I have a very hard packed clay driveway leading to my house. It's about 1/3 mile with half of this being very hard packed clay. I just bought my L4060HSTC and was wondering if just a box blade with scarfs would work or do you guys think I would need a tiller then go over it with one of those grade scrapers. It's all dirt..no rock...
Fixing a hard clay packed driveway
- Thread starter BigRed57
- Start date
Box blade with scarfs is the way to go.
Trying to till it would be like trying to till an asphalt road.
It will take some practice using the box with the scarfs down, but the scarfs will cut, and the box will remove what they have loosened.
By changing the angle of attack using the top link you can change the depth of the cut with the scarfs. Start off by taking small bites until you get the hang of it.
I'm still working on improving my skills grading hard packed caliche. What's helped me the most is my hydraulic top link.
Trying to till it would be like trying to till an asphalt road.
It will take some practice using the box with the scarfs down, but the scarfs will cut, and the box will remove what they have loosened.
By changing the angle of attack using the top link you can change the depth of the cut with the scarfs. Start off by taking small bites until you get the hang of it.
I'm still working on improving my skills grading hard packed caliche. What's helped me the most is my hydraulic top link.
I was thinking the same thing but have seen the LP and Woods grading scrapers with the scarfs cutting pretty decent. Plus it levels it out as you go. The grading scraper weights more too. I knew some people had some good knowledge to spread. Waiting on others
Went out to my local dealer today. He had LP and Woods scrapers. I have a L4060 HSTC. I'm leaning towards the 72" and 84" woods. Looks a little more HD to me. Just wondering if the 84" will be a bit much. It says in literature 20-45 hp for the 72". 84" is rated 30-65..any help is appreciated.
With all of the scarifiers down the 84" might be too much, however, you don't have to put all of them down. You could use five out of seven, or whatever works. But you still have the full 84" when you are grading. Either one would work for your tractor, I think I might go for the bigger one for the added versatility.
I've used mine with only three scarifiers down on some tough stuff, just made a few more passes. Having the wider blade was nice for the finishing work after everthing was broken up and I just had to level the road up. Takes a bit of practice, but really came out nice.
Really tough stuff, I use the two bottom plow on the big tractor, and the Kubota follows up with the box to break up the chunks and level off. Then a few passes with the york rake, and it looks new.
Jerry
I've used mine with only three scarifiers down on some tough stuff, just made a few more passes. Having the wider blade was nice for the finishing work after everthing was broken up and I just had to level the road up. Takes a bit of practice, but really came out nice.
Really tough stuff, I use the two bottom plow on the big tractor, and the Kubota follows up with the box to break up the chunks and level off. Then a few passes with the york rake, and it looks new.
Jerry
For an L4060 the table for implement limitations (same as for my 3560) says that the maximum width is 65 inches and 880 lbs. Kubota has very conservative limitations, but going beyond them can void your warranty. If you get a Woods blade from your dealer maybe he will put in writing that what you buy is ok.
Box blade vs grading scraper... hmmm. Grading scraper probably is the ideal implement for driveway maintenance, but won't "carry" material to relocate it the way the box blade can. Also box blades are generally less costly and, being shorter, make a handier counterweight for loader work. Box blade needs more fiddling to adjust for best results but is probably more versatile overall. I expect most folks use box blades for such work.
Grouse Feathers
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I use a 4' LandPride grading scraper behind my BX to maintain about 2 miles of sand, rock, and clay roads. The roads here hold up much better if I crown with a rear blade before I grade. If you crown the roadway I believe it is better if your grading scraper is about half the width of the roadway, any wider and you would be grading away the crown. I prefer the grading scraper especially with the little BX, but with a bigger tractor you could probably grade and crown in one pass with a box blade.