Land Pride GS15-60 Grading Scraper. Any recommended alternatives?

Soldier415 · Mar 29, 2017

Morning,

Been doing a lot of reading on previous threads about this attachment but most were several years old so wanted to get current info.

I have 1/4 mile of driveway to maintain. It was in bad shape when we bought the place but 40 yards of 3/4" crush run got a good layer on it which I spread with the box blade. Going forward I want a good tool to be able to quickly and efficiently refinish it, especially this spring after mud season.

Key for me is being able to put an aggressive side slope from crown to edge so water flows off the sides instead of down the road as it is steep in most places. In one section headed down to the bridge the runoff flows down and is washing out around the abutment.

The road is 10 foot wide with some places in a turn being wider to allow for trailer coming in and out. I have read that you want 1/2 inch of drop for every foot from centerline to edge of road giving me 2.5 inches drop. I know the blades are adjustable on each side on the land pride so this should allow me to crown and slope to the necessary angle.

Local dealer quoted me $1,200 for the model and i'm about ready to make the order. Any other options I should be looking at?

For reference here is a series of photos showing the driveway from start of the town road all the way up to the dooryard.

Pictures of erosion at the bridge abutment.

lucky llama · Mar 29, 2017

That's a good tool for road work. What has helped my gravel drive is a chain harrow drag. Every time I drag the pastures to break up piles. I go up and down the drive several times. It seems to pull some of the bigger rock back to the top. Sorta gives a touch up between major rework.

sweettractors · Mar 29, 2017

This is what we use on our gravel service roads on our farming operation. Ken Sweet
New Dirt Dog GRBS 84" HD Grader Box *Can Ship Cheap & Fast* | eBay

RNeumann · Mar 29, 2017

The other option, and the one I use, is hydraulic top and tilt with the box blade. I'm not saying it's better or worse than the plane you are considering. I'm simply offering an an alternative- as you requested.
The TnT has several uses beyond the box as well.

JRobyn · Mar 30, 2017

I have the GS1572. Love it. You can get the optional ripper shanks/teeth, but your road appears to mostly just need "top dressing", not deep ripping. OTOH, the rippers are not a lot extra, so in my case, I went ahead and got them when I purchased. If it turns out I want them in the future, I'm all set, and no hassles with trying to then buy an accessory that may no longer be made or in stock.

Some will try to convince you need the heaviest available (GS 25 series). I find that the 15 series is plenty heavy for my needs. Again, IF you had really rough roads to start with, the heavier might be useful.

Plan to spend a little time experimenting with both the blade depth setting side-to-side and the overall frame tilt using your tractor's tilt adjustment. A flat smooth concrete surface that you can rest it on with various thickness wood strips to place under each of the side skids will make side-to-side adjustments easy. Once this is set to your liking, top and tilt on your tractor is not really needed. One of the beauties of a well-designed grading scraper is that it is just "drop and drag", unlike a box blade. No constant fiddling with the cut is needed.

oosik · Mar 30, 2017

I have the Land Pride GS2584. Its a great implement for gravel driveways. Its easy to learn - just hook it up and drag it, more or less. I do my driveway - mile long gravel - in two passes. Up one side and back the other.

The LPGS WILL NOT move material horizontally. If you have gravel in the ditches from winter snow plowing - it will not bring the gravel out of those ditches. You will need something like a rear blade that can be offset, angled and tilted. Likewise - if your driveway is "flat topped" the LPGS will not reestablish the crown. Again you will need something like a rear blade to do that.

The LPGS will eliminate washboarding, will fill minor pot holes and will provide a very fine smooth finish to the gravel.

Soldier415 · Mar 30, 2017

oosik said:
The LPGS WILL NOT move material horizontally. If you have gravel in the ditches from winter snow plowing - it will not bring the gravel out of those ditches. You will need something like a rear blade that can be offset, angled and tilted. Likewise - if your driveway is "flat topped" the LPGS will not reestablish the crown. Again you will need something like a rear blade to do that.

Strange. I had read that with the angled blades and the ability to drop the outer side of the blades would let the outside edge cut deeper and move the material towards the inside where the blade is higher thereby putting an angle/crown on the road.

My road material is 3/4" crusher run aka staymat with fines for compacting

fried1765 · Mar 30, 2017

oosik said:
I have the Land Pride GS2584. Its a great implement for gravel driveways. Its easy to learn - just hook it up and drag it, more or less. I do my driveway - mile long gravel - in two passes. Up one side and back the other.

The LPGS WILL NOT move material horizontally. If you have gravel in the ditches from winter snow plowing - it will not bring the gravel out of those ditches. You will need something like a rear blade that can be offset, angled and tilted. Likewise - if your driveway is "flat topped" the LPGS will not reestablish the crown. Again you will need something like a rear blade to do that.

The LPGS will eliminate washboarding, will fill minor pot holes and will provide a very fine smooth finish to the gravel.

YOU obviously DO understand that the only way to maintain a proper crown, and to recover gravel from the edges, is with a rear blade.
Many do not,... and are adamant that a "Land Plane" will do a proper job.

Soldier415 · Mar 30, 2017

fried1765 said:
YOU obviously DO understand that the only way to maintain a proper crown, and to recover gravel from the edges, is with a rear blade.
Many do not,... and are adamant that a "Land Plane" will do a proper job.

I'm not adamant about anything. I'm asking questions and researching because I do not know.

I have a rear grader blade, and the road is already angled down from a high center in most places. However where the tire tracks are becomes more packed and smooth than the surrounding area and then creates a path for water to run down the road instead of off the sides.

oosik · Mar 30, 2017

Well, fried1765 - what do they expect me to do - they come here for advice, I will tell them how my implements work and that's it. I can drag my GS2584 up/down my driveway until I wear the tires off my M6040 and by God - it will NOT crown the driveway nor will it bring the gravel out of the ditches. I have 35+ years of maintaining my driveway and I move gravel on the driveway with either the rear blade or the roll over box blade.

Sorry about the outburst but that's the way the implements work and that's it.

sweettractors · Mar 30, 2017

I would think that a box blade on 3 point hitch, with the outside (curb side) 2-4 inches lower would deposit the gathered rock to the center of the road? Ken Sweet

fried1765 · Mar 30, 2017

Soldier415 said:
I'm not adamant about anything. I'm asking questions and researching because I do not know.

I have a rear grader blade, and the road is already angled down from a high center in most places. However where the tire tracks are becomes more packed and smooth than the surrounding area and then creates a path for water to run down the road instead of off the sides.

I was not suggesting in ANY way that YOU are adamant about ANYTHING.
If YOU look through the history of this issue, here on TBN, you will find that MANY ARE ADAMANT about the use of landplanes.

fried1765 · Mar 30, 2017

oosik said:
Well, fried1765 - what do they expect me to do - they come here for advice, I will tell them how my implements work and that's it. I can drag my GS2584 up/down my driveway until I wear the tires off my M6040 and by God - it will NOT crown the driveway nor will it bring the gravel out of the ditches. I have 35+ years of maintaining my driveway and I move gravel on the driveway with either the rear blade or the roll over box blade.

Sorry about the outburst but that's the way the implements work and that's it.

You will get NO ARGUMENT from me on the subject!
I have maintained my driveway for over 40 years.
I also happen to have a degree in Civil & Highway Engineering.

Soldier415 · Apr 5, 2017

Went to place an order yesterday and dealer contacted me back to say that the LP GS1560 is backordered.

Doh!

RedFirstGen · Apr 11, 2017

Picked up my new Woods 72" grading scraper today. Only had about a half hour to play with it but pretty impressed with what it did to my hard packed potholed driveway. Thrilled to have one and be able to keep the driveway tip top. Good luck with yours..I think you'll be real happy with it.

jenkinsph · Apr 12, 2017

My recommendation is to have the crown to be about 2 % steeper in slope than the roadway. Water will take the shorter path to the sides but it has to be steeper than down the road. So if you have a 8% drop in grade on the roadway you need the crown to be 10% in order to make it run off to the sides.

This is best shaped with a good rear blade. A land plane grader scraper (lpgs) that is 1/2 the width of the road way is ideal. This allows you to run a skid on the centerline of the crown and not cut it down. This should smooth over the ruts without much issue. A steep drive requires more frequent touch up since the tires are moving the gravel more.

So touch ups can be done with the lpgs in a few minutes. When it gets out of shape with materials in the ditch or edges you will need to reshape with the rear grader blade. Rinse and repeat.

Soldier415 · May 12, 2017

Been working over one section of driveway today and can't get a smooth finish to save my life. Just spills over the top of the rear blade in clumps.

Lengthen top link so cutting edges are up and the back side of the rear blade will smooth?

JRobyn · May 12, 2017

That should help. Maybe let it dry good first.

Soldier415 · May 12, 2017

Its fairly dry. No rain for a week.

I've also found it does not mix the material well. Fines on either side of previous wheel paths with larger gravel in the wheel paths. Despite 6-7 passes still stuck with gravel in the same place

MtnViewRanch · May 12, 2017

Soldier415 said:
Its fairly dry. No rain for a week.

I've also found it does not mix the material well. Fines on either side of previous wheel paths with larger gravel in the wheel paths. Despite 6-7 passes still stuck with gravel in the same place

Put the implement down and go backwards using the back sides of the cutting edges.

If this does not smooth things out, your ground is just to wet.