Rear Blade Operating Advice

[DueEast]

I have a 72in rear blade on my new L2501. I picked it up for snow removal and gravel driveway maintenance. I've never run one before and I haven't had a whole lot of time to mess with it but did get a 6in snowfall that I got to try it out on. I was struggling to plow the snow without digging into the gravel. I did a lot of feathering the 3 point lever up and down and ended up flipping the blade around and basically back bladed it to finish up. That worked great but didn't pull enough snow. I watched a GP Outdoors video about this and he showed if you adjust your top link all the way in you get a less aggressive angle on the cutting edge and this helps for snow. I confirmed what he said in the manual where it states this angle is intended for "soft soil". Makes sense but I think we are about done for snow this year so won't have a chance to try it out.

I will however need to grade my driveway. The guy I bought the house from would order more gravel and have the dump truck guy spread as best he could and leave it like that. It's kind of a mess and there are little humps and bumps all over the place. Any tips for how to best smooth this out without digging to deep? I have a lot of experience doing with type of work with a skid steer so I may revert back to what I know and just use my loader but I think the rear blade is the better tool for the job. I know there are much better tools for the job (box blade, land plane etc.) but I have the rear blade already and want to figure out how to best use it. I would appreciate and tips, tricks or pointers.

 

[gened14]

I used a rear blade for years to clean snow off of a long gravel driveway in MI. One of the tricks to keep it from digging in is to reverse the blade. That way it's not aggressively digging into the gravel.

 

[Captain13]

The way I set mine up is I get the tractor and adjust so that the front and rear blades touch at the same time. If you have the top link all the way in, that is forcing the front blade to start cutting. As it moves forward it will did in deeper until the side plates stop the dig. Adjust the top link to level the front and rear blades, then tighten the top link to adjust the tilt forward a turn or two if you want it to pick up snow or dirt in that direction. That is a slight adjustment that will not allow it to over dig. Turn the top link to lengthen if you are want to work in reverse.

 

[freewheel3]

The way I set mine up is I get the tractor and adjust so that the front and rear blades touch at the same time. If you have the top link all the way in, that is forcing the front blade to start cutting. As it moves forward it will did in deeper until the side plates stop the dig. Adjust the top link to level the front and rear blades, then tighten the top link to adjust the tilt forward a turn or two if you want it to pick up snow or dirt in that direction. That is a slight adjustment that will not allow it to over dig. Turn the top link to lengthen if you are want to work in reverse.

It sounds like you're talking about a land plane, I believe he is asking about a rear blade.

 

[DueEast]

It sounds like you're talking about a land plane, I believe he is asking about a rear blade.

Yes I just have the the one blade. Standard rear blade.

 

[ctfjr]

I'll be the 1st to tell you I'm no expert but I did grade my gravel driveway last fall. I used a box blade to loosen up the parts that needed to have material moved. Then I used the back blade to smooth and redirect material. It was pia to constantly change the tilt in order for me to get the slope I wanted. A top n tilt would have been awesome to have.
I don't know how well you will do trying to move really packed down gravel with just a back blade. Mine just scratched to top of that type of surface. The scarifiers on the box really made a difference.

 

[DueEast]

I'll be the 1st to tell you I'm no expert but I did grade my gravel driveway last fall. I used a box blade to loosen up the parts that needed to have material moved. Then I used the back blade to smooth and redirect material. It was pia to constantly change the tilt in order for me to get the slope I wanted. A top n tilt would have been awesome to have.
I don't know how well you will do trying to move really packed down gravel with just a back blade. Mine just scratched to top of that type of surface. The scarifiers on the box really made a difference.

Yea I really wish I would have got a top n tilt. I am going to have to do a lot of back and forth adjusting the tilt to get a decent crown. There is plenty of loose gravel on top. There was a fresh load dropped right before we bought the house in December. Most of what I need to do is spread and redirect what’s on the driveway already so we can pack it down.

 

[ItBmine]

Get gauge wheels for your blade. Not sure what brand you have but you can get them for Land Pride blades and rakes.

 

[Thunder chicken]

Practice, practice, practice.
Remember, your tractor/blade is not a road grader. You’re short and subject to every little bump rocking the machine, and the blade a bit. It’ll take many passes to get it good. Don’t try to move lots of material in one pass. Just a little at a time. Back and forth. What you think should take an hour will likely take 3. That’s ok! What better is there to do than play on your tractor! When close to finished, run the blade in reverse either by spinning it 180°, or driving backwards with it down. Adjust the top link so you’re not cutting at all while doing this. This will help get rid of those little spilly wind rows.
Remember too, when you change the angle, the tilt also changes. A couple turns on top link and side link can make a big difference.
When in doubt about a spot, go get a 12’ 2x4 and a level, and see just how much of a bump your actually dealing with. A few inches of a hump is a lot of material, and can look like your making a huge mess when in fact you’re doing what you intended!
Practice, practice, practice. It all takes time to figure it out.

 

[Henro]

Practice, practice, practice.
Remember, your tractor/blade is not a road grader. You’re short and subject to every little bump rocking the machine, and the blade a bit. It’ll take many passes to get it good. Don’t try to move lots of material in one pass. Just a little at a time. Back and forth. What you think should take an hour will likely take 3. That’s ok! What better is there to do than play on your tractor! When close to finished, run the blade in reverse either by spinning it 180°, or driving backwards with it down. Adjust the top link so you’re not cutting at all while doing this. This will help get rid of those little spilly wind rows.
Remember too, when you change the angle, the tilt also changes. A couple turns on top link and side link can make a big difference.
When in doubt about a spot, go get a 12’ 2x4 and a level, and see just how much of a bump your actually dealing with. A few inches of a hump is a lot of material, and can look like your making a huge mess when in fact you’re doing what you intended!
Practice, practice, practice. It all takes time to figure it out.

As mentioned above, T&T plus gage wheel on the blade help enormously. One other thing I have is a float function in one of my remotes, which I use for a tilt cylinder (in my case I have two tilt cylinders, normally there is just one). This allows the blade to tilt up and down automatically when following compound curves of the driveway.

Only mention these things in case you might upgrade what you have in the future.

 

[random]

FEL?

I did a good bit of road work last weekend with the backhoe attached instead of the plane, did all my smoothing by back dragging (I think that's what it's called?)

Not good for long stretches but works quite nicely for spot fixes.

 

[DueEast]

As mentioned above, T&T plus gage wheel on the blade help enormously. One other thing I have is a float function in one of my remotes, which I use for a tilt cylinder (in my case I have two tilt cylinders, normally there is just one). This allows the blade to tilt up and down automatically when following compound curves of the driveway.

Only mention these things in case you might upgrade what you have in the future.

I didn't know about top n tilt when I bought the tractor so I have no rear remotes and no 3rd function to run anything fancy off of. I can't find a gauge wheel for sale anywhere but I think that would solve a lot of my issues.

 

[ehenry]

From everything thing I've read, videos I've watched and mainly people I've talked to that have maintained long gravel driveways for years with box blades and back blades and now own 3ph grading planes. EVERYONE of them said the grading plane is by far the best thing for keeping their driveways in shape.

My neighbor has a quarter to a third of a mile gravel drive that he maintained with a box and back blade for years. A friend let him use a grading plane one weekend......He bought a grading plane the following Monday and swears he'll never use a back blade on his driveway again unless he's cleaning the ditches out..

 

[GreensvilleJay]

OK, I have to ask, does your tractor 3ph control that you can 'set at 6' and no matter what the blade adjusts to maintain that 6". Without that it'll be a challenge though gauge wheels would work...
Whatever fancy word they use, I know my tractors have it, plowed a lot of snow over 15 seasons.
As for maintaining a gravel driveway, drag a heavy section of C-channel with sections of chains behind it. 3-4 passes,up and down, every 2 weeks or so, the driveway will be great. Late farmer cross the road did his driveway, every Sunday, after chuch, before brunch. it sure was pretty. Course he's done it for 55-58 years.....
I'm thinking the '25' means 25 HP ? ,kinda light for a 'stout' 6' rear blade ??

 

[Shadetree03]

I use the landscape rake to groom the gravel on a side drive, and find that the rocking of the tractor and resultant humps can be reduced by lowering the front bucket until it touches, but with the front lip slightly raised so as not to dig too much. Makes for a longer and steadier platform to keep the rear from digging and rocking.

I also usually have the "Edge Tamer" shoes bolted on to keep from wearing out the bottom of the bucket.
Several low speed passes and things are usually smoothed out pretty nicely.

 

[boz1989]

It can be done with just a blade. Like said above, it will take many passes, and trial and error. My first time in my driveway I made 6 passes before it moved anything. Then once it started, I moved too much, but with time it turned out good. All of the extras mentioned would make it easier, but you can do it without.

 

[old and tired]

The first thing I would try is angle the blade so stone gets moved to the middle of the road. Angling the blade lets you "average" out a couple of humps. Also, run the blade backwards with the toplink shorten so it's even less aggressive.

Get used to that set up then you can try and get more aggressive by lengthening the toplink. Good luck with it, take before and after photos!!!

 

[BobInSD]

...used a box blade to loosen up the parts that needed to have material moved. Then I used the back blade to smooth and redirect material.

I don't know how well you will do trying to move really packed down gravel with just a back blade. Mine just scratched to top of that type of surface. The scarifiers on the box really made a difference.

This exactly matches my experience. I ended up buying a box blade to scrape up the old stuff. If you just fill in the holes/low spots without first scraping everything down to that level the potholes come right back

Practice, practice, practice....What you think should take an hour will likely take 3. That’s ok! What better is there to do than play on your tractor! ...practice, practice, practice. It all takes time to figure it out.

... many passes, and trial and error. My first time in my driveway I made 6 passes before it moved anything. Then once it started, I moved too much, but with time it turned out good. All of the extras mentioned would make it easier, but you can do it without.

I'm not good at this at all, but it does get better with practice. When I asked for similar advice on another forum a few years ago I offered to trade some wrenching for a demo/explanation (but nobody lived closeby). The told me "it's just dirt. Try it and if it's bad you can do it over". Now when I'm not happy with the final look the wife reminds me "it's just dirt"

...Angling the blade lets you "average" out a couple of humps...

Especially now with the shorter wheel-base Kubota there is no way I could do it with just the box blade. Once I get most of the material about where I think I want it I make a few passes with the rear blade, mainly to get rid of the humps. I'm trying to sell the spare tractor, but last year I had the box blade on the Kubota and the rear blade on the Ford, so I first scraped it all down w/ the boxblade, then used the backblade to get the material into the center of the drive, then the box blade to get the material (old and new) where I needed it and somewhat spread and crowned, then the back blade to level the ripples and finish up the crown. Once I sell the Ford I don't think I'll swap back and forth so much!

...the rocking of the tractor and resultant humps can be reduced by lowering the front bucket until it touches, but with the front lip slightly raised so as not to dig too much. Makes for a longer and steadier platform to keep the rear from digging and rocking...

I'm going to have to try this. So far the only thing I don't like about the Kubota is the short wheelbase, and only when I'm doing this type of work. I bought it, in part, to get a smaller footprint so normally I like the shorter package, just not for blading.

What do you guys do after spreading the gravel? I try to do it when the gravel is slightly damp (not muddy). Then I drive an old SUV with bald tires up and down to compact it a little (easy before the kids could legally drive, now I guess I'll have to do that part myself). I try to do it when a slight soft rain is expected (never actually happened, but that's the plan). How should I squish it down when I've got it where I want it?

 

[random]

How should I squish it down when I've got it where I want it?

I do a first run with the FEL using it like a tamper - not in float, but press down until the front of the tractor lifts a little. Like what I said earlier, good for smaller areas, not so much for an entire road.

Either way, follow up with a lot of driving over it. Can't think of a better option unless you have some sort of roller.

 

[old and tired]

...How should I squish it down when I've got it where I want it?

Load the bucket up with rocks and dirt for weight and just drive the tractor back and forth on it.