What machinery for farm Track maintenance

[ricardodba]

Hi,

I have a 1 mile farm track which i use to access my house The track is about to be renovated this month by the land owner and i am to then take on the ongoing upkeep of the track.

The materials the track will be renovated with is grit-stone/sandstone. The renovations will be digout/grade out the pot holes and fill with a 40mm grade to a depth of 150mm as the base and 20mm grade to a depth of 50mm on top as surface finish and then compacted down. The choice of materials is not negotiable as something to do with Natural England requirements.

The biggest issue why i think the track is so bad at the minute is the amount of water it gets on it from the surrounding land with the vehicles then compounding the issue and thats why there are so many pot holes.

So after the renovation there will be no potholes...but no doubt they will re-appear soon. So, my plan is to buy a tractor and a box grader and maybe a roller of some type to keep on top of any potholes etc by running up and down the track as and when needed. I'll also haul in some stone now and again when its needed.

So before jumping in head first and getting it all wrong thought id ask some you experienced people what advice you have.

So im wondering what size (hp) tractor i need and what box grade will do the job? Do i need to get 4wd or will 2wd be ok? I have been thinking along the lines of MF 550 / Ford 6600/6610...or should i spend a bit more and get one of these more mod things like a Zetor, Belarus, Siromer etc? The tractor must have a cab as i'll be using it in the winter months...and i'll want a loader on it too.

Thanks.

 

[Tomr10]

One thing you should get the owner to do is good drainage. Try and keep the water away. Any of the above be good best thing would be a roler.

 

[davidroberts30]

Good drainage and a good camber on the track so water cant sit on it

 

[ricardodba]

should have said there is only limited drainage present at the minute, and no new drainage will be added during renovations but i can add more drainage at my own desire. So im going to want to maintain a camber to allow better water drainage. Might take a bit of getting used to doing that as looks a bit of an art getting the camber right! ...and also will look at putting some RSJs and speed bumps across the track for further drainage.

 

[Tha Ulsterscot]

No. 1 most importantly get them to put a good cross fall on the track, when they fix it. if you can keep lying water off it will last a lot longer. Mine is topped with a thin layer of 20 mm stone, and is easily maintained with this home made leveller.

 

[ricardodba]

No. 1 most importantly get them to put a good cross fall on the track, when they fix it. if you can keep lying water off it will last a lot longer. Mine is topped with a thin layer of 20 mm stone, and is easily maintained with this home made leveller.

How do you maintain the camber...is that all through setting the linkage lop-sided?...Im guessing that Zetor is more than enough tractor to do the job?...do you roll it too?

 

[Still Farming]

All to do with money.
Concrete or tarmac it the best then sliding scale downwards.
All depends what you want and budget .
From driving down with your tractor to driving a family car along it?
Filling pot holes every year with a few tonne of scalpings to tarmac plannings etc.
Skies the limit.

 

[ricardodba]

All to do with money.
Concrete or tarmac it the best then sliding scale downwards.
All depends what you want and budget .
From driving down with your tractor to driving a family car along it?
Filling pot holes every year with a few tonne of scalpings to tarmac plannings etc.
Skies the limit.

yeah money certainly is everything...if i could afford it id buy a brand spanking new John Deere or New Holand or MF but that int the case!...im also a bit bothered about spending a lot (to me) on a Tractor for it to be sat around half the time doing nowt.

I can only use the stone thats permitted ie grit-stone/sand-stone. So that's gonna be quite expensive too.

 

[Still Farming]

yeah money certainly is everything...if i could afford it id buy a brand spanking new John Deere or New Holand or MF but that int the case!...im also a bit bothered about spending a lot (to me) on a Tractor for it to be sat around half the time doing nowt.

I can only use the stone thats permitted ie grit-stone/sand-stone. So that's gonna be quite expensive too.

If I were you double check it that is the case with Natural England etc etc as the "wool maybe be being pulled over your eyes" or so to speak???

 

[Kevtherev]

Cut plenty of ‘grips’ on sides of road to keep the water off that’s half the battle.

 

[ricardodba]

Cut plenty of ‘grips’ on sides of road to keep the water off that’s half the battle.

what are grips?

 

[Ffermer Bach]

make sure it is resurfaced with a camber either "humped" in the middle or from one side to the other, then as you drive up and down the track, make sure to drive up different paths (don't make tramlines for the water to follow), I can not re iterate how important it is for there to be a fall to one or other side so any water flows off the side of the track, I must admit, seems a bit excessive to buy a tractor just to maintain a road, wouldn't it be better to hire in a mini digger when ever you need to to sort it out?

 

[Ffermer Bach]

more than half, maybe 90% of maintaining a track it about the drainage, and getting the water off

 

[Kevtherev]

what are grips?

Basically little ditches dug at an angle at side of road to turn water off.

 

[Tha Ulsterscot]

How do you maintain the camber...is that all through setting the linkage lop-sided?...Im guessing that Zetor is more than enough tractor to do the job?...do you roll it too?

If you start with a good camber, at least 6" from one side to other, it's easy to keep. My leveller is a trailed machine, so as you can see in the vid. it does pull sideways a bit. We can have up to 15 vehicles per day plus tractors and machinery along our lane, and a run with the leveller every six weeks is normally enough to keep it in decent order.

 

[ricardodba]

make sure it is resurfaced with a camber either "humped" in the middle or from one side to the other, then as you drive up and down the track, make sure to drive up different paths (don't make tramlines for the water to follow), I can not re iterate how important it is for there to be a fall to one or other side so any water flows off the side of the track, I must admit, seems a bit excessive to buy a tractor just to maintain a road, wouldn't it be better to hire in a mini digger when ever you need to to sort it out?

Yeah I know what you mean...but i think its needed if i want to keep this track in a good state...and her in doors will start nagging if it gets bad again.

I do have a small piece of land which needs maintaining such as grass cutting etc...as well as needing to haul stone...and my plan is to keep on top of things - so run the grader and maybe a roller on the track quite often so having to hire an excavator every time will become a ball ache.

 

[ricardodba]

So back to the machinery part of this...do i go 4wd or 2wd and do i go with a new modern Tractor around 50-90hp or an older thing like a MF/Ford 6610?...remembering I dont have much experience on Tractors...so are the newer ones safer to operate then say a 1970s Tractor?

Cheers.

 

[Still Farming]

So back to the machinery part of this...do i go 4wd or 2wd and do i go with a new modern Tractor around 50-90hp or an older thing like a MF/Ford 6610?...remembering I dont have much experience on Tractors...so are the newer ones safer to operate then say a 1970s Tractor?

Cheers.

10-15k needed then

 

[Extreme Optimist]

I bought one of these. https://www.murraymachinery.com/products/gravel-road-grader
Makes a fantastic job

 

[ricardodba]

I bought one of these. https://www.murraymachinery.com/products/gravel-road-grader
Makes a fantastic job

that looks like some piece of kit...what size Tractor are you pulling it with?