# Cleaning Gravel Driveway brushHog ?



## JamesMore (Jun 6, 2009)

I am out of the big cities and very soon hope to have my own spot of land.

Its small, about 8 acres but it sits in a field that is about 30 acres. The house is up on the hill and the land just rolls away. The gravel drive way is about 650 meters long and the center of the drive has become pretty over grown my question is.

What would be best to cut down these weeds in the driveway I was going to see if I could get the farmer who bails the hay to brushhog it. But do you think a strimmer would be up for the job. The weeds are pretty thick as I don't think any one has driven up there in about the last 6 months.

The driveway has a few bumps and I was thinking that I would need to regravel it a little. Is this expensive to do ?

Next year I hope to buy a small tractor to help with the mowing and also start to use the land a little bit. But for now I need to make sure my wife can make it to the front door.

All ideas welcome


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

I drive my rider down the center of the road with the deck slightly raised. The gravel issue all depends on how far the gravel pit is away from you. Generally it cost about $150 a load delivered for 1 1/2 inch minus crushed.


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## Bamataco (Apr 22, 2009)

I would ask the farmer if he has a back blade. If he does it should take out most of the weads and level the drive way all at once. 
If the farmer doesn't I have a Red neck way for you to do it on the cheap. If you have a trailer hitch on your car or truck it should be easy. Get a pallet. Build a wooden box on top of it. Load up some weight into the box. Rocks,concrete blocks what ever you have. Use a strong cable,(I use a steel one) attatch it to your trailer hitch or ball. Drag it up and down the drive way. It will rip out most weads and level the ground at the same time. There is no backing up with this so lay out where you are going to turn around on both ends. Hope this helps you out.


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## JamesMore (Jun 6, 2009)

Well at long last it looks like I might get this house its been with the sellers bank for the last 4+ months.

Only thing that is holding it up now is for my bank to take a visit but because of the snow they can't get to it for a while.

This now worries me as next year I might get stuck there and not be able to get out so I was starting to think along the lines of a small tractor or garden tractor. There is a slight incline and you can see from the image how long my drive is going to be will it be too much for a small garden tractor to clear.


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## Larry in OK (Jul 22, 2010)

Small tractor and a boxblade would be about the best answer for maintaining the road.
I'd start with trying to kill the weeds and brush with spray and then drag it with a boxblade
If any brush has gotten real big might have to cut it out with a saw or axe.
Your map puts you just a little south and East of Seneca. Just across the line from more or less from a couple of us here.
I hope you are enjoying our winter wonderland as much as I am.


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## JamesMore (Jun 6, 2009)

Thanks Larry, good eyes My wife's family all use big john deere or whites, I only have a few hours worth driving the smaller white's but after being a city boy for most of my short life I am looking forward to being in the country. I am loving the winter season we are having now.

I wont be working the land just yet but hope to be able too buy more land as I grow a little older and gain more experience. I am a little bit further away from my wife's family than i would like so wont be able to borrow much. So I will need to get some thing small and then big up from there as my needs change.

Any recommendations some people have said a garden tractor with a blade but not sure if I would need some thing bigger. 

I want to have some thing small and work up from there some where between a garden tractor and a small hobby tractor.


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## Larry in OK (Jul 22, 2010)

I'm pretty sick of the snow this year. We got around 20" here last night. I'm running out of places to push it.

My opinion only - While a_ real _garden tractor will be able to get it done, doing what you are looking to do will wear it and you out in short order and take a lot of time.

There are lots of good small tractors out there that can be had for reasonable money. A feloow with basic mechanical ability can keep one up and going for many years. 
The Ford N series can be real work horses and the later 8Ns and Jubilee and NAAs would be my choice on those. as well as the later models but I have no experience with them. 
A front end loader and a box blade allows you to move a lot of dirt. It doesn't make a tractor a bull dozer but it will do the job.
There are so many different brands/models out there and I only have limited experience with a few. 
Allis Chalmers had some good strong tractors that can still be found in good working condition for reasonable money as well. The CA, WD, and WD45s are fairly plentiful and have serious hydraulics, a must for any serious work. 
If you've got the budget for a later model machine that opens a whole new world.


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## JamesMore (Jun 6, 2009)

Thanks Larry, for the feedback what kind of money are we talking about? After buying the house funds are low but would like to get some thing soon so I can get some hours in and use it around the land and when winter comes next year I will know that I have the skill and know how to use the tractor and fix and work on it if and when needed.


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## Larry in OK (Jul 22, 2010)

Check out Craigslist. I see lots of affordable machines listed on there. Unless you are an experienced tractor person and a reasonably competent mechanic I suggest you get some who is to go with you when you go to look at one.
Ton of info on the internet including this site about pretty much any tractor ever built and common problems associated with them.
If financing a new machine is a possibility a new tractor comes with warranty and not filled with previous owner(s) problems.


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## JamesMore (Jun 6, 2009)

Thanks Larry, My wifes family are tractor people but they are of the age of not believing in the internet  will just have to say I saw it in the paper. I have been watching CL for another thing that comes up but most are too big or pre 1960. Not sure if I should be looking at items that old as I am very new to tractors.


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## Larry in OK (Jul 22, 2010)

One positive about the older machines is that for the most part they are really pretty simple mechanically.
And, unlike a lot of modern things they were designed to last for decades and be repaired rather than replaced.
In my book condition would trump age, I'd take a good '52 8N over a thrashed '90 Kubota.


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## JamesMore (Jun 6, 2009)

Thanks Larry, I love the look and history of the 8N's I have shown them to my wife's family and I guess because they are use to having to work on very large acreage they don't think much of it but my needs are very much different to theirs  They feel that getting some thing old no one will be able to work on it, and nothing modern will fit on the PTO,

but I feel that as you say, ifs its older then its much easier to work on and its been built to last rather than being mass produced in a factory over seas.


My needs are for cleaning the snow, cutting the grass , maybe brush hogging the horizontal lane in the picture and for keeping the gravel in the lane clean and free to drive on. A bucket would be nice and maybe a post hole digger in a few years but I am not going to be out working the land moving bales clearing masses areas so I am in the mind to keep it small and simple if my needs change in a few years then buy some thing bigger.

I guess my question at the moment how important is having 4 wheel drive there is one slight slope on the drive but not sure if I would need 4x4 drive to get up.


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## Larry in OK (Jul 22, 2010)

My grand dad worked 65 acres with a 9N for decades. He only cultivated about 25 acres of it for crops but it worked for him. He passed away in '99. The tractor now belongs to one of my cousins and is still in use.


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## Fordfarm (Dec 27, 2005)

Fords are great little tractors that can do a LOT of work. Get an ORC for the PTO and it will match "modern" 540 PTO shafts. The three point is a Cat1, and there are countless implements it will run. Most people who look down their noses at an 8N know nothing about them, or what they'll do. If you go with even a "good" lawn tractor, you'll be out there a week clearing your drive!


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## JamesMore (Jun 6, 2009)

Thanks guys  will start keeping a look out for a 8N, I like there size and shape and look and from what every ones says they are a good work horse and it some thing that I can cut my teeth on.


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## Bamataco (Apr 22, 2009)

JamesMore said:


> Thanks guys  will start keeping a look out for a 8N, I like there size and shape and look and from what every ones says they are a good work horse and it some thing that I can cut my teeth on.


One more good thing about them is that parts are available for them.


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## wjjones (May 28, 2010)

Bamataco said:


> I would ask the farmer if he has a back blade. If he does it should take out most of the weads and level the drive way all at once.
> If the farmer doesn't I have a Red neck way for you to do it on the cheap. If you have a trailer hitch on your car or truck it should be easy. Get a pallet. Build a wooden box on top of it. Load up some weight into the box. Rocks,concrete blocks what ever you have. Use a strong cable,(I use a steel one) attatch it to your trailer hitch or ball. Drag it up and down the drive way. It will rip out most weads and level the ground at the same time. There is no backing up with this so lay out where you are going to turn around on both ends. Hope this helps you out.


 I agree a box scraper with the ripping teeth would fix both problems a once, this will give you a better idea of how much gravel you will need after the weeds are gone, and low spots are exposed.


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## wjjones (May 28, 2010)

JamesMore said:


> Thanks guys  will start keeping a look out for a 8N, I like there size and shape and look and from what every ones says they are a good work horse and it some thing that I can cut my teeth on.


 To bad you are so far away here where i live there are 2 on CL right now 1 is $2000, and 1 is $1800.00. Both are operational and ready to work as mentioned these tractors are built to last.


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## Fordfarm (Dec 27, 2005)

Another good thing to use on a driveway is an old bed spring. One of those old fashioned types that have a "frame" on one side, and the springs on the other. I use mine "frame" side down to "cut" the road, then flip it over and "smooth" it out. Add a little weight to the top, and you'll be surprised at what it will do.


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## JamesMore (Jun 6, 2009)

Thanks guys looks like I am out there on Monday with rake :-( I might be some time as per the photo until I get a tractor.


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## Bamataco (Apr 22, 2009)

Here is one more way that you could level your drive. This will work on the back of a pickup truck or SUV.
Poor man's snow plow - DodgeForum.com


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## wjjones (May 28, 2010)

Fordfarm said:


> Another good thing to use on a driveway is an old bed spring. One of those old fashioned types that have a "frame" on one side, and the springs on the other. I use mine "frame" side down to "cut" the road, then flip it over and "smooth" it out. Add a little weight to the top, and you'll be surprised at what it will do.


 Kinda the same as a landscape rake?


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## Larry in OK (Jul 22, 2010)

More like a drag harrow. I used an old box spring with an oak 4"X4" wired to it pule behind a riding mower to smooth my yard a few years ago. it did a pretty darn good job of it.


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