Posted: 8/24/2025 11:18:09 AM EDT
[Last Edit: shaggy][Edited]
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Here's my problem/intended use: my driveway is about 1/3 mile long and gravel. Its mostly on a slope, hitting a 30% grade in parts. Obviously this setup leads to washout and bad ruts when you get stupid amounts of rain. Normally I'm able to keep up with it by having a yard or two of 2A modified delivered to a specific problem area and then getting busy with a rake and a shovel. This year its just gotten completely away from me due to all the rain we've gotten. And I'm getting too old for that shit. Paving is out of the question due to cost, but I'm thinking a tractor with a front end loader and a grading blade might do the trick. What would be the minimum HP recommended for something like this? What to look for in a used machine (age/hours, potential problem areas to look for)? Assume I know about as much about engines and hydraulics as a Golden Retriever. |
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I'd look at 25hp minimum & 4x4. I have a l3400dt, 35hp h/l 4spd trans (8fw, 1rev), 4x4 & fel. I grade my 125yrd driveway & approx 1/2 mile of gravel road with a 5' boxblade, takes a bit if I let ruts get bad, but it gets the job done. When I bought this tractor, I'd went to buy a 45hp tractor, but the dealership made a hell of an package offer on the 35hp tractor, fel, 5' boxblade, 5' brushhog, 3pt auger & 18' trailer I wouldn't pass up. You keep the ruts managable with the boxblade, you can use a road plainer to make the gravel smooth & pretty. |
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Deere 4000 series. Pre emissions, built like tanks. Fairly inexpensive. Here’s a couple of mine. Little 4100 (20 hp) and 4300 (32hp) Attached File |
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Attached File My driveway is about that long, pretty steep, and I’m kinda partial to Deere 1050’s from the 1980’s. 37 HP, but they punch above that, they pull a heavy 7’ disc no problem. 7 foot box blade and 8 foot landscape rake keep the driveway looking nice. |
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I had my eye on a Kubota but it sold, so I picked up this Yanmar 186D, it's a diesel 4wd hydrostatic transmission. My place is only 5 acres, and the road is 1/2 mile. With the Rhino back blade, 48" tiller, 4' brush hog it does everything that I need. Attached File |
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My wife and I did our tractor research a while back. We needed something in the 45hp range, capable of a 2K# lift, no DEF, no computer. We found a used Kioti DS4510 with a backhoe with 161 hours for $17.5K local. Have a solid dealer nearby who has been great so far at answering our questions and walking us through some basics. It's done everything we've needed it to so far. Probably picking up a land plane next for our driveway work, (fortunately flat and level). Semper Fi |
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Know your lifting # requirements will determine how big you need to go. I only* have a 25hp Kubota B series, but I can move a lot of stone and dirt pretty quickly with the loader. Max lifting is rated around 900lbs, but with a 54" bucket I rarely get close to my max lift with dirt and stone. Granted, I bought new because I couldn't find any decent deals on used tractors that weren't thrashed out, and I have a really good local dealer that was offering 0% financing on new. Plus my plan is to have this tractor for the rest of my life, so I bought the biggest I could afford that could still fit in my garage. Depending on your location you might be able to find some good deals, especially with Summer season ending and people wanting to unload used equipment. Check out Tractorhouse for listings I get a lot of work done with this compact tractor. I love my box blade, it's been very useful. 
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Originally Posted By shaggy: Here's my problem/intended use: my driveway is about 1/3 mile long and gravel. Its mostly on a slope, hitting a 30% grade in parts. Obviously this setup leads to washout and bad ruts when you get stupid amounts of rain. Normally I'm able to keep up with it by having a yard or two of 2A modified delivered to a specific problem area and then getting busy with a rake and a shovel. This year its just gotten completely away from me due to all the rain we've gotten. And I'm getting too old for that shit. Paving is out of the question due to cost, but I'm thinking a tractor with a front end loader and a grading blade might do the trick. What would be the minimum HP recommended for something like this? What to look for in a used machine (age/hours, potential problem areas to look for)? Assume I know about as much about engines and hydraulics as a Golden Retriever. Something to be mindful of - tractors can get tippy with a load in the bucket on steep grades, especially if they're tall. I have a few pretty steep hills and I have to be careful with how I maneuver, even though my center of gravity is fairly low on my Kubota. I'd recommend getting the rear tires filled with liquid ballast with a heavy 3 point attachment for weight since you plan on doing loader work on a grade. |
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What would be the minimum HP recommended for something like this? There are plenty of folks that grade driveways with 25 HP tractors. Getting closer to 50 HP is not necessary, but will generally give you a heavier machine with more pushing, pulling and lifting power, which will save time. My 4x4 55 HP tractor is not necessary for grading my drive, but I'm glad I have it, and it does a great job. The small 25 HP machines are much more handy for little chores in the yard, for whatever that is worth. You don't have to have 4x4 to grade a driveway, but it is nice. Without 4x4, a 25 HP tractor with a FEL is going to get pretty sketchy. What to look for in a used machine (age/hours, potential problem areas to look for)? I'd prefer low hours over low age. When I purchased my last tractor, clean used tractors were close enough to the cost of new, that with the 0% financing, I convinced myself to just go new. If I could have found a 10 year old machine with less than 1,000 hours at 60% the cost, I would have had to think pretty hard, but at that time, the used market was a fair amount more inflated than that. On a tight budget, a 40 HP 2WD machine can normally be had fairly cheap. If you're not mechanically inclined, I'd be looking at a brand with a dealer close to you. Preferably, you would know know some folks that use and like that dealer. |
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Originally Posted By Buckshot4U: What would be the minimum HP recommended for something like this? There are plenty of folks that grade driveways with 25 HP tractors. Getting closer to 50 HP is not necessary, but will generally give you a heavier machine with more pushing, pulling and lifting power, which will save time. My 4x4 55 HP tractor is not necessary for grading my drive, but I'm glad I have it, and it does a great job. The small 25 HP machines are much more handy for little chores in the yard, for whatever that is worth. You don't have to have 4x4 to grade a driveway, but it is nice. Without 4x4, a 25 HP tractor with a FEL is going to get pretty sketchy. What to look for in a used machine (age/hours, potential problem areas to look for)? I'd prefer low hours over low age. When I purchased my last tractor, clean used tractors were close enough to the cost of new, that with the 0% financing, I convinced myself to just go new. If I could have found a 10 year old machine with less than 1,000 hours at 60% the cost, I would have had to think pretty hard, but at that time, the used market was a fair amount more inflated than that. On a tight budget, a 40 HP 2WD machine can normally be had fairly cheap. If you're not mechanically inclined, I'd be looking at a brand with a dealer close to you. Preferably, you would know know some folks that use and like that dealer. Agreed on HP/size - the more you have, the faster you can get work done. I'm perfectly happy with my 25hp, but I do generally need to run in 4WD/Low range when I'm doing work with the loader and box blade. I also have some tight spots to maneuver, so a bigger L series probably would've been overkill for my 2.25 acres. No regrets on going new because I knew I wasn't getting rid of the machine or needing to upgrade in the future. Comparable B series Kubotas with several hundred hours and looked like they were stored outside were going for $20-24k. I got mine for $26k brand new, with a warranty, a great dealer 15 minutes down the road, and 0% financed. It just made the most sense for my situation. |
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I found a used Kubota B8200 locally which is about 19HP - going to try and get a look at next weekend. They're an older machine, but I did a little reading on those and from what I saw they get pretty good reviews. No planer or boxblade included, but with something that small I'd assume it would be pretty useless anyway. The main problem is the deep ruts created by rainwater rushing downhill. I think I can accomplish most of what I need by dumping a bucket of gravel and doing a little backblading with the bucket. The JDs in this thread look fantastic, but probably well beyond what I want to spend. I live on a hillside and the driveway is really the only thing it could be used for, so at a certain price point I may as well just bite the bullet, get the damned thing paved, and not have to waste my time filling in ruts whenever we have a gulleywasher. I figure 19HP may be a little underpowered, but if I take it easy, be careful not to overload the thing, and just accept the fact that its just going to take a lot more small loads and more time to accomplish the job than a larger machine maybe it'd be ok? Keep in mind I've been doing this by myself with a shovel for the last 6 years, so it really wouldn't take much power to impress the absolute fuck out of me.  Love to hear all your thought on that approach. Also, is there an AR15.com of the tractor world? Where do you guys go to look for equipment online? |
"Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." - Ronald Reagan
"Everything I want to do is illegal." - Joel Salatin
"Everything I want to do is illegal." - Joel Salatin
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Originally Posted By shaggy: I found a used Kubota B8200 locally which is about 19HP - going to try and get a look at next weekend. They're an older machine, but I did a little reading on those and from what I saw they get pretty good reviews. No planer or boxblade included, but with something that small I'd assume it would be pretty useless anyway. The main problem is the deep ruts created by rainwater rushing downhill. I think I can accomplish most of what I need by dumping a bucket of gravel and doing a little backblading with the bucket. The JDs in this thread look fantastic, but probably well beyond what I want to spend. I live on a hillside and the driveway is really the only thing it could be used for, so at a certain price point I may as well just bite the bullet, get the damned thing paved, and not have to waste my time filling in ruts whenever we have a gulleywasher. I figure 19HP may be a little underpowered, but if I take it easy, be careful not to overload the thing, and just accept the fact that its just going to take a lot more small loads and more time to accomplish the job than a larger machine maybe it'd be ok? Keep in mind I've been doing this by myself with a shovel for the last 6 years, so it really wouldn't take much power to impress the absolute fuck out of me. Love to hear all your thought on that approach. Also, is there an AR15.com of the tractor world? Where do you guys go to look for equipment online? An 8200 on steep ground with a bucket is going to be dangerous as fuck. That tractor weighs 1500 pounds and its narrow. I worked at a Kubota dealer in high-school and saw them come in after people rolled them. Just don't. Hire someone to come in and re grade the road so that it has proper drainage and doesn't wash off the aggregate and put ditches in where needed. |
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Originally Posted By OregonShooter: An 8200 on steep ground with a bucket is going to be dangerous as fuck. That tractor weighs 1500 pounds and its narrow. I worked at a Kubota dealer in high-school and saw them come in after people rolled them. Just don't. Hire someone to come in and re grade the road so that it has proper drainage and doesn't wash off the aggregate and put ditches in where needed. Originally Posted By OregonShooter: Originally Posted By shaggy: I found a used Kubota B8200 locally which is about 19HP - going to try and get a look at next weekend. They're an older machine, but I did a little reading on those and from what I saw they get pretty good reviews. No planer or boxblade included, but with something that small I'd assume it would be pretty useless anyway. The main problem is the deep ruts created by rainwater rushing downhill. I think I can accomplish most of what I need by dumping a bucket of gravel and doing a little backblading with the bucket. The JDs in this thread look fantastic, but probably well beyond what I want to spend. I live on a hillside and the driveway is really the only thing it could be used for, so at a certain price point I may as well just bite the bullet, get the damned thing paved, and not have to waste my time filling in ruts whenever we have a gulleywasher. I figure 19HP may be a little underpowered, but if I take it easy, be careful not to overload the thing, and just accept the fact that its just going to take a lot more small loads and more time to accomplish the job than a larger machine maybe it'd be ok? Keep in mind I've been doing this by myself with a shovel for the last 6 years, so it really wouldn't take much power to impress the absolute fuck out of me. Love to hear all your thought on that approach. Also, is there an AR15.com of the tractor world? Where do you guys go to look for equipment online? An 8200 on steep ground with a bucket is going to be dangerous as fuck. That tractor weighs 1500 pounds and its narrow. I worked at a Kubota dealer in high-school and saw them come in after people rolled them. Just don't. Hire someone to come in and re grade the road so that it has proper drainage and doesn't wash off the aggregate and put ditches in where needed. Yeah, it might be worth hiring this job out. At a minimum, you're going to need rear ballast weight to keep that thing safe with stones in the bucket. My dad has a Case DX24 that's comparable to my Kubota and parts of his driveway are as steep as 30 degrees, and it's paved. My brother was doing some work with it last summer and drove down with a full bucket load of stones and we heard the tires chirping all the way down because he couldn't stop
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My main concern for a tractor was if it could pick up a round bale off the trailer and run a shredder. I do very little earth moving unless you count cubic yards of horse crap. The driveways are rock and caliche, they never rut out. Look on FB for implements. My shredder, post auger, box blade and pallet fork all came off of Marketplace. The forks for example were $60. The auger was only twice that. |
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Regarding the rollover potential... Just so we're all on the same page here, I'm dealing with a driveway that is on an average 30% slope (about a 17 degree angle), not a 30 degree angle (a 58% slope). Its steep, but not THAT steep. I already have a small John Deere D140 which I use for mowing the lawn and carting other equipment and crap around the property, so I've had some experience dealing with that little thing on the hills around here. I've learned to avoid lateral movement across a slope like the plague, which is what I would assume causes most rollovers. |
"Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." - Ronald Reagan
"Everything I want to do is illegal." - Joel Salatin
"Everything I want to do is illegal." - Joel Salatin
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i know nothing now that we got that out of the way id try to stay at or above 30 horse and 2014 or older of any of the major brands if you look you should be able to find one less then 14k by the way 20 horse is lawnmower territory im not saying they dont have their place but a loader and box blade will definitely tax those |
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A B8200 with ag tires and 4x4 would beat a shovel, but it's pretty small. It could probably back drag small amounts of very loose gravel in small bites, but I don't think it will have enough weight to do much more than that. I'd guess same story with a properly sized (4'?) blade (whether it be grader or box). The ass end will get really light with much rock in the bucket. It would beat a shovel. It would be a really handy machine around the yard (which you've kinda said you don't need). One other observation: my definition of fixing washouts would include trying to rip up the edge of the washout, then fill the rut back in and try to compact in lifts. The B8200 probably doesn't have enough ass to rip anything but very soft material. In my earlier post I said that 4x4 is not a must, but it's really handy. That comment was intended for a bigger, heavier tractor (30+ HP). If the B8200 you are looking for is not 4x4, everything above is pretty well moot, it's not gonna work. All that said, folks with a shitload of time, patience and skill can get a lot done with a machine that has 16 PTO HP (assuming it's gear driven - 14.5 if it's a hydro transmission). They just have to spend a shitload of time doing it. |
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I had a 1/4 mile long drive and with a Kubota L2501 and one of these I took care of the drive without ever having to add gravel (driveway grader) SO much better Than a box blade Attached File probably better off financing a new tractor mine was like $17k a few years ago and now used ones are $20k and new ones are $25K all the good brands offer zero % often and you don't get someone's maintenance neglect |
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Yea but you get all the bullshit electronics and emissions with a new one too, and no access to service info to diagnose and/or repair at home. I can repair anything on my 2001 Mahindra 4110 at home, even using the crappy Mahindra service manual. I've owned it since new and will be hitting 3300 hrs real soon and still starts & runs and is a veritable bulldozer in the field, woods or creeks. Weight on a tractor is what you seek, not necessarily HP unless you plan to use PTO implements the most. My 40 HP will get the job done and my Mahindra weighs a lot more than the equivalent Kubota in 40 HP range. |
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Originally Posted By 22skip: Yea but you get all the bullshit electronics and emissions with a new one too, and no access to service info to diagnose and/or repair at home. I can repair anything on my 2001 Mahindra 4110 at home, even using the crappy Mahindra service manual. I've owned it since new and will be hitting 3300 hrs real soon and still starts & runs and is a veritable bulldozer in the field, woods or creeks. Weight on a tractor is what you seek, not necessarily HP unless you plan to use PTO implements the most. My 40 HP will get the job done and my Mahindra weighs a lot more than the equivalent Kubota in 40 HP range. I got my Kubota B series this year (25hp/emissions exempt) and the electronics don't seem overly complicated on any part of the tractor. In fact, the entire dash is analog, which was actually a selling point for me. I'm by no means a diesel mechanic, but I'm pretty confident I could repair a decent amount of problems and I'll at least be able to handle maintenance myself. I guess I could see bigger machines being more complicated, although that's probably more because of emissions? |