Box Scraper Box Blade Operation

[agford4x4]

Ive never used a box blade before. My manual says for leveling, to shorten the top length to the rear blade clears the ground.

Am i to understand that the blade side plates DRAG on teh ground or do you adjust your 3 point to where that doesnt happen? If so, whats the point of shortening the top link when i can just raise the three point to keep the cutting edge from touching it?

 

[wushaw]

A BB is like welding, practice, practice, practice.
They take alot of practice to get what you want....but after you get it figured out it is a very usefull tool.

It's really difficult to tell you what you need to do that's why you have to just get out there and play with it yourself.

Oh yea having hydraulic tilt is the cats meow for adjustment on the fly.

 

[agford4x4]

My question is, is is standard practice to adjust it such that the end plates are dragging on the ground or is the weight of the blade supposed to be supported totally by the tractor?

 

[StrangeRanger]

Yes, the sides are on the ground. You want the weight of the box working for you.
You probably don't actually want the blade off the ground when shortening the top link. When you shorten the top link you're decreasing the blades angle of attack. They say to do that for leveling so that as you go along the blade is catching your high spots and chopping them down.
As wushaw said, BB's definitely have a learning curve. And they also take multiple passes. But once you figure it out they work pretty darn good.

 

[agford4x4]

OK, i see. So, you make your adjustment, and then drop the 3 point as low as it will go and start working. I have plenty of area to 'screw up' while learning, so i can't wait for this weekend!

 

[3RRL]

You got the answer already, but I thought it might help why to shorten or lengthen the top link.
I gather from your 1st post your boxblade has a front and rear blade. So shortening the top link will let that front blade do the cutting and it also raises the rear blade off the ground because of the forward tilt. As StrangeRanger said, the sided sill touch the ground as you lower the boxblade with the 3pt, but it is now tilted forward. If your ground is pretty soft, you can control the depth of cut with your 3pt position control. If it is real hard, you could probably let the 3pt all the way down and the boxblade will cut off some "humps" and may ride over the rest of the area. You might even want to lower the scarifiers to dig more and loosen up the soil so you can drag it off.

By extending the top link out, you can get the rear blade to hit the ground first. That will let you drag the boxblade and smooth the dirt without cutting too much or none at all. Just depends how much you tilt it back. You do the same thing ... lower it with the 3 pt to smooth in that setting.
If your interested in some boxblade uses, go here: Various Box Blade Uses
It is a thread showing several ways to use a boxblade, other than just dragging dirt.

 

[agford4x4]

This blade is hinged...if that makes any difference. Thanks for the link and pics!

One thing i don't understand is the SHORTENING to make the blade DIG better. The short i go, the higher the blade gets from the ground, so it seems if i wanted it to DIG, i would actually lengthen it, which is exactly what the manual says. However, several posts i have read seem to have it 'backwards'. Thats very confusing.

 

[john_bud]

This blade is hinged...if that makes any difference. Thanks for the link and pics!

One thing i don't understand is the SHORTENING to make the blade DIG better. The short i go, the higher the blade gets from the ground, so it seems if i wanted it to DIG, i would actually lengthen it, which is exactly what the manual says. However, several posts i have read seem to have it 'backwards'. Thats very confusing.

Ok, either print this off and look at the implement on the tractor imagine it.

There are 2 blades on the box. )( -> the arrow is the tractor direction.

The rear blade is apparently hinged (that's good). it faces backwards and is used when backing up. The adjustment for going backward is way different than for forward by the way.


The other blade is facing forward ( -> . you tilt the box so the rear blade is holding less of the box weight. Another way of saying that is that as you tilt the box forward, the front blade holds more of the box weight, so it diggs better. The sides of the box, being thin will cut into the ground, so you don't have to worry about that much.

If you can bolt the rear blade down, for smoothing you tilt the box the other way so the front blade is off the ground and the rear blade has all the weight.

For going backwards and digging with the rear blade, you level the box out. Dead level to back low 1" is pretty good. If you get more aggressive with the angle of attack (tilt), you will stab the ground and gouge it.


Do all your set ups with the tractor on known dead flat and level ground. Garage, driveway etc. Use a level. Measure the top link and the adjustable side link lengths so you can quickly restore level no matter if you are on a side hill or flat ground.

 

[wushaw]

This blade is hinged...if that makes any difference. Thanks for the link and pics!

One thing i don't understand is the SHORTENING to make the blade DIG better. The short i go, the higher the blade gets from the ground, so it seems if i wanted it to DIG, i would actually lengthen it, which is exactly what the manual says. However, several posts i have read seem to have it 'backwards'. Thats very confusing.

A manual??? I have purchased three box blades over several years and none of them came with manuals, I always figured it was learn by trial and error.

 

[Phineas7]

john_bud, I'm confused: If the rear blade is hinged, how can it hold the weight of the BB? Won't it just fold out of the way and rest on the front?

After reading agford4x4's comment about the manual, my question is: Do hinged and non-hinged work oppositely?

Mine in not hinged. If I lenghen the top link it digs less. It works well for smoothing high spots. If level or near level it shaves off a layer. If I shorten it, it digs.