A land plane does one thing really well: turns a rough, washboarded surface into something smooth. Not dramatic earthmoving — that's your bucket's job. But once the heavy work is done, a land plane finishes the job faster than anything else you'll put on a skid steer.
The concept is simple. A land plane is a long, flat blade assembly — typically 6 to 10 feet wide — with a cutting edge at the front and a flat rear section that drags behind it. As you drive forward, the cutting edge shaves high spots and the material flows back under the rear pan, filling the low spots behind it. One pass levels. A second pass smooths.
That rear-filling action is what separates a land plane from a dozer blade. A dozer blade pushes material in front of it. A land plane cuts and redistributes in the same motion. For gravel driveways and dirt road maintenance, that's a significant practical difference — you're not piling gravel at one end and leaving a rut at the other.
They also work in reverse. Drive forward to cut, reverse to smooth. Some operators prefer doing the whole job in one direction depending on the surface condition.
This comparison comes up constantly in r/Skidsteer and r/tractors threads. Here's the honest breakdown:
| Tool | Best For | Weakness | Typical CAD Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Land plane | Driveway maintenance, finish grading, gravel roads, seed prep | Can't move large volumes of material; floats over hardpack if no rippers | $2,000–$5,500 |
| Box blade | Moving significant material, filling/cutting, tight spaces | Slower for long-run driveway grading; not a finish tool | $1,800–$4,500 |
| Dozer blade (6-way) | Pushing material, road building, wide area clearing | Leaves windrows; no rear-filling; steep learning curve for grading | $3,500–$8,000+ |
| GP bucket (backdragging) | Quick rough grading when you don't have a grading attachment | Slow, imprecise, tears up loose material, no redistribution | Already own it |
The forum consensus, and it's consistent: if your primary job is maintaining a gravel driveway or rural road on a schedule — doing it every few weeks or months — a land plane is the right tool. If you're doing one-time road building, shaping swales, or moving significant volumes of material, you want a box blade or dozer blade first, land plane second.
Hard, dry, sun-baked subgrade in August? A basic land plane will bounce right over it. Same problem with compacted gravel roads that have seen years of traffic — the cutting edge skims the surface and does nothing. This is the specific complaint you see from operators in Colorado, Alberta, and Saskatchewan who run on clay or compacted sub-base: the tool that works great in spring mud doesn't do much in late-summer hardpack.
The fix is rippers (scarifier teeth). More on those in the next section.
Many land planes are available in two configurations: plain blade, and blade-with-rippers. The ripper teeth (usually 4–8 carbide-tipped teeth) mount just ahead of the front cutting edge. They penetrate the hardpack before the blade comes through, loosening material so the blade can actually move it.
The trade-off is operational. With rippers deployed, you're no longer doing a smooth finish pass — you're doing a break-up-and-level pass. Many operators use a two-step approach: rippers down on the first pass to loosen the surface, then rippers retracted (or swung up) for the finish grading pass. Some land planes have hydraulic rippers you can engage from the cab; others require you to get out and manually adjust.
MK Martin, based in Ontario, makes a hydraulic scarifier land plane specifically for skid steers — it's manufactured in Canada and available through GLC Equipment and other Ontario dealers. TMG Industrial (with warehouses across Canada) sells the TMG-SLP72, a 72-inch unit with 6 adjustable pin-locked ripper teeth and a reversible planer comb. Both are worth considering for Canadian buyers who want domestic sourcing or faster parts access.
Most skid steer land planes run 60 to 84 inches wide. The sweet spot for a mid-size skid steer (S570, T595, 330G range) is 72 inches. Match the attachment width to your machine's width — going wider than the machine's footprint causes the blade to reach outside your track marks, which creates problems on cambers and turns.
Weight matters for grading quality. A heavier land plane holds the cutting edge down and resists bouncing. Units in the 500–900 lb range are common. The TMG-SLP72 comes in around 530 lbs; heavier commercial units like the KAGE GreatER Bar push 800+ lbs. On soft gravel, weight isn't critical. On firmer surfaces, a heavier blade cuts more consistently.
| Machine Class | Recommended Width | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Compact (S550, T450) | 60–66" | Keep attachment within track width |
| Mid-size (S570, T595, 330G) | 72" | Most common; good balance of coverage and control |
| Full-size (S750, T770, CTL) | 78–84" | Faster passes; need stable platform for consistent grading |
A basic land plane (no hydraulic rippers, no angle) is entirely passive — no auxiliary hydraulics required at all. The machine just pushes it. This is one of the land plane's genuine advantages: you can run it on virtually any skid steer with a standard quick attach, even older machines with no auxiliary circuits.
Add hydraulic rippers or a powered angle mechanism and you'll need auxiliary hydraulics. Standard flow (15–22 GPM) is sufficient for either function — this isn't a high-flow attachment. Most mid-1990s-and-newer skid steers have standard auxiliary, so compatibility is rarely a barrier.
Where this attachment earns its keep in Canada:
New land planes are relatively simple mechanically — there's not much to go wrong. On a used unit, look at:
A few Canadian-specific sources worth knowing:
Basic 72-inch land planes, new: $2,000–$3,500 for import units (TMG and similar). Canadian-made units with hydraulic rippers run $4,500–$6,500+. Used basic units in decent condition typically go $800–$2,000 depending on width and condition. A used land plane in good shape is a low-risk buy — there's very little to fail on a simple blade assembly.
Looking for specific models available in Canada? Browse the skid steer land plane catalog for verified product pages on real models sold through Canadian dealers.