Grading John Deere X575 Grading Limits

[vtrally]

HI all. I am new to the board and a new JD owner. I just picked up a 2005 X575. I have a 500' gravel driveway that slopes uphill and am looking for something to maintain it with. There are many options out there and after many nights looking I decided on the Dura-Grader Adjustable Utility Land Plane only to now discover they don't exist anymore. I called the new company but the price is much higher than it used to be.

Does anybody here have any experience pulling a land plane with an X575 / X585 / X728 that can give some idea of whether a 4 or 5 foot land plane is suitable or not. The dealer told me it would pull a 4' box scraper without issue and a land plane is "supposed" to pull easier.

I know some of you will say "Get a X748!" and I would love to do that but the X575 is what I have and what I will use.

Thanks,

Clint

 

[beenthere]

:welcome:
I would think a land plane (as well as a box blade) would be a bit more than the tractor can handle, mostly because of weight and tire diameter size. Just going to be hard to have the traction needed to make this attachment work for you. A land plane needs to dig up the old gravel, mix it well with the fines, and level it off for the final drive over to compact the mix. Maybe the front drive assist will help overcome the lack of traction, but I would be really impressed if it works very well.
Don't mean to disappoint you but wouldn't feel right not passing on some experience.
What is the new company name?

 

[jenkinsph]

I would suggest a 48" such as EverythingAttachments.com has which is just over 400 lbs. This model should work better than the 60" model because it is heavier per foot of width. I would also check to see what the 575 can pickup on the hitch as my x749 is about 450 lbs approx. You will need some front weights for this too.

 

[vtrally]

Thanks for the info. The rating on lift is the same for the 575 and 749 so I should be okay there.
I got the weight bracket and 4 X 44lb weights with the mower. There is a bracket to put them on the front or back and I if I put them on the front that should help.

Are there any mods you did to your X749?
I need to get rid of the reverse over-ride and make that functional all the time. I don't have any kids or outside pets and I find it bothersome to have to use. The way I mow my lawn I turn around at the end of every pass and it involves a quick 2 point turn. The ease of the hydro pedals is ruined by having to pull that lever up every pass.

The new company is DoMor: domorequipment.com

 

[jenkinsph]

To over ride the RIO switch on mine I keep a Bic pen cap in the side pocket. When I turn on the pto I slide this under the switch and it holds it up enough to over ride the RIO function. Sice my mower is still under warranty I prefer this to jumpering the wiring on the switch, but jumpering could be done easily too.

 

[vtrally]

She is sorted out.
When I got home tonight I downloaded the manual and figured out which wires I needed to jump and jumpered them. This left the RIO light on full time so I went a little deeper and pulled the bulb out of the dash. Everything now works and looks just like I want it!

Thanks for the help.