O.K. where to start. I own 20 acres of land in the southern tier of N.Y. and as ashamed as I am to say it I have been more or less a absentie owner for the past five years. You see my wife (then fiance) bought the property for me shortly after I bought her a ring! not a bad trade if you ask me! but since buying the property all the other things in life have had to come first, you know the basic's truck for me , truck for her, house, marriage and then the KID!! well finally I am getting to rehabing my property. I started with a small cabin wich will be finished next weekend.
My property is located in the middle of about 800 acres of logging forest, so I have many logging roads to ride and access different area's. The roads were all made curtesy of the logging company, but since most of their contracts have all run up, and nobody in the area has renewed they are gone and it is up to the property owners to maintain the roads. Infact the only way to access my cabin is by logging road.

So with that being said, I am looking for advice/plans for atv and or truck towable graders something I can build, also any tips on how to cheaply maintain a good solid infrustructor would be awesome.

thank you,
arctic hunter

 

Maintaining lots of road is a big job if you want to maintain it to a level that allows vehicular access. A utility tractor with a front end loader and a grader blade or box blade would probably be my choice. You can use this to smooth the surface, fill in washouts and spread gravel. As a side note, when constructing or rebuilding gravel or rock roads consider investing in geotextile to line the roadbed. It will save you a fortune in rock over the years and pay for itself in short order.

If you're stuck using an ATV there are a couple of options. Of course an ATV blade does a passable job pushing gravel around and smoothing it. Not even close to what you can do with a tractor but if you're patient you can spread gravel with a good ATV plow blade. A heavy drag of some sort can help to maintain the road. Even a large smooth log chained behind the atv can help. A heavy framework of angle iron weighted with concrete can also be constructed. There are a few pre-bult driveway maintenance contraptions around.

Swisher makes a landscape drag:
http://www.northerntool.com/we...0_200356525_200356525


Agrifab makes a variety of blades and implements that can be used.

DR makes a power grader that a couple people I've talked to swear by. They say it really works well. It's expensive though.

http://www.drpower.com/TwoStep...2Step&SiteEntryMode=0


If you are handy with a welder you could probably copy and build something nearly identical to the DR for a quarter of the price depending on how much steel is going for at your local supplier. Last time I went to buy metal I about had a heart attack. it's way up.

Oh and if you check with your state DNR or agriculture extension they may have some good pamphlets and books about correctly building and maintaining a road.

 

Get your self a real tractor with a bucket and a backhoe if you can swing it. They are useful in pulling stumps, moving material, leveling out etc. A blade would be nice too. the good thing is these are not extremely expensive on the used market, and in today's economy, you can find them pretty cheap as landscapers are going out of business in droves. Usually, you can find attachments pretty cheap too. Get a diesel.. Kubota, New Holland or a John Deere. Pretty much all teh attachements are interchangeble on most models.

Here is another link to a company with a tow behind grader.. http://www.remorques-jms.qc.ca/en/accessoires.html They are out of Canada...

I will do some digging for you. I had a bunch of these links somewhere but can't seem to find them tonight. There is a lot of stuff out there. I also recommend a sturdy trailer like the one that nichols sells.

That DR model is the bomb. I have borrowed one before and they flat work.

 

OK, you asked for it....
Start here... this is a link to maint equipment suppliers, but look around on this website. everything you ever wanted to know about building trails for just about any type of activity. They do not exactly aim at ATV trails or roads per se, but the techniques definately will carry over. Enjoy

http://www.imba.com/resources/...lding/tool_guide.html

http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/

http://www.trailbuilders.org/resources/books1.html

http://www.trailbuilders.org/suppliers.html <--------------My favorite one....
http://www.trailbuilders.org/trail_tailor.html <--------------- good one too

 

Thank you DB the info will come in handy, appreciate it.

 

My buddies in Lake Ontario area of New York has about 200 acres They maintain trails by ATVs with snow plows and behind plow attachments. Really, if this will be private land with private trails they don't have to be pretty. Chainsaws and some big quads can remove stumps and roots... it jsut takes time.

We ride on some land in the southern tier as well. Keep us posted and I will be there!

 

ok will do! I'm figuring that the swisher items I have with the new york rake will do the trick!

Keep ya posted!

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Dragginbutt

OK, you asked for it....

Start here... this is a link to maint equipment suppliers, but look around on this website. everything you ever wanted to know about building trails for just about any type of activity. They do not exactly aim at ATV trails or roads per se, but the techniques definately will carry over. Enjoy


<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/tool_guide.html
">http://www.imba.com/resources/...tool_guide.html
</a>
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/
">http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/
</a>
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.trailbuilders.org/resources/books1.html
">http://www.trailbuilders.org/r...ces/books1.html
</a>
http://www.trailbuilders.org/suppliers.html &lt;--------------My favorite one....

http://www.trailbuilders.org/trail_tailor.html &lt;--------------- good one too</end quote></div>









Some good info here...

 

ARCTIC HUNTER
I have land in the Southern Tier, in a little town called Richford. There is 170 acres behind me owned by Gutchess Lumber Co. that they lease to hunters. There is also another 1000 acres of private land that joins me and Gutchess. Well I pretty much maintain these logging trails with a chain saw and a machete and alot of trail riding. I find if you don't ride the trails often the brush and thorn berries grow into the trail. What town are you in.

 

Hope you like it DeeDog. There is a lot of stuff there that everyone can use. Out here on the Right Coast, when you ride trails, you find they just nip the tree at the ground level and you have to get real creative trying to miss all the tire popping stems they leave behind. By the way, alhtough I am retired AF, I leve just south of Quantico, so I am quite familiar with the Devil Dogs.