Reclaim, regrading existing gravel driveway

[tcdiver]

I'm looking for the best, most cost effective attachment to rough up and regrade a gravel driveway that has some grass and weeds growing in it. I used to have an old metal box spring with concrete blocks but someone decided they needed it more than i and stole it. It's going to take some horsepower to rough up the grown up areas like between the tracks. Ruts aren't bad at all but the median between tire travel tracks has grown up a little.

Any suggestions of what to rent or buy. The rental guys in my area were zero help.

I'm using a JD 3120 and can use three point or standard ball hitch hook up.

 

[airbiscuit]

Use a box blade with scarifiers. Use your height adjusting arm on your 3pt to establish a crown.

 

[/pine]

I'm looking for the best, most cost effective attachment to rough up and regrade a gravel driveway that has some grass and weeds growing in it. I used to have an old metal box spring with concrete blocks but someone decided they needed it more than i and stole it. It's going to take some horsepower to rough up the grown up areas like between the tracks. Ruts aren't bad at all but the median between tire travel tracks has grown up a little.

Any suggestions of what to rent or buy. The rental guys in my area were zero help.

I'm using a JD 3120 and can use three point or standard ball hitch hook up.

IMO a quality landscape rake is the ideal implement for what you describe...setting it on an angle will cut the center down and groom the lanes...they also work well for recovering gravel that has migrated to the outside of the wheel tracks...

 

[airbiscuit]

 

[/pine]

Box blades are great for repairing and or reworking rough or damaged lanes etc...for light maintenance and grooming established gravel lanes there is nothing better than a landscape rake...especially if an "old metal box spring with concrete blocks" used to work for you...

often when just general maintenance is required a box blade will create as much additional work as it remedies...!

Also a BB does nothing to recover migrated gravel simply because it can't be angled...

 

[RjCorazza]

X2 on a box blade.

 

[airbiscuit]

It's not so much the box blade as it is the scarifiers needed to rip up the grass and loosen the gravel. After that a landscape rake, rear blade or land plane would do the trick.

Better yet, buy an old pony grader

 

[lilranch2001]

I have been looking for one for years.....

 

[CoyPatton]

I'm looking for the best, most cost effective attachment to rough up and regrade a gravel driveway that has some grass and weeds growing in it. I used to have an old metal box spring with concrete blocks but someone decided they needed it more than i and stole it. It's going to take some horsepower to rough up the grown up areas like between the tracks. Ruts aren't bad at all but the median between tire travel tracks has grown up a little.

Any suggestions of what to rent or buy. The rental guys in my area were zero help.

I'm using a JD 3120 and can use three point or standard ball hitch hook up.

If you have been getting results that were acceptable with a metal box springs unit with added weigh, look into a land plane with sacrificers. You need the sacrificers to breakup the grass growth and any ruts that are present or may develop in the future. The tilt function of the 3PH can be used to establish and maintain the crown. It is the best gravel driveway maintenance implement by far! It can be useful to level any movable material (dirt, sand, gravel, wood chips, you name it)
For general redistribution of gravel not needing surfaces broken up, a rake does great, but takes lots of passes to dig out grass roots, otherwise a week later the grass is back and causes the same issues again in my opinion and experience.
A regular rear blade can do the same thing for a drive way with same issues.

Use your needs as a reason to acquire implements to meet your needs. Do you need every implement made?—I seriously doubt it! Will one implement do every job you need to do?—I seriously doubt it.
Ad you buy implements try to buy as heavily built as is possible within the confines of what your tractor can handle. I like older implements, as light duty cheaper is not an issue. Typically you can find them for about the price of a new lighter duty implement. One caution on older implements is they tend to not be quick hitch (QH) ready. They also may require a great of redesign to make them ready. If you have to hire this done, you need to figure that cost (much great than some material) into the cost of the implement or more commonly buy a QH ready new/newer implement.

 

[senecak19]

X2 on the land plane. I built a twin to Gordon Gould’s here on TBN and I use it to manage my driveway without scarifiers. It’s HEAVY. mines likely pushing 500lbs so it has no issues digging in. As noted above, they level anything they come across. Pot and ruts be gone. ��

 

[airbiscuit]

How long and wide is the driveway in question?

 

[crazyal]

I have a grading scraper with rippers and in the past borrowed a box blade. I would never bother with a BB again. If you want a solution that'll get the job done then that's the way i would go. If you are looking for cheap that will do a pretty good job then go to your local steel place and see if you can get a cut off from a large I-beam. I have one that's about 4' long and 27" wide. I pull it behind my side by side and it'll remove the weeds and do a little smoothing. Mine is about 200 lbs but if I want more weight I can throw a few cement blocks on it. I'm pretty sure they will sell you one for the price of scrap steel

 

[Rich B1]

Box blade and grading blade will do what you need. It will take time, but you can get the results you want.

Big thing with both attachments is learning to use the tilt on your 3 point to achieve crown. Then using the top link to get the pitch of the cutting edge to do what you want. The pitch is the one you will adjust the most, especially when using the box blade. You need to learn the angle of the box blade to rip with the ripper teeth, cut with the cutting edge to move material, and spreading material.

With the blade, you will pitch the cutting edge to cut or move material.

There is a learning curve with both. IME, the box blade requires slow travel speed. This is not an attachment that works well with too much ground speed.

My driveway is similar to your description. It doesn稚 seem as the original drive was graded properly when the house was built. I am limited on attachment size due to the tractor size, but with a box blade, grading blade, and time, the drive is in better shape than it has been since we bought the property. Downside, it does require good maintenance about every other year and yearly touch up.

 

[senecak19]

Love the creativity. I’ll be honest my Landplane didn’t cost me a dime either. I obtained a large welding table for free. Had a shop cut the top in half and this became the sides of my landplane. The rest I had in material in the yard. I’m not taking any of the credit for the design though. That’s all Gordon Gould. Last I checked he has a photo of his in use as his TBN image.

I have a grading scraper with rippers and in the past borrowed a box blade. I would never bother with a BB again. If you want a solution that'll get the job done then that's the way i would go. If you are looking for cheap that will do a pretty good job then go to your local steel place and see if you can get a cut off from a large I-beam. I have one that's about 4' long and 27" wide. I pull it behind my side by side and it'll remove the weeds and do a little smoothing. Mine is about 200 lbs but if I want more weight I can throw a few cement blocks on it. I'm pretty sure they will sell you one for the price of scrap steel

 

[tcdiver]

Thx all for the input

 

[tcdiver]

How long and wide is the driveway in question?

Not long, about 1/4 mile with the turn around, minimum one lane width. I'm guessing 10-12 feet.

 

[ctgoldwing]

I used the tools I had on our gravel driveway (box blade and back blade). I needed to rip it first because I wanted to regrade it. The the box blade was used to spread the material and finally the back blade was used to finish it.

 

[airbiscuit]

Not long, about 1/4 mile with the turn around, minimum one lane width. I'm guessing 10-12 feet.

Anything to loosen the soil first would be helpful (box blade or land plane with scarifiers, disc, etc.). After that any of the suggestions would work. Here is a video of a road drag I made to maintain my 1/2 mile drive. My pony grader is what I use when I have to get serious.

 

[Rebeldad1]

Box blades are great for repairing and or reworking rough or damaged lanes etc...for light maintenance and grooming established gravel lanes there is nothing better than a landscape rake...especially if an "old metal box spring with concrete blocks" used to work for you...

often when just general maintenance is required a box blade will create as much additional work as it remedies...!

Also a BB does nothing to recover migrated gravel simply because it can't be angled...

second on this for me. my rake is my goto road maintenance tool.

 

[jenkinsph]

I have found that most of these tools and suggestions are good and helpful.
A rear blade is the best thing to move the gravel back towards the center.Very good for shaping the crown and cutting ditches for drainage.
For roads that require reshaping and have drainage problems I would buy the rear blade first.

If the crown and overall shape is good and drainage ditches are good. Then smoothing can be accomplished with a box blade or land plane grader scraper. I agree with scarifier teeth on either box blade or land plane.

So I suggest you will need both a shaping tool and a smoothing tool long term.