Landscape rake or rear blade for gravel driveway?

[coolbrze]

My driveway is over 1/2 mile long & pretty steep in 2 areas. Got some loads of crusher run yesterday & was talking to the delivery driver & he said I should rake as little as possible since it allows the fines to go through the rake tines & that a rear blade is better b/c it moves all the aggregate & doesn't separate. Once separated the it doesn't pack as well & the fines can was off easier, especially on the hilly parts. I've only had this place a little over a year now so I'm still new to DW maintenance, does this sound right?

 

[Egon]

The advice is correct.

 

[PHPaul]

1. The advice, as noted, is correct.

2. I'd vote "neither" and go with a box blade. MUCH more generally useful for moving dirt than a straight back blade. Not, however, particularly useful for moving snow if that's a consideration.

 

[TerryR]

I'd vote "neither" and go with a box blade. MUCH more generally useful for moving dirt than a straight back blade. Not, however, particularly useful for moving snow if that's a consideration.

I'd disagree. As the owner of a steep gravel driveway, I think you are going need to move the gravel back to the center to maintain the crown, not move gravel along the driveway. A back blade is the tool for this. In a steep driveway maintaining the crown is critical because the water wants to run down the driveway, creating ruts, rather than off to the side.

See https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/299055-grading-interesting-driveway.html?highlight=interesting+driveway for an illustration.

 

[riptides]

My driveway is over 1/2 mile long & pretty steep in 2 areas. Got some loads of crusher run yesterday & was talking to the delivery driver & he said I should rake as little as possible since it allows the fines to go through the rake tines & that a rear blade is better b/c it moves all the aggregate & doesn't separate. Once separated the it doesn't pack as well & the fines can was off easier, especially on the hilly parts. I've only had this place a little over a year now so I'm still new to DW maintenance, does this sound right?

If you have a blade and rake, then yeah, blade first, then rake. If you have a loader, move piles along the driveway accordingly. Then blade and rake.

 

[TractorGuy]

I have been using my landscape rake primarily on our crushed concrete. I wasn't able to work it through multiple rains and was having a hard time getting the washboard out. Even after switching to my grader blade it resisted. Going straight the blade would dip every time the tractor did. I finally had to work the material diagonally in short sections then go back straight. It still isn't perfect but I got it a lot better.

At some point I want to mount my blade under a small trailer to see if it works like a small road grader. The bottom line is every time the tractor dips that transfers to the blade.

A land plane should be ideal in theory but I had a neighbor who kept our road in a mess using one. Was glad to see him move.

I tore up my landscape rake yesterday. Rebuilding it with heavier material. I also have the titan tail wheels on it but they are too close to the tines to pivot when backing up. I cut those in half and I'm going to extend those out.

I expect my landscape rake will still be my go to implement for grading. Especially after it's rebuilt and improved.

 

[Gem99ultra]

I use both, the straight blade and the rake. The blade first to get the crushed fairly smoothed out, then the rake WITH gauge wheels for finish. Once the driveway has packed down with a nice base layer, I only use the rake with gauge wheels for future touch-ups.

The rake is the most used attachment I have. I use it for raking out thatch, pre-seeding and post seeding, as well as fine finish on driveways, etc. Now - IF the blade had gauge wheels, it would be twice as useful.

 

[TractorGuy]

I use both, the straight blade and the rake. The blade first to get the crushed fairly smoothed out, then the rake WITH gauge wheels for finish. Once the driveway has packed down with a nice base layer, I only use the rake with gauge wheels for future touch-ups.

The rake is the most used attachment I have. I use it for raking out thatch, pre-seeding and post seeding, as well as fine finish on driveways, etc. Now - IF the blade had gauge wheels, it would be twice as useful.

The inside of my gage wheel mounts is 2". I plan to use square stock and pin it to extend them. I also plan to put square receivers on my blade so I can transfer them.

 

[RoyKing]

If your tractor has draft control set a neutral box angle set draft light it will clip the top off and level things. I also have a very heavy chain that came from boat yards about 40 feet long looped behind box that makes it look raked. If you want a crown dip the outside of box and make looped passes. I also put in dips and a run off cuts to keep the water from gaining speed.

 

[Thomas]

Have you consider rake with drop blade also side boots if need...and gauge wheels?