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Kinda garage related...

jeep63

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Feb 8, 2006
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264
Location
Maryland, USA
So since my driveway and the lane to my house is all gravel, and I have this 'new to me' X730 looking to work, I'm considering picking up something to maintain the gravel. I found a DR power grader on marketplace for $450; it appears to be barely used and they state as much. I'm thinking I can work the gravel of the lane and driveway to restore them a bit and maybe save on some gravel.

Does have experience with a DR power grader and maintaining a gravel lane?
 
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jeep63

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Feb 8, 2006
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Location
Maryland, USA
here is my driveway and some private lane shots.

A3F77C3D-05EB-46DF-8EEA-C4D95CE7F86F.jpeg

AB527100-508F-45B7-AF38-7CC644688BA4.jpeg

i put the lane between 100-150 yards to the street. There are 4 of us who share it. The others are all retired and have no interest in diy work on it.
 

racecougar

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Jan 26, 2021
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Missouri
Looks like it's all pretty flat, which really makes things easy. I maintain my driveway (1/8 mile gravel) and my parents' driveway (3/4 mile gravel) using a pretty simple pair of homemade drags behind a Honda Big Red 700 UTV. Our driveways are both quite hilly/steep, so pulling gravel back to the center of the road in the Spring after plowing has moved it to the sides over the Winter is critical to prevent washouts. For this, I use a piece of I-beam with a length of chain welded to it near either end to provide a means of hooking it to the UTV. I use a carabiner to select my drag angle by linking the chain together at the hitch. I've also welded a few piece of rebar onto the I-beam vertically which act as receiver posts for lead weights. A few passes is all it takes to pull the gravel back where it belongs and smooth out any dips. The other drag is simply a section of chainlink fence that has one end rolled over a pipe with a small chain through it. That one is nice for a quick smoothing without really disturbing much of anything that is packed down.

I'll try to remember to snap photos of these in action the next time I use them. Both are extremely simple, versatile, cheap to make, and take up very little space compared to a box grader.

The box grader will likely do fairly well, but you'll need to be careful not to get too aggressive with it and tear up your packed base.
 
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jeep63

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Feb 8, 2006
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264
Location
Maryland, USA
Thanks. What I picked up is a DR power grader. It is 48” wide and I believe will not rip into the base much but will level and smooth out the lane. I just need to make many passes with small adjustments down each time. My x730 should have not issues pulling this.


06EBE6F6-812E-4D80-8575-A18CB02CC38D.jpeg
 
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Renegade1LI

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Mar 11, 2018
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long island ny
You may get better results using a york rake or a leveling drag if you want to fluff up the gravel. The box grader is nice to have but more useful if you were doing cut and fills, your driveway looks nice and graded already.
 

racecougar

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Jan 26, 2021
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5,105
Location
Missouri
I'll try to remember to snap photos of these in action the next time I use them. Both are extremely simple, versatile, cheap to make, and take up very little space compared to a box grader.
I didn't remember to take an "action" shot, but I did snap this pic right before I took off yesterday. It might be ugly, but it is very effective. I have it set to pull gravel from left to right in this configuration, pulling rock back toward the center of the road as I drive with my left tires along the edge.

IMG_4954.JPG
 
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jeep63

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Feb 8, 2006
Messages
264
Location
Maryland, USA
My driveway is mostly level, but there are some ruts, very slight, developing. I want to jump on them before they become an issue. I’m going to try it out to see. I have to be careful since their is a berm before my one neighbors driveway to redirect water, I do not want to affect that.

I plan to test the short section from my driveway to hers. If it works, I will work in two sections to avoid affecting that berm.

It is all flat and there is no crown to speak of that I can detect.
 
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