I just replaced about 120ft of rusted out galvanized culvert with 30" plastic culvert on my property. I have it all covered back up and smoothed out the best I could with the little excavator I had for 2 days. Now i need to do some finishing work. All i have is the kubota BX with loader and rear blade. It's just not cutting it. Is this a situation where a box blade would do the job? Or do i need a tiller and run it across everything to take out all the high spots?
Dirt leveling question..
- Thread starter kris77
- Start date
I use the bucket bottom forward edge as a straight edge and drag it backwards until the surface is pretty much where I like it.
A box blade is in my future fabrication plans though......from what I see, they work much better.
I'm really new at this so I'm interested in what replies you get!
I have used my box blade to do exactly that. If you have a blade on both sides like mine has, you can back up to use the back blade to push more dirt if needed.
And remember that things will take a while to settle in, so I would give it a few months before smoothing out with any "Finish" gravel....
I would like to get everything decently leveled now if I can. I packed everything in with the excavator yesterday. I'm hoping to minimize settling as much as possible. I'll probably have to add more dirt this spring and relevel. And i'm ok with that.
Guess a box blade is in my future. I've wanted one for a while. Just always used the scraper blade. Now I have a good reason to buy one.
Guess a box blade is in my future. I've wanted one for a while. Just always used the scraper blade. Now I have a good reason to buy one.
My comments are coming too late in your project but best you are aware of minimum cover required by plastic culverts so they can withstand the weight of a truck driving over them.
Culverts rely on the soils around them to carry the weight of any vehicle passing over them. Think of this as an arch of gravel and soil. The culvert itself is not designed to have loads imposed upon them in any significant way,
This is the easy to understand summary of the cover requirements:
This is the formal document:
http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1990/1288/1288-015.pdf
You may only need a short section of your culvert constructed to withstand a load of gravel or topsoil being backed over it.
Dave
Culverts rely on the soils around them to carry the weight of any vehicle passing over them. Think of this as an arch of gravel and soil. The culvert itself is not designed to have loads imposed upon them in any significant way,
This is the easy to understand summary of the cover requirements:
This is the formal document:
http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1990/1288/1288-015.pdf
You may only need a short section of your culvert constructed to withstand a load of gravel or topsoil being backed over it.
Dave
ryansmoneypit2
New member
Equipment
B7100, 48" snow blower, woods rear blade, crappy front blade, 64" mower deck
ive drawn up a few different ideas for a box blade. In every case, by the time it is robust enough to last, material cost is about the same as just buying one. I love fabricating but sometimes you just got to look at the ruthless facts.
I much prefer mixed 3/4" to 2" gravel fill around a culvert. I always use galvanized for 24" or less and concrete for larger than 24". Using the box blade as a dozer and the tractor loader tip as a finish scraper. It takes just a little time to build some experience, and you can custom shape your fill around your culvert as desired. My new culvert was completed in just over 2 hours work, using a truckload of gravel. The county road inspector said it was perfect.
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Craigslist is helpful with things like this. About 6 years ago we added a 1-1/2 acre piece of land to our yard. It needed to be re-contoured to cut off some high spots and fill in low spots. I bought a nice used box blade for $500, used it for the summer, and sold it again for $500. It lost a couple teeth, so I spent about $30 for a new set. That's cheap rent for several months of use.
Kind of a red neck way of leveling things out,, find an old steel box spring set dragging it around it will cut pick up rocks and pretty much level out a driveway by moving them where they need to go. And yeah dont forget how much dirt you need over to of the plastic pipe
Neighbor down the road has a professional dirt go kart track he runs every weekend. I was driving by Friday evening and saw him pulling this crazy looking contraption over the track to smooth it out before the race. I stopped and asked what that thing was and if I could borrow it. Its a 5' wide wedge made of angle iron and square tubing. It almost looks like one of those land planes that people use for driveway maintenance. I hooked it up to the tractor, put about 200 lbs on top of it and started driving around. Within about an hour or so, i had smoothed the dirt out tremendously and picked up about 5 or 6 buckets full of rocks. Another 2 hours of dragging and picking up rocks, and it was almost as smooth as pavement.
Saved me $500 buying a box blade for now. But eventually, i see that purchase in my future. I'll take some pics later today.
Saved me $500 buying a box blade for now. But eventually, i see that purchase in my future. I'll take some pics later today.
Spectre381
New member
Equipment
Kubota B2650, LA534 FEL, SGC0660 Grapple, 42" forks, ballast box, ratchet rake
If you are going to buy a box blade, might as well get it sooner than later.
That is my favorite implement for my BX. Amazing what a 4' box blade can do.
That is my favorite implement for my BX. Amazing what a 4' box blade can do.
RCW
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
BX2360, FEL, MMM, BX2750D snowblower. 1953 Minneapolis Moline ZAU
Same here.
Between box blade and Carry-All, I seldom use my FEL anymore. Quick Hitch makes hook-ups a cinch.
But trust me, the FEL has saved my back many times over the last 5 years!
The one thing i've noticed while doing all this work is the BX really needs the 3pt level to be able to stop in certain positions. If you put the implement all the way down it seems to dig too much. It would be nice to be able to have set points you could always go back to. If that makes sense. Like being on level ground and setting the implement on the ground just so it touches. Marking that point, then you'll always know where level is.
That might be the one complaint I have with the tractor. And I didnt think I would need that option till I started on this project.
That might be the one complaint I have with the tractor. And I didnt think I would need that option till I started on this project.
I have used a drag made out of a heavy duty pallet turned upside down and loaded with cement blocks for weight. Works very well