LandPlane,, My DIY

[CADplans]

Well, no playing, and testing today,,,
we got 3 inches of rain in 20 minutes last night,,, the kind of rain that runs over gutters,,

Today, the landplane had to go to work,, for real.
I did not have time to fab the height adjusters for the grader blade, so I welded it solid (temporary)
The blade was set at 1/2" below the runners.

About 1/8 of a mile of my driveway was obliterated by the rain.

Here is a before pic,,,

Here is the driveway, after four passes with the LP,,, two up the driveway, two down.

Most of the driveway received 4-6 passes,,
the LP did a great job of moving washed material back UP the driveway.

My 60HP 584 IH tractor has only had to pull hard a dozen times in the 20 years that I have owned it,,
TODAY, was one of the full power days. AND, when going uphill,,, 4WD was a necessity.

I easily moved 15 tons of material back up the driveway.
After using the LP, the JD 650 and my DIY roller firmed up the material.

The rolling is a necessity, not just a nice finish. The LP leaves a "loose" finish to the material.
The roller compacted/firmed road is much easier to drive on.

Prior to today, I had planned on not adding the second grader blade.
I have now decided the second blade is needed,,, for weight, as much as grading.
The back of the LP seems a little "light",, the 325 pound blade will help anchor it,,,

 

[Rustyiron]

Nice!
Wonderful when a plan come's together right!:thumbsup:

 

[jwmorris]

Technique might be worth sharing, keeping a crown is pretty helpful to prevent erosion. Your plane looks to be quite a bit wider than half your drive. Are you just jacking it up so its not riding on the "center" skid?

 

[CADplans]

Technique might be worth sharing, keeping a crown is pretty helpful to prevent erosion. Your plane looks to be quite a bit wider than half your drive. Are you just jacking it up so its not riding on the "center" skid?

Yea, other than when I was pulling full loads of material, the left runner never touched.
It took several minutes of adjusting to get the LP to set only on the right runner.
That is one of the reasons I want to add the 325 pounds of the rear blade,,
I think it will help keep the right runner down.

I do have three 100 pound hang on weights (the black ones), I may try to hang them on the right side.

And, I have a few 135 pound wheel weights (the red ones),,, something ought to hold the right side down,,,

 

[JD40MO77]

Yea, other than when I was pulling full loads of material, the left runner never touched.
It took several minutes of adjusting to get the LP to set only on the right runner.
That is one of the reasons I want to add the 325 pounds of the rear blade,,
I think it will help keep the right runner down.

I do have three 100 pound hang on weights (the black ones), I may try to hang them on the right side.

And, I have a few 135 pound wheel weights (the red ones),,, something ought to hold the right side down,,,

Any updates on the build?

 

[CADplans]

Any updates on the build?

Well, My SIL ordered a freight container, and he had a pile of gravel that needed leveled,,,
I took the LP over, and two swipes of the LP,,, the gravel was bubble level.

I have two more blades to install, and I have not yet decided how they should be positioned.

 

[Redlands Okie]

Nice write up, with some info i hope to be able to use. Thanks.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Good job!

 

[redobbin]

Nice job and rolling is a must especially on hills, well on the shared road anyway as some folk just cannot get used to driving on gravel.

 

[jlbart]

Does the 22 degree angle work well to move material to the center of road? What do you estimate yours weighs?

 

[CADplans]

Does the 22 degree angle work well to move material to the center of road? What do you estimate yours weighs?

It moves material,,, some,, not like a grader blade.
I think my blades are higher than most of the landplanes that I have seen.
My blades are reversible blades off of a 14' wide CATERPILLAR motor grader,, so, I would think they would be a little bigger.

It does dig the road edge amazingly well when weighted on the digging side (2-300 pounds)

I would guess 1200 pounds as the weight,,
When I have the loader off the tractor, my tractor weighs about 8,000 pounds.
If I lift it, the front end of the tractor gets so light,, the steering depends on me using the brakes.

 

[BackRoad]

CADPlans, did you ever add the second set of blades?

Nice build detail, by the way!

 

[CADplans]

CADPlans, did you ever add the second set of blades?

Nice build detail, by the way!

The second blade was not added,, I was afraid that I would loose the cutting action that the LP now has.
I figured I would have to add 600-800 pounds of weight to get the LP cutting again after the second blade were added.