Box Scraper vs. Land Plane/Grader Scraper

[EquineNetworkCO]

Howdy folks,
I have a large dirt parking lot and 3/4 mile of dirt road to maintain. Not to mention horse paddocks, etc to keep clean. In terms of total time, I probably have a little more road/parking lot related chores, but it's really close to an even split. In the coming year, I'll probably have to renovate one or more large horse riding arenas (moving the existing footing, putting in a base, spreading/leveling it and then putting the footing back). I'm trying to decide between getting a box scraper (I like the looks of the Woods BSM72) or a land plane (something similar to a Landpride GS1572). In a perfect world, I'd get both, but I can only afford one for now. Any opinions or feedback would be appreciated. BTW, I have a 2008 JD 4520 w/CX 400 loader.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

If you can only afford one of them, then get the box blade. The box blade is more versatile than the grader blade. But for that much road, I would be getting a grader blade asap.

 

[Chris2]

I've used both, my friend has a land plane and I have the box blade I use his plane a lot. He does not own a tractor but will not sell the plane. For leveling and road maintenance the plane wins hand down, if you are trying to move piles like terracing or other jobs the box blade is better

 

[EquineNetworkCO]

Thanks for the feedback guys - I'm leaning more towards the plane - I'm not so much interested in landscaping/collecting/moving large piles of dirt so I think the box blade can wait till next year. I didn't mention it before, but I do have a small 5' box that is very light. It has never really worked too well for me. After reading some of the other threads, the Road Boss looks to be the ticket. Now its on to get info about dealers (or shipping cost to Colorado)!

 

[anojones]

I have both, and hardly use the boxblade anymore. The grader is used for leveling and to maintain the gravel drive. I never got the hang of grading with the boxblade and have a FEL to move materials. The only disadvantage to the grader for my uses, is it's much bigger, so I have to be careful moving around when using it as ballast for FEL work.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Thanks for the feedback guys - I'm leaning more towards the plane - I'm not so much interested in landscaping/collecting/moving large piles of dirt so I think the box blade can wait till next year. I didn't mention it before, but I do have a small 5' box that is very light. It has never really worked too well for me. After reading some of the other threads, the Road Boss looks to be the ticket. Now its on to get info about dealers (or shipping cost to Colorado)!

While the grader blade is very good for your drive and parking area, it will not be that good for your horse related chores. Your profile shows that you have a 6" BB, did you mean that you have a 5 footer?

A box blade is a more versatile implement than a grader blade and is capable of doing all that you need to do. Maybe your poor luck with your BB comes from it being a light duty one. Weight is your friend when it comes to grading and for an implement 6-7 foot wide, you should have a minimum of 800lbs IMO.

If you figure that you are better off with a grader blade, keep in mind that there are many manufacturers of the road grader type of blades. The Road Boss is the best fixed blade road grader type blade IMO, but you pay quite a bit for their blade. You may want to check into some others first. Here are a few links. Land Pride should have free shipping to a dealer.

Hope that some of this helps.

Road Boss Grader - Road and Landscape Grading, Surfacing and Leveling, and Material Spreading and Reclamation

GradeMaster Grader Blades

Land Pride Grading Scrapers

 

[Wombat125]

Now its on to get info about dealers (or shipping cost to Colorado)!

I think I can help a bit here.

I got the 7' Cat 1 Road Boss grader in March of 2009. I got it shipped from Texas to Elizabeth, Colorado for $2975 with no freight charge. I made my purchase decision based on the weight of the implement. The RB 7 footer is about 1100 lbs, where all of the other graders I researched at the time seemed to be about in the 6-700 lb range.

I tried the 8 foot, Cat 2 size, but on a damp road, it was too much for my 64 hp, MFWD, unballasted tractor to pull.

The RB graders are expensive, but they are an awesome company to work with. The owner threw in what was supposed to be a hydraulic top link cylinder. It didn't work on my Deere, but hey, free cylinder. Even better, when I told the owner that their cat 1 grader didn't work on my quick hitch, he sent me a whole new top link piece, drilled to ASAE specs.

The *ONLY* thing that concerns me a little bit is that the cutting blades wear and I think they're pretty expensive to replace. Fortunately, there is a ton of adjustment that will allow you to get a lot of use out of each blade.

If you buy one of these, do yourself a favor and get the hydraulic top link if you don't already have it. I'm apparently not smart enough to set my top link length right the first time...or the second time...or the third.... The hydraulics saved me a ton of time hopping on and off the tractor.

 

[EquineNetworkCO]

Yes, I have a 60" box blade. I inherited it with my other smaller tractor (long since sold). I don't know who made my box blade, but it is indeed very light. The end plates are .25", no clevis hitches, etc. In all truth, I'd love to try both implements first to see what is the better fit.

 

[ktdodson]

Looking to purchase one of these but then realized I actually had to move a fair amount of dirt. Was wondering if any of you guys had purchased a scraper with actual towing capacity for the same type of work: Ashland 25S Scraper with 40 HP John Deere Compact Tractor - YouTube. Of course, this costs a few thousand dollars more but may be more useful.

 

[jeff9366]

Following is a thread from the TBN archive:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/267703-dirt-scraper-dirt-pan-towed.html?highlight=