Box blade for building a driveway?

All, need advice here on the proper implement for my tractor (IH 460 utility if it matters).

I need to build a driveway/road of about 200ft where there currently is none and so I need to cut thru & remove the sod and a few inches of the topsoil to where the dirt gets a little firmer (confirmed by hand digging some holes). Then I'll bring in and spread out crushed limestone for a base.

All my reading about box blades has to do with levelling/filling high and low spots on an existing drive...I still think this is the right tool for the job to start from nothing but there's no sense going out to buy one when I need something else.

The drive will start as gravel and eventually be asphalt paved at some time down the road.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

I'm of the opinion that you really need two implement for the task at hand. A back blade to move the organic matter from off the top and also to build the road up from barrow ditches, and then a box blade for filling, leveling, spreading gravel, etc.

I used both when I built my driveway.

a box blade will do it,I would suggest though you get one with ripper teeth on it if your going to cut throuh and remove the sod.

its nearly impossible to properly crown a road with a box blade unless you keep backing into ditch and dragging dirt to middle...grader blade makes it so much easier...as already mentioned you need both tools and the heavier they are the better.

If you can only afford one, go with the rear blade. A box blade can only move dirt forward, not side to side. Not very practical for the long haul.

I use a rear blade for driveway maintenance, taking out trees, pushing tree debris into piles, snow removal, etc.

I would vote for a box blade probably a 6 foot with scarifier teeth. Don't go too big on a 460 cause they do pull hard when digging in sod. You should be able to adjust your 3pt lift arms to tilt the blade and give your dive a little crown.

I would take a moldboard plow, and plow to a dead furrow in the center of the proposed road first, then disc, then take the grader box and flatten out the center, and start adding base to fill out and raise the level of the road, so it drains and stays dry. This way you get some good topsoil along the edge of the road, and most sod or other debris is buried.

I would advise to make sure the driveway has a "crown" to it. The guys who did my drive gave it a nice mild crown and it really helps drain the water to the sides and keep puddles from forming which will eventually lead to substantial potholes as you drive over the soft spots formed by the standing water.

I agree that a box blade will be good for ripping up the soil and loosening it. But a rear blade is needed for pushing it off to the side.
2 weeks ago I used my rear blade to rake up a small section of grass so I could make my driveway wider.

DiyDave, I had considered roughly that. Before tractors and acreage, my Dad and I built a paver patio...we had to dig down 12" and remove a lot of hardpacked clay...which would have broken both of our backs.

However, my Dad had the excellent idea of using our troy-bilt tiller as a roughing tool and broke up the dirt into small loose uniform chunks that we could take out using wide flat shovels.

My thoughts are that a moldboard would dig deeper and with less pull than a wide flat blade, but at the same time I'm starting with a relatively planar suface as of right now. Using the moldboard first and then the box blade might produce a lumpy surface I'd fight with to get back to flat as the tractor would be going up & down with the box blade movements being magnified.

Matt, its probably 6 of one, half a dozen of another, the difference is that a moldboard plow follows a natural draft line of the tractor's forward motion, thereby resulting in a smoother job than you will get with a box blade or grader blade. Plus, by discing after plowing, you smooth out more, and soften up the surface, just like your dad did with that patio.

First of all you don't build the crown in the road base, you build it flat and crown it with the gravel.
Second if this drive is long you will be money ahead to have a grader/maintainer come in and build the road base up if that in fact is what is needed.

If were me, I'd rent a dozer. Sod, it would seem that breaking it up using a moldboard plow, discing etc. would make the job of the boxblade much easier, also breaks up that sod, when you stockpile it, not going to be so many large chunks of sod too.

Even with a dozer, to cut and maintain a uniform cut, getting that sod to roll up and over the blade consistently can be a challenge and it takes some power to the cutting edge and tracks, late model dozers like a Cat D4G or a JD 450 H, have some pretty darned strong hydraulics, way beyond what a tractor and boxblade has. Hard to remember the last time I peeled up a bunch of sod for a road, though I can remember doing it with a new D6 LGP dozer in '94 on a job site, cause it really cut nice, well balanced, sometimes they want to scallop, blade can be hard to control, too much cut, dozer does not have the power, have to raise up and then you lose the cut, 2nd pass will take care of the sections you don't get, but that uneven cut can be hard to work with til you get into a flat area, hard to explain than do. Ideally you do want to cut to decent material, around here, clay and rock, some gravel/sand mix, so once you get the topsoil off you can put in your road base, gravel, crushed stone etc. If possible, have those materials spread when delivered, thick, small piles, just not one large pile, will make it easier to grade with that box blade. A friend in the paving business used a 545 ford utility tractor and heavy duty box blade for many years to grade sub-base for paving jobs, works great on loose materials, and you should be able to work up that crown or camber in the road by using the level box adjuster on the lift arm, peel a windrow to the center then carefully grade, always better to be high and have something to cut down, and or keeping the gravel material flowing in front of the cutting edge.