What's the right implement for the L2501 for driveway resurfacing/grading?

[jyoutz]

That's the thing. I need to get under the pot holes. So having the scarifiers is a must to break it up. I don't think a rear grading blade will do that unless there is down pressure or adding significant weight to the blade.

My brother has a box blade. Not sure the size of his though. It may be too small width wise for the L2501. I'm looking at 66" width. It's a tough decision because I want to be able to use it for multiple things...you know make it worth the money. It's already mid November and getting frost lately so repairing the drive way this late in the year isn't with it. But when spring comes and the frost melts, I definitely will be in the market then.

Worse case scenario I can dig it up with the bucket, I'm sure the L2501 won't have too much of a fuss with it. But the biggest thing is the sides, water can't go anywhere so it's there. My goal was to scrap the sides down and give the drive way a crown. Either way it will be a good learning experience haha. I need seat time. I learn quick with this stuff so I'm pretty confident I can do a good job if I take my time.

Crowning and ditching is where the rear blade excels over the box blade. Heck, just get both.

 

[nerwin]

Crowning and ditching is where the rear blade excels over the box blade. Heck, just get both.

That would be ideal to be honest.

 

[biketopia]

Crowning and ditching is where the rear blade excels over the box blade. Heck, just get both.

I think they both do pretty well in those instances where there's not necessarily a clear winner, at least for the casual compact tractor operator. Someone who uses it everyday...totally different story, a skilled operator is a sight to see!

I'm all in for the more the merrier when it comes to implements though hah! I did just fine with my driveway and the box as it was the first thing I could get. When we moved in I needed to do a lot of dirt work and fix the road that hadn't been maintained in half a dozen years.

OP I'd suggest watching a bunch of videos of the various rear attachments and see them in action.

 

[nerwin]

I think they both do pretty well in those instances where there's not necessarily a clear winner, at least for the casual compact tractor operator. Someone who uses it everyday...totally different story, a skilled operator is a sight to see!

I'm all in for the more the merrier when it comes to implements though hah! I did just fine with my driveway and the box as it was the first thing I could get. When we moved in I needed to do a lot of dirt work and fix the road that hadn't been maintained in half a dozen years.

OP I'd suggest watching a bunch of videos of the various rear attachments and see them in action.

Watching videos on this tractor and all the implements is all I been doing for the last 2 weeks hahaha. I even dream about this stuff

Just trying to fill my head with knowledge. Just watching skilled operators on these is really helpful watching how they use the loader or a box blade/land plane.

The most affordable ones seem to be the Box Blade. The grading blade doesn't seem to be extremely expensive either. They are commonly found on the used market too.

 

[Old Machinist]

By now I guess you know that a combination of implements is ideal. BUT if you want one tool that can do it all I would have to settle for a grader blade. You can angle and pitch a grader blade to crown and eliminate washboard in one motion. It doesn't work as well as a box blade for moving high spots to low but with enough passes you can make it happen. I would look for at least a 7 footer but not the County Line brand. I have seen too many of those bend from lack of reinforcement on the blade.

If you find one that has pitch and angle adjustments those are great but expensive. They all have the ability to angle. You can pitch it side to side with the 3 point leveling arm.

I also don't like the ones that have a slot to offset them. I have one and it loosens and will slide all the way out and tilt when you don't want it to when angled. It stays put when pulling it in the straight position fine. Mine is small and was bought for a smaller tractor. The last time I finished with it I tightened the bolts with my 1" impact but never tested it after that to see if they will hold. I mainly use my box blade and landscape rake combo.

Watch some of the you tube videos on the different implements suggested here and see what fits your needs best. All of them will take practice and learning on your part but videos of other peoples experience can shorten the learning curve.

 

[nerwin]

By now I guess you know that a combination of implements is ideal. BUT if you want one tool that can do it all I would have to settle for a grader blade. You can angle and pitch a grader blade to crown and eliminate washboard in one motion. It doesn't work as well as a box blade for moving high spots to low but with enough passes you can make it happen. I would look for at least a 7 footer but not the County Line brand. I have seen too many of those bend from lack of reinforcement on the blade.

If you find one that has pitch and angle adjustments those are great but expensive. They all have the ability to angle. You can pitch it side to side with the 3 point leveling arm.

I also don't like the ones that have a slot to offset them. I have one and it loosens and will slide all the way out and tilt when you don't want it to when angled. It stays put when pulling it in the straight position fine. Mine is small and was bought for a smaller tractor. The last time I finished with it I tightened the bolts with my 1" impact but never tested it after that to see if they will hold. I mainly use my box blade and landscape rake combo.

Watch some of the you tube videos on the different implements suggested here and see what fits your needs best. All of them will take practice and learning on your part but videos of other peoples experience can shorten the learning curve.

The bigger issue with that is it's not gonna dig down below the pot holes I assume. Unless I rip up the drive way with the bucket and then use the rear blade to smooth it out and crown it after. I see some folks add cylinders in the rear for down pressure but that would be expensive lol.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

option. 1.
hire a bulldozer operator for an hour or two.after that drag chains over it once/twice a month.

option 2
make a road grader (google cub cadet road grader )..

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Just so that you know, the cylinders people typically install on a 3pt hitch are top & tilt cylinders. They provide hydraulic adjustment for the top & side links.
They are not designed to provide any downward pressure.

Regarding any implement that you purchase for grading purposes, try to get something that is 100Lbs per foot of width. Heavier is better. Here is what I consider the perfect box blade for your tractor.

Biggest downfall is the cost, but you get what you pay for.

 

[jimh406]

It's not that hard to break up potholes. I fix those in the community road. You lower a scarifier and drive in a zig-zag pattern until it breaks up. I usually do all of them in a section. Then, I raise the scarifier and make passes until the road looks good to me.

Fwiw, I rarely use more than one scarifier at a time unless the road is really washboarded.

You can't do a dramatic crown with a grader/scraper. However, you can adjust the angle of the blade about an inch or so.

 

[KKBL]

It's not that hard to break up potholes. I fix those in the community road. You lower a scarifier and drive in a zig-zag pattern until it breaks up. I usually do all of them in a section. Then, I raise the scarifier and make passes until the road looks good to me.

Fwiw, I rarely use more than one scarifier at a time unless the road is really washboarded.

You can't do a dramatic crown with a grader/scraper. However, you can adjust the angle of the blade about an inch or so.

The zig-zag pattern with scarifiers works great in bad areas of a road. For "down pressure" we strap a large log onto the box blade. Depending on your climate, spring time - after thaw - but before the road packs down hard, is a good time to do road maintenance around here in NW PA. Hard packed road can be done, but wears the scarifier tips out in no time - they are not as cheap to replace as they used to be.
Have done the 1/2 mile private road for 32 years. Using a L2501HST now but miss the old Ford 8N for road work. Put it in gear, let the clutch out and the governor keeps a steady pace, even when the attachment loads up doing long runs.

 

[KKBL]

That's the thing. I need to get under the pot holes. So having the scarifiers is a must to break it up. I don't think a rear grading blade will do that unless there is down pressure or adding significant weight to the blade.

My brother has a box blade. Not sure the size of his though. It may be too small width wise for the L2501. I'm looking at 66" width. It's a tough decision because I want to be able to use it for multiple things...you know make it worth the money. It's already mid November and getting frost lately so repairing the drive way this late in the year isn't with it. But when spring comes and the frost melts, I definitely will be in the market then.

Worse case scenario I can dig it up with the bucket, I'm sure the L2501 won't have too much of a fuss with it. But the biggest thing is the sides, water can't go anywhere so it's there. My goal was to scrap the sides down and give the drive way a crown. Either way it will be a good learning experience haha. I need seat time. I learn quick with this stuff so I'm pretty confident I can do a good job if I take my time.

If your brother will let you borrow his box blade, even if it is narrower than your wheel width, as long as it fits your cat 1 hitch you can use it next spring to dig up the pot hole areas and then decide if that type of attachment is worth the investment.

 

[RCW]

I don't think anyone has offered bad advice.

I'll stick with my box blade.

 

[Missouribound]

A land plane will probably give you the best results. However "jyoutz" makes a valid point.
They are great for what they do....but it's limited.
A box blade and do more and you can get similar results once you master the top link positioning.
That and the loader is all I use on my driveway and I'm happy with the results.

 

[nerwin]

A land plane will probably give you the best results. However "jyoutz" makes a valid point.
They are great for what they do....but it's limited.
A box blade and do more and you can get similar results once you master the top link positioning.
That and the loader is all I use on my driveway and I'm happy with the results.


View attachment 142216

Looks great!! I'm pretty much settled on getting a box blade. New or used. Not a lot on the used market here. However I noticed dealers do sell second hand ones, maybe I can get a good price on a rugged one. I was looking at the Land pride BB1566 which is nearly 500 pounds.

 

[jimh406]

I'm pretty much settled on getting a box blade.

It's your time and money. Report back how you like it the first time you do your driveway.

 

[nerwin]

It's your time and money. Report back how you like it the first time you do your driveway.

I will share my experience! I'm in no rush though, frost is starting to take hold here anyways. I'm hoping over winter I can find one at a good price.

 

[Donystoy]

I just use my rear scraper blade set backwards to grade my 4000-foot driveway mostly in the fall after my tenant has driven his heavy equipment on it. I just did this yesterday. Other than that, I periodically use my leveler which is nothing more than a four by eight-foot section of heavy chain link fencing with a railroad tie laying on top pulled by a rope attached to the tractor. I could not use a box blade for fear of bringing up the base layer of the larger railroad stone. I have never had issues with pot holes.

 

[mcmxi]

I will share my experience! I'm in no rush though, frost is starting to take hold here anyways. I'm hoping over winter I can find one at a good price.

What you might ultimately discover is that each implement has its place, and I would agree with your decision to start out with a box blade. If the plan is to eventually have a box blade, land plane/grading scraper/land leveler and rear blade, I would suggest buying in the following order:

1. Box blade
2. Rear blade
3. Land plane/grading scraper/land leveler.

The order of my list is primarily based on what you can and can't do with each implement. As I've said and others have said, a land plane is a one-trick pony but does that trick way better than the other two. There are some skilled operators here who do an amazing job with a box blade or rear blade, so if you only have one implement, you can still achieve great results with a box blade or rear blade if you're prepared to put the time in. No amount of time or skill will enable you to move dirt around with a land plane the way you can with a box blade or rear blade.

A rear blade can be angled whereas a box blade can't, but a box blade will do a faster job of moving dirt from where you want it to where you don't want it. But a rear blade can't dig or break up the ground the way scarifiers can on a box blade or land plane. Those scarifiers can be stowed out of the way too. You see the dilemma here? If snow is involved you might want to swap 1 and 2 in the list above.

I've owned two box blades, two rear blades and one land plane but have never had all three at the same time, but that's about to change. The main reason why I recently bought another rear blade is that it has three-way hydraulics. I had a really nice Land Pride RB3796 but the lack of hydraulics on it made is far less user friendly. I used to think that I should have kept it, but today it occurs to me that it was set up to only add hydraulic angle, not offset and tilt, and there was no gauge wheel option, so selling it for $1,750 and putting that money into a much better/heavier rear blade (used) has worked out well.

At the end of the day, even though there's some overlap, each implement excels at certain aspects but the box blade with scarifiers is perhaps the most versatile. So if it's a case of one and done, my vote would be for a box blade.

 

[Old Machinist]

Looks great!! I'm pretty much settled on getting a box blade. New or used. Not a lot on the used market here. However I noticed dealers do sell second hand ones, maybe I can get a good price on a rugged one. I was looking at the Land pride BB1566 which is nearly 500 pounds.

Deals come along if you are patient.

I got this 6 footer for $200 with the rippers. I added another 500 lbs for ballast so it serves double duty.