Land plane questions

[borisvonf]

After reading many land plane discussions, I still have a few stupid questions. I plan to buy not build.

Background. I have a 1/2 mile gravel drive with 1 really steep section, don稚 know grade, and the rest is incline up and then back down with very few flat sections. I知 in the piedmont of SC so clay sub soil with lots of rocks in dirt and a few rock outcrops poking though road. Will pull with 4wd 80 hp jd 5500.

Questions
1) I see angle on these blades to move rock to center for crown, but they all move rock to the left from what I see. If I have to grade uphill, how do I get crown on the left half of the road as it seems it would move rock form right to left? If the road were flat I understand you would just pull in opposite direction and make crown but if I can only grade in one direction how does it work?

2) Width of grader should be 1/2 of road width plus 1 foot to give 6 overlap on each side?

3) Are rippers really worth extra money not to have to change from box with rippers to lpgs?

4) Does it require feathering hydro top link or just let it follow contour with no top link connection?

5) I have enjoyed so many of the EA videos. Should I buy from them and get a great product never having tried one or get a lighter J-bar at 1/2 the price to see if I like it? Will I love it from the start?

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Smokeydog]

With your size tractor I would not go lighter. EA makes a good land plane for sure.
Don’t need a hydro top link or PHD to operate. Drop and go. I have a slight tilt for my 1/2 mile winding steep driveway and a little has to be pulled the other direction. Grade flat and lower to the side you want most drainage. Driving on it makes a crown. Ted’s video explains it well.
The rippers were not needed for my driveway. Maybe handy for some future yard work.
I’ve got 6’ land plane behind a a 60hp 4x4 tractor and I would not want wider. Some of driveway is 25’ wide.

 

[bcp]

If you watch the many videos on YouTube, you will see very little sideways movement of material. The main benefit of angled blades is on washboard roads where blades can be on two or three bumps at once and not ride up and down as a single straight blade may do.

Bruce

 

[wagne223]

The LPGS is not designed to shape or create a crown. In fact if you are not careful you will remove the crown with a LPGS.

LPGS are designed to turn over the surface of gravel drives bringing the gravel back up from being buried in the fines.
They also smooth and fill dips and remove washboard from dirt roads.

They do not move material in any measurable amount. They are great at smoothing.

For washouts, pulling ditches or reshaping (repairing or creating a crown) you will need a box blade or rear blade or both.

I would suggest a lot more research. Road maintenance can be frustrating.
There are many threads on here related to roads and the equipment to maintain them. For a lot of us it is a neverending task.

But it is a good excuse to get in some tractor time!

 

[MidTn Mark]

With your size tractor I would not go lighter. EA makes a good land plane for sure.
Don’t need a hydro top link or PHD to operate. Drop and go. I have a slight tilt for my 1/2 mile winding steep driveway and a little has to be pulled the other direction. Grade flat and lower to the side you want most drainage. Driving on it makes a crown. Ted’s video explains it well.
The rippers were not needed for my driveway. Maybe handy for some future yard work.
I’ve got 6’ land plane behind a a 60hp 4x4 tractor and I would not want wider. Some of driveway is 25’ wide.

Anyone else wonder at first why Smokey was talking about a post hole digger?

 

[metalbender]

PHD is one of them university things " Piled Higher and Deeper" Seems that folk that have that bit of paper are smarter than those who work for a living.

 

[PaxMan]

After reading many land plane discussions, I still have a few stupid questions. I plan to buy not build.

Background. I have a 1/2 mile gravel drive with 1 really steep section, don稚 know grade, and the rest is incline up and then back down with very few flat sections. I知 in the piedmont of SC so clay sub soil with lots of rocks in dirt and a few rock outcrops poking though road. Will pull with 4wd 80 hp jd 5500.

Questions
1) I see angle on these blades to move rock to center for crown, but they all move rock to the left from what I see. If I have to grade uphill, how do I get crown on the left half of the road as it seems it would move rock form right to left? If the road were flat I understand you would just pull in opposite direction and make crown but if I can only grade in one direction how does it work?

2) Width of grader should be 1/2 of road width plus 1 foot to give 6 overlap on each side?

3) Are rippers really worth extra money not to have to change from box with rippers to lpgs?

4) Does it require feathering hydro top link or just let it follow contour with no top link connection?

5) I have enjoyed so many of the EA videos. Should I buy from them and get a great product never having tried one or get a lighter J-bar at 1/2 the price to see if I like it? Will I love it from the start?

Thanks for the advice.

I was really leaning towards an EA Land Plane, but ended up purchasing a 6ft. Woods last weekend. Very well built, heavy, and the price was $600 less than what an EA was going to cost me w/ scarifiers. I'm very happy with my purchase. Good luck with your decision.

 

[shucksters]

I was really leaning towards an EA Land Plane, but ended up purchasing a 6ft. Woods last weekend. Very well built, heavy, and the price was $600 less than what an EA was going to cost me w/ scarifiers. I'm very happy with my purchase. Good luck with your decision.

Same thing here..bought the 84" Woods which my dealer had in stock. Knocked my 100 yard driveway out in no time. My wife thought I had bought a bunch of gravel!!

 

[Fallon]

Anyone else wonder at first why Smokey was talking about a post hole digger?

Took me a minute as well.

 

[oosik]

I have a mile long gravel driveway. My tractor is 2009 Kubota M6040. I have a heavy duty rear blade, LPGS, roll-over-box blade. The heavy duty Rhino 950 rear blade @ 1100# is used about 99% of the time to maintain the driveway. Summer & winter. It will plow the snow, maintain the ditches, maintain the crown, grade the surface & to a lesser extent - move material from here to there.

The roll-over-box blade ( ROBB ) is used to scarify the potholes and move material to fill & repair the potholes.

The LPGS is used to smooth everything out and will "fix" small ripples. The LPGS WILL NOT create a crown. WILL NOT move material horizontally.

Obviously - the heavy duty rear blade is the most universal implement to maintain my driveway.

 

[fried1765]

I have a mile long gravel driveway. My tractor is 2009 Kubota M6040. I have a heavy duty rear blade, LPGS, roll-over-box blade. The heavy duty Rhino 950 rear blade @ 1100# is used about 99% of the time to maintain the driveway. Summer & winter. It will plow the snow, maintain the ditches, maintain the crown, grade the surface & to a lesser extent - move material from here to there.

The roll-over-box blade ( ROBB ) is used to scarify the potholes and move material to fill & repair the potholes.

The LPGS is used to smooth everything out and will "fix" small ripples. The LPGS WILL NOT create a crown. WILL NOT move material horizontally.

Obviously - the heavy duty rear blade is the most universal implement to maintain my driveway.

YEP......yet SO many will recommend the land plane.
I have never understood why.
I would guess it is because the land plane does generally smooth things out, and does not not require any expertise.

 

[Professor Marvel]

YEP......yet SO many will recommend the land plane.
I have never understood why.
I would guess it is because the land plane does generally smooth things out, and does not not require any expertise.

that's why i use mine
it's idiot proof and i rarely have to look back
i don't care about the crown because as soon as a bunch of vehicles get on it it doesn't matter
actually you can drop your right lower arm and angle then grade to the left (or any configuration you want) but to me it isn't worth the bother.
i have to do it often and it is easier to just drag it and be done with it
if you don't have much traffic or the traffic is just you and you drive so as to keep your gravel where you want it it would be different

 

[450]

The LP is not the cure all but it is a great tool to have. I built mine instead of buying because of shipping prices to Alaska but building things is fun to me.

 

[oosik]

The LPGS is a GREAT implement if your driveway is in good shape anyway. You need little or no experience to drag it down an otherwise smooth driveway.

I think it gives a lot of folks a good feeling to be able to use an implement and not cause problems to an otherwise acceptable situation.

Not so very easy to do with a rear blade.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

YEP......yet SO many will recommend the land plane.
I have never understood why.
I would guess it is because the land plane does generally smooth things out, and does not not require any expertise.

Simple, TIME. I have miles of road and fence line to maintain. For general road maintenance, I can maintain the 1 3/8 mile of road in less than half the time it takes with either my ROBB or my rear blade. And I am quite good with them all.

Another reason might be that even a light weight LPGS works fairly well compared to a light box blade or rear blade.

Weight is only part of the equation, (I believe that oosik will confirm that) and everyone can't afford the heavy implements as well as the tractor being used may not be capable of using a heavier implement.

 

[oosik]

No question - when time is a factor - the LPGS is the tool. It's just that - being retired, I have all the time in the world to work on the driveway. With this one implement - rear blade - I'm able to do most everything needed on my driveway. But the rear blade is a "slower" implement - for sure.

And my driveway is NOTHING like the pics MT VIEW RANCH shows. Summer time - it's concrete. I've priced a 6"deep x 20'wide X mile long layer of crushed rock. I spent the money on my new Ram Power Wagon instead.

 

[Professor Marvel]

The one thing i have not heard here that is a definite plus also for me is that the land plain reclaims previously lost gravel. Using a back blade on about a mile of road for years i never got the results i get with the LP. I have saved myself a lot in gravel. My neighbors even noticed it and when i started using the land plane they kept thinking i had gotten more gravel. Obviously it pleased them because they didn't have to worry about coming up with gravel money.
Has no one else had this experience?

 

[Tompet]

that's why i use mine
it's idiot proof and i rarely have to look back
i don't care about the crown because as soon as a bunch of vehicles get on it it doesn't matter
actually you can drop your right lower arm and angle then grade to the left (or any configuration you want) but to me it isn't worth the bother.
i have to do it often and it is easier to just drag it and be done with it
if you don't have much traffic or the traffic is just you and you drive so as to keep your gravel where you want it it would be different

Exactly on point.

 

[Tompet]

The one thing i have not heard here that is a definite plus also for me is that the land plain reclaims previously lost gravel. Using a back blade on about a mile of road for years i never got the results i get with the LP. I have saved myself a lot in gravel. My neighbors even noticed it and when i started using the land plane they kept thinking i had gotten more gravel. Obviously it pleased them because they didn't have to worry about coming up with gravel money.
Has no one else had this experience?

Very true. And to the ops original question #3, yes, rippers very worthwhile.

 

[wagne223]

The one thing i have not heard here that is a definite plus also for me is that the land plain reclaims previously lost gravel. Using a back blade on about a mile of road for years i never got the results i get with the LP. I have saved myself a lot in gravel. My neighbors even noticed it and when i started using the land plane they kept thinking i had gotten more gravel. Obviously it pleased them because they didn't have to worry about coming up with gravel money.
Has no one else had this experience?

I mentioned it in post #4 as one of the tasks the LPGS is good at.