Leveling Dirt Driveway

wsmm

Member
What do you use to level your dirt driveway. I've tried my back blade seems to dig in and not just level. I also add side plates to my back blade, still not happy with results. Been thinking of coming up with something to tow behind the 2N that will level out the drive and fill in the low spots. Any suggestions. Looking for an inexpensive way to do it. Haven't been able to find any old bed prings, so that seems to be out.
Thanks,
Bill
 
Actually a back blade works pretty good if you know how to use it. You say it digs in. Are you trying to back up with it? Normally it is hard to get a back blade to dig enough. I always run mine at an angle and run the inside higher than the outside to build a crown in the driveway. And the best time to work it is just as the frost goes out in the spring and it gets firm enough it's not just soup. Work it often then, probably every day for a few days and you will build a firm bed that will last all year. And then don't drive your car too fast, speed is what makes washboards. And if there is a puddle or rain water in a place, for goodness sake drive around it. Driving through puddles just makes them deeper.
 

"DR" makes an Electric/Hydraulic driveway leveler.

It looks something like a rigid Spike-Toothed Harrow, with angle-irons to scatter the gravel/dirt it loosens..
Might be a good design to pattern one after..
I use one section of an old 8' Spike-toothed Harrow behind my Jeep in certain conditions when snow is likely to turn to ICE..it roughs it up good and gives good traction when scraping the snow off would just yield a Skating Rink..

Ron.
 
Usually I just use a drag, and have to do it a couple of times a year, but this year I put an I beam drag chained on behind the blade, the blade loosened the dirt, and the drag leveled it, only had to do it once this year. One half mile of road.
 
exactly how i do mine--i also added a piece of rail road track on the blade to get i to dig in better
 
You might look into a Box Blade.. Have a 5 foot HOWSE that is almost ALWAYS on our little Yanmar. I even like it better for pushing snow over the 5 foot HOWSE blade we have for it..

Has a cutting edge on each side, and adjustable rippers.. Really nice for snow... Literally back into somewhere tight (between shops, what ever) drop it and go! EASY just kind of gathers it all up inside the "Box" and then you dump it some where, and go get another box full, then when I come back with another box full, I use the loader on the front to push the previous pile of snow up onto the pile, then repeat!

Bryce
 
I use a Glenco field cultivator with a spike tooth drag. I dig deep enough to have it loose to the depth of the deepest chuck holes. I then raise it up a tad and drive so I am just into loose dirt quite fast. I make many trips until it is as level as possible. I run over it with the tractor until it is all packed some with the tractor tires. I then work a slight crown with the back blade and then pack with the tractor again. After the semi's come and go a few times it becomes hard and stays for the summer. I try to catch it in the spring shortly after the frost gets out and before the semi's make it hard enough that the Glenco has a problem digging it deep enough.
 
You must live someplace where it never rains, in MN we have to put gravel on our driveways! I use a back blade to grade it, do as much in reverse as forward, and always have it angled.
 
Kinda depends on what you mean by "level". Do you mean to move a lot of dirt to improve the grade, or just smooth over the potholes? For moving dirt, a box scraper is the most economical solution, although a 2N will be challenged by even a six foot box scraper.

For filling potholes, I use a landscape (aka "York") rake with wheels. It doesn't dig in, and loosens the stones and gravel to leave a nice smooth finish.
 
Dick L comments about a Glencoe digger reminded me of how we filled potholes years ago. Bolted a plank to the back row of teeth on the digger, raised a few inches above the points. Teeth cut the dirt loose, plank acted like a dozer blade to carry dirt forward.
 
I use a back blade. I angle it as sharp as I can and then shorten the top link so that leading edge touches down about six inches before the back would. I then run along the edges and make a nice deep trough at the edge that will carry water away. The gravel then gets thrown into the middle and builds up the crown. I straighten the blade out and run it down the center with the tractor moving along pretty quick to take a little of the crown off and it is good to go. Years ago the drive used to be at the same level as the grass. The drive is now about a foot above the yard at the crown. You have to get down there and make the gravel active. Standing water always causes trouble.
 
If you are looking to save money us your back blade and JUST take off the high spots to start with. Can you work across the drive? and throw the high spots left and right. then set blade shallow, and make several passed. You could also add long pipe etc etc to the side of your blade to make your own land level. Yes a box blade works great if you can find one.
 
I have a 7 ft rock rake, a 7 ft back blade, once had a 6 ft box blade, and I made a 7 ft wide V-shaped leveler. Sold box blade, did the worst job. Back blade digs in too much. However, I put a 3 inch pipe on bottom of blade so it can't dig in while pushing snow. It's not bad leveling a drive if the rock is loose, much better than a box blade. The rock rake is OK, but the 3 pt on my Jubilee has no down force. So I made a 3 pt attachment for the front forks on my backhoe. That way, I can put down force on rake and see what I'm doing. Rake does a great job of refreshing up a drive with down force. Helps separate rock from the dirt/gravel that collects between rock. The best is my v-shaped 3 pt self leveling device. I can also bevel it to angle larger driveways. Or if I have a single drive, I can pull rocks from the edge and crown and put it in one of the tire tracks.

50 years ago, my dad made a very large A-shaped grader using 3 pieces of RR iron. He pulled it with a chain and his old JI case. We had a very large drive and parking lot. His device would fill in pot holes, grade and level drive. That's where I got the idea of making my V shaped leveler.

This past summer I helped a neighbor level his 60x120 ft horse arena. Between the rock rake, the leveler, and my rotating laser, we got the arena with in plus or minus 1/2 inch.
 
Before I got either one of my road graders I used a heavy I-Beam that hooked up with a chain and it did a pretty good jump and cost me very little to boot. Still have it.
 
When my husband wants to do "the final level" after blading... he turns the blade backward so it has no bite. Works really well!

a174444.jpg" width="650"
 
I use a Westendorf box scraper fairly often but I never run it deep, just enough to knock off the tops and drag it into the bottoms. Going slow, maybe 2 MPH helps keep the blade from bouncing. Sometimes the old yard drag I made using a couple of heavy 4" angle irons works just as well. I pull it with a chain that's longer on one side so it pulls the drag at an angle. Many multiple trips helps too. Like they say, 'Rome wasn't built in a day".
 
I have a ten foot box scraper works good because it also will carry dirt from a high spot to a low spot .
 
Dozer is the best if I really need to get the low spots filled. I seem to make a mess with the dozer at times. I don't have the magic touch that others seem to have.

Quicker way I use my 8 ft landscape rake (rock rake) forward with the teeth digging at an angle. Usually 2 passes will loosen things up.
Then I run one pass down the middle with the rake straight (no angle) and feather it real easy. I run in creeper gear.
 

Your biggest proble so far as "leveling is geometry. Your front wheels go up onto a ridge- the blade digs in. Front wheel into a hole,- the blade lifts. The solution is one or two gauge wheels behind the blade to prevent it from dropping. I added one to my blade.
 
Not cheap but after years of trying most all the other methods suggested I broke down and bought a landpride road grader.

This is one of those purchases that if I'd have realized how easy they work I'd've bought one years ago.
 
Sometimes I am not too smart but here is my idea------------ Tear it up with the back blade or a disc or an old spike tooth harrow. Then chain a log behind the tractor and drag it to level. The heavier the log the better. I used to have an old barn timber, 12 x 12, that I used also I have used lots of old chains behind the log.
 
(quoted from post at 07:14:18 11/18/14) Showcrop---something like this?

Modified from MHF back blade.
a174471.jpg

Yes, that is generally the idea but anything like that would be a lot of money. The key is to have your blade supported both front and back as in that picture. A drag will level side to side but to take out the ridges and valleys you need a grader arrangement. As also said, to remove potholes, you will need to cut to the bottom of them, and to prevent them you need a good crown. adding a wheel or two behind the blade won't cost you much. It is nice if the wheels are adjustable, but not necessary because you can adjust it by adjusting the front to back lean of the blade with your top link.
 
(quoted from post at 10:59:15 11/18/14) I built this leveler.
works pretty good.
a174489.jpg

Ray, I built one that is similar for smoothing tractor pulling tracks. It works well for that but it won't put a crown in my driveway.
 
Showcrop---To explain a little bit---The depth of the blade is adjusted by means of the 3pt lever. This unit has tilt-of-the-blade capability to accomplish the crown of the road. I don't think I put more than 500$ in it. If grading is an on-going need, I don't think that's too steep. I took care of a 1/2+ mile common road for a few years---even doing snow in the winter. As far as potholes---I think a simpler method than what you suggested would be to do as we did on this same road:::Get some pure clay to fill the hole level. Then use something like crushed concrete to mound up over it. Then tamp it down, or drive over it with heavy equipment. It will mush out after a rain, so put the stuff back in and add some more concrete to it. Tend it as needed this way. It will soon become a part of the original road.
 
(quoted from post at 15:53:06 11/18/14) Showcrop---To explain a little bit---The depth of the blade is adjusted by means of the 3pt lever. This unit has tilt-of-the-blade capability to accomplish the crown of the road. I don't think I put more than 500$ in it. If grading is an on-going need, I don't think that's too steep. I took care of a 1/2+ mile common road for a few years---even doing snow in the winter. As far as potholes---I think a simpler method than what you suggested would be to do as we did on this same road:::Get some pure clay to fill the hole level. Then use something like crushed concrete to mound up over it. Then tamp it down, or drive over it with heavy equipment. It will mush out after a rain, so put the stuff back in and add some more concrete to it. Tend it as needed this way. It will soon become a part of the original road.

Pburg, your unit looks great, but I think that it is probably out of reach of the original poster, who specified low budget. I suppose your pothole program would work, but my experience is that with adequate crown, a once annually good grading is plenty adequate.
 
(quoted from post at 22:04:19 11/17/14) Actually a back blade works pretty good if you know how to use it. You say it digs in. Are you trying to back up with it? Normally it is hard to get a back blade to dig enough. I always run mine at an angle and run the inside higher than the outside to build a crown in the driveway. And the best time to work it is just as the frost goes out in the spring and it gets firm enough it's not just soup. Work it often then, probably every day for a few days and you will build a firm bed that will last all year. And then don't drive your car too fast, speed is what makes washboards. And if there is a puddle or rain water in a place, for goodness sake drive around it. Driving through puddles just makes them deeper.

Good post nebraska cowman, well said, very good advice.

And yes, you gotta have a crown.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top