to prevent this..

GPintheMitten · Jul 7, 2015

Blades are notorious for doing this. The front wheels ride up a ripple which cause the blade to drop, the back wheels ride up the ripple and cause the blade to raise.

The best advice I can offer on blade use is to angle the blade like this /:-: and go slow so that the blade does not bounce. Might also need more weight on it. Land planes work better but cost a lot more than blades.

Do you have a front end loader? If so you can back drag the loader to help smooth it.

GPintheMitten · Jul 7, 2015

Here's a thread about land planes. Some people have built them homemade with good results.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/340014-land-leveler.html

rutwad · Jul 7, 2015

Personally I do not like land planes. With practice you will be just fine with the boxblade, plus it is more versatile.

kencunningham · Jul 7, 2015

If you can turn your blade around 180 degrees, that should help with smoothing.

Shift4200 · Jul 7, 2015

I read somewhere on this forum to unhook the top link so that the angle of the tractor does not effect the angle of the blade. I personally have not tried this, but sounds like it might work.

Best of luck

-J

JMER817 · Jul 7, 2015

GPintheMitten said:
Blades are notorious for doing this. The front wheels ride up a ripple which cause the blade to drop, the back wheels ride up the ripple and cause the blade to raise. The best advice I can offer on blade use is to angle the blade like this /:-: and go slow so that the blade does not bounce. Might also need more weight on it. Land planes work better but cost a lot more than blades. Do you have a front end loader? If so you can back drag the loader to help smooth it.

Angle as shown above then straighten and back blade in reverse. Or pickup a landscape rake with gauge wheels.

MtnViewRanch · Jul 7, 2015

rutwad said:
Personally I do not like land planes. With practice you will be just fine with the boxblade, plus it is more versatile.

Please elaborate as to why you do not like land planes.

MtnViewRanch · Jul 7, 2015

JimnAZ said:
Hello,

I have a Mahindra 3616 and recently purchased a 7' adjustable rear blade. Currently I'm trying to fix a road we use. We have plenty of clay dirt and cinder mix that I consider as road base. While I spread this on the road, I get a lot of ripples/waves/ridges. (Not sure proper word to use.)
What am I doing or not doing that is causing this? The more I go over it the more the tractor follows those bumps and just makes it worse.

Any help or tips are greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Jim

What make and model rear blade do you have?