Homemade Drag grader

This is the first test of my homemade drag grader. It's built from 3"x1.5" Channel Iron. It has 2 4' angled blades and a retractable Rake. the skids are 6' long. The tongue pins up to allow for towing over lawns or to and from the work site. I will be adding some baskets for additional weight on the front and middle of the drag. Over all it was a very successful test. Took about 20-30 minutes to grade approximately 1/8 of a mile and another 10-15 to recompact the road with the truck. I'm going to add an ajustment handle for the front screw jack that brings it out to the side of the drag making it easier to adjust the depth of the rake.

[@Bowtie41]

Nice.BTW,carry a cordless drill with a socket for the jack,you'll love it!

[@captainover-tighten6729]

I popped in to mention a cordless drill with a swivel head would make the lowering of your carbides much easier! EXCELLENT BUILD! Now, the compliments aside, you either raced home from church or work, with the family anxiously watching from your front yard, so excited to try out Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, you didn’t have time to get on your work duds! Man, your Mrs’ must love you!!! Argyle socks, dress shoes and pants! A true tinkerer. I salute you, sir! You should take Mom to the Olive Garden if you got those clothes dirty. Thanks for the great video and the chuckle. Much appreciated.

[@Fearlessfront]

Simple, yet effective, I like it!

[@loadi2]

what a nice tool..nicely built.love it .

[@WilliamBolger]

Nice one, it looks like it's doing a great job.

[@SouthParkCycle]

If you add a 55 gallon drum to the center or a little forward of the center you can fill it up with water to use for a weight. After you level the road you can use the water in the drum to knock down the dust and find soft spots that would settle after a rain.

[@oby-1607]

Seriously doubt that he could pull it if that much weight was added. At least for what he is pulling it with now. It works ok for the gravel he is working on.

[@johndowe7003]

@@oby-1607 55 gallons of water is around 440 lbs, im guessing he could pull half that comfortably with little strain

[@flightographist]

@@johndowe7003 with tines in the ground? not if it was my machine, you need a purpose built mover for ground contact and that type of weight.

[@johndowe7003]

@@flightographist yeah that atv doesnt have enough tractive force

[@morganbeasley]

@@flightographist I pull a larger drag, less effective than this, that's why i'm here is looking for more ideas. With a several hundred pound weight on it my 350 cc rancher will pull it with ease. I try to do it on cool days and rest the machine often. Maintaining plenty of speed it key since it doesnt have the weight or torque of a real machine.

[@snocrushr]

I came across your video on the welding forum (didn't bother posting there cause you have to become a member) Anyway congrats on your successful drag grader. What I couldn't believe was all the naysayers that said the ONLY way to level your lane was with a D9 Cat with rippers. I'm glad you persevered and built your grader the way you thought best. Yes it could probably use some refinements and so could mine but it's extremely effective for the price. By the way my drive was very hard packed.

[@bizob211]

Hell yea. Great diy build to save and get awesome results 🔥

[@rossfricke2010]

hell ya, love the adjustable screw jack

[@360banane]

Great grader boy 👍😃

[@rongray4118]

Down and dirty and it works!! Good Stuff!

[@roncoleman6693]

Nice DIY! I agree, carry cordless drill and socket.

[@chriswolfman97]

I have that same Helmet Lol, Nice Grader

[@razortractor4009]

it works good looks like to me I'm building one myself nice job.

[@thenowegian1]

Thank you for the comments. Glad you like the build. I now use weights on the front and a ratchet to lift and lower the rake. The weights helped a lot. Now all I need is an atv with low great and I'm set.

[@jgadventures6409]

thenowegian1 dang 2013 how’s it holding up you make any mods or improvements

[@Police19005]

You still have that?

[@SouthParkCycle]

I made one similar to this I use for heading my driveway and I drag it around the perimeter of my property so I can see where hogs come into my field from.

[@user-hb8be5wb4q]

Great idea, but I’d invest in a ratchet to make those adjustments. Still searching for one to do my high turning driveway.

[@TheTorkerman]

Hi, great tool!! I have some questions if you don't mind. Do the angled blades make it slew to one side or does it still track straight? Also have you updated this with extra weight as yet? All these years later, how is it holding up? Many thanks, from Australia

[@andysummers1033]

You can see in the video it does slew to the side. I no longer live on the property, but my ex father in law uses it still. I changed out the front rake to a solid system and added weight. the only issues were pour welds. a combination of not taking time to prep the weld areas good enough, and having to use my stick welder over my mig which I'm much more comfortable/competent/practiced with.

[@covid8317]

Badass!

[@darylarthur4305]

Nice idea with the jack. I'm gonna use that

[@slipperyjohnson7016]

I was looking for ideas on how people were making these and this doesn't look too bad, but you should have turned the scissor jack so you could use the handle easier. It would do the same job, you made it harder on yourself

[@buckwise1583]

Works good... I bet your neighbors could kick your butt for getting loose gravel in their yards to hit with the mowers.. LOL

[@MrAdrianojujuba]

nice

[@SpaceSpots]

I like it; what is keeping front from digging in? It looks like the steel runners left and right are touching the ground? Is the blade at same level as side runners?

[@thenowegian1]

The side skids keep it from just trying to dig in. The front of the skis are angled up.

[@jgadventures6409]

Looks good maybe needs to be more heavy and turn your jack so you and adjust a little easier.

[@shawngilbert972]

Effective

[@user-rh9bq2lj1s]

Nice job. The dog tho! 😅

[@timsawyer7443]

Impressive! I have some ruts in my lawn (e.g., where tires drive over the same place, like in front of the mailbox), and I'd like to flatten that without tearing up the lawn too much. Would something like this work for that? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[@andysummers1033]

the only way you're going to not tear up your lawn is to add substrate to the area to prevent the rutting. This type of item would definitely tear up the lawn.

[@timsawyer7443]

@@andysummers1033 Good to know -- thanks for the tip.

[@timsawyer7443]

@@andysummers1033 thanks.

[@The1700Rider]

Nice job. What did you use for the teeth? They look like bolts.

[@thenowegian1]

3/4" rebar. That's why they are so short. Any longer and they would bend

[@jasonstevens5926]

I used old railroad spikes and the tips are already tapered - nice build.

[@cscooper2000]

where do you get something like this?

[@RangieNZ]

In your shed! :)

[@01mustang05]

If you lift it, you got to pack it, to make it stay flat. But you CAN"T rip up the loose dirt and rocks, level the loose material, and pack it down on the same platform BECAUSE ripping off hills to make loose material makes your whole rig Bounce. Ripping off the washboard hills or high rocks must be separate from leveling and packing.

[@thenowegian1]

The entire road was repacked after grading. Took about thirty minutes to pack with my truck and trailer. Lots of backwards and forwards.

[@01mustang05]

thenowegian1 Right, OK, but Rig still Bounces so it still kind of leaves hills. & ya, It does a decent job but it can still be improved to make it a one pass, one shot deal; no? If we lift material up with something that still bounced (because we are dragging and not pushing like a dozer), then had a secondary drag rig to level material, then pack loose material with a roller(s) then no extra driving that will likely cause wash boarding because of suspension on vehicles. I was just trying to offer or inspire to improve on the idea and figure out a better total, one pass solution. High speed would be nice too but how to stop even more bouncing.

[@thenowegian1]

The longer it takes the less time my wife can dictate to other chores. Lol. You use what you have.

[@01mustang05]

thenowegian1 Ha, ya ok, I got an idea out of our conversation so glad we talked.

[@davidwerner9791]

Could I get instructions on how to build one

[@andysummers1033]

um.... Think a ladder with angled steps. It's a pretty simple build.

[@georgemcfly7358]

Why would u put the jack in sideways

[@andysummers1033]

Because thats the way the base and top fit best without having to add mounting plates.

[@georgemcfly7358]

I would use a ratchet wrench or something easier than that. But reat looks well built and it works great

[@aaroncook4121]

why have the jack that way? turn it 90! That thing leaves wash boards.

[@andysummers1033]

absolutely 0 wash-boarding, between the teeth and the blades it leaves a very level surface. I did compact the road after use as well. As for the Jack, it allowed for great weld length where the jack connected to the arm and upper support. with that said, this was modified to remove the adjustable rake and went to a fixed rake and a lot more weight above said rake to get better surface penetration on compacted surfaced.

[@andysummers1033]

it didn't leave any washboarding. the channels cut by the rake part were in line with the direction of travel and the bars behind the rake leveled everything out nicely.

[@angryadrien]

at the beginning, i estimated the frame to be about 20 feet long and very heavy-duty...then buddy gets off the quad and adjusts the teeth...either he is 30 feet tall, or its a smaller frame than i thought :)

[@keithhasafastcar]

read the description

[@angryadrien]

yes, i realized that afterwards.

[@thenowegian1]

To my kids I'm 30'tall. To everyone else I'm just tall. 6'5"

[@dynocompe]

she doesnt do much in the hard packed

[@dunderland241]

Looks like you need some weight on that thing

[@Ritzsmokes]

Yeah if he put 4x 25 pound weights on the frame, he could stil remove the weights if he needed to, but it would tear into the ground more, isnt that what this thning is suppost to do anyway tear up the ground?

[@thenowegian1]

I added two sections of rail road track. They helped a lot.

[@rickeydesormeaux8378]

wtf is on your head dude that must be a pretty sight

[@johnnyappleseed738]

why the helmet...you racing

[@csmith6237]

Probably a local sheriff looking to give him a ticket since its a roadway

[@andysummers1033]

No, I'm setting an example for the children you see watching me do the work.

[@NovyDaly]

you should go a bit slower it gos better

[@stinky986]

waaaay to fast, I think as light as it is fewer teeth would have also been better

[@thenowegian1]

The vibration from the mount makes it seem like it's going faster than it actually is. I wasn't going more than 6-8 mph. not very fast at all.

[@petersab8771]

If you slowed down your speed a bit, it would be more effective. Over a certain speed. it just bounces all over the place. If you watch actual graders working, they go SLOW

[@thenowegian1]

The speed is dictated by the atv. It only has 1 gear. High.

[@stevecieply9630]

why the hell does it sound like you are dragging a cat

[@thenowegian1]

Metal on rocks?

[@stevecieply9630]

Do you have plans

[@thenowegian1]

Steve Cieply nope, it was built off the cuff. It's approximately 6' long and 4' wide.

[@cansno100]

Driving too fast. Material is bouncing around instead of flowing. 10 kms hr would be a lot better.

[@andysummers1033]

that ATV would have bogged down if I'd been going much slower. it's very light weight considering the task it was being asked to do.

[@cscooper2000]

where do you get something like this?

[@andysummers1033]

You build it yourself. there are some available retail. DR has an option, and there are others.

[@andysummers1033]

Designed and built by me from scrap C channel.