First Day, New Boxblade, Broken

[RFB]

Bought it new and within one hour of use in soft damp medium rocky soil, the ripper opened up the square cross tube like a can opener.

The dealer I bought it from was very responsive and said the manufacturer was as well. They called me back within an hour of notification and said a new one will be made and shipped for exchange.

I explained my concerns regarding the inherent strength/engineering of the steel cross tube, and those concerns are being "addressed".

It is a Hawkline HD84

So far, the dealer and the company have been excellent in their customer service. I will follow up with end results.

[JB4310]

You should tell them to "address" the problem before they send you another, or you'll just be returning another one. Either that or you will have to beef it up yourself, and maybe get a refund.
what I would try is tell them I'll keep this and repair it for a substantial refund, it would save them shipping and replacing.

The steel that tore looks pretty heavy but does not return under the bottom edge enough, if at all. The box overall looks pretty decent.

A box blade is the type of implement that should take abuse, not something that you have to worry about and go gingerly with.
I rip large roots/rocks out from a running start, sometimes they come out the first time and sometimes they stop the tractor dead in its tracks, the box is only 5' pulled by just 32 HP, but it's probably 30 years old and still going. it had a couple of new rippers when I bought it used.
Good Luck, JB.

[Sackett2]

WOW, As my BB was externally cheap I will look at mine and possibly beef up that area

[allen in texas]

Man!!!! What an advertisement for their product.

I just bought a cammond and I've beat the crap out of it (as much as my baby 5740 can) and it's hanging tough.

BTW, my tractor's a 3240. I'm just waiting on it to grow up.

[joes_427_vette]

I like looking at construction and how thick the metal is beyond the pretty paint. I have a Woods 72". It is heavy and works great. Costs a bit more than the genarics but worth it.

[SnowRidge]

Good thing you didn't have those rippers all the way down. Might have done some real damage with a longer moment arm.

I would tell the dealer to take it back. Then I would buy something a lot more substantial. A lightweight BB isn't very useful anyway.

[jmc]

RFB,

I'm too lazy to walk out to the barn and check, but my recollection is that those rectangular holes generally have a reinforcing plate welded over them, that plate having its own rectangular hole. The reinforcing plate forms a collar that effectively thickens the metal around the hole. Yours doesn't appear to have any.

John

[studor]

I have a six foot Walco box blade that is almost identical to yours and has the same nice curl back at the center tooth
I figured I would take it to the weld shop and have a piece of angle welded behind the teeth from side to side
Nice to know I am not the only one it happened to

[JRobyn]

Exact same thing happened to mine, but it took hooking the ripper on a solid ridge of rock. My dealer welded a continuous piece of angle iron under the ripper mount tube to reinforce. Has worked fine since.

- Jay

[RFB]

Thanks gents for the replies.

I have thought about different ways to beef the cross tube, and every solution (except one) seems to still allow tearing away at wherever a weld-attachment is made. (just transferring stresses outward from the moment location but still to the same tube that tore).

A 5/8 bar of rolled (not cast) steel the size of the cross tube height, welded across the front and rear face of the tube seems the most robust, since it would attach at each side plate, along the top and bottom, and at existing gussets at the center of the tube.

What think thou?