back blade for grading/swails

   / back blade for grading/swails #21  
PitBull:
You said "What worked better for us was a pond scoop..." and described controlling it with a chain on the 3ph.

What's a pond scoop? I've never heard of one before.
 
   / back blade for grading/swails #22  
MikeNC, I just picked up on this post, and you probably have your work all done. My vote would be for the box blade. I've done a lot of pushing and pulling of dirt with my old 2N Ford and a back blade over the years. When I got my JD 4100 HST a year ago, I tried to create a swale on the upper sides of my roads and paths to carry the water away with a back blade. It didn't work well so I waited until I got my box blade. Being very sturdy and much heavier, the box blade did just what I wanted it to do. It took a few passes to get what I wanted, but I had much more control over the depth and smoothness of the cut.
 
   / back blade for grading/swails #23  
As per ScottAR, if you lower the adjustable link on the 3pt and cut into the soil along the line of your intended swale, it'll proceed a lot quicker than expected, as with each pass the tires on the side of the lower 3pt link will drop into the previously made rut - in soft soil I can get about 4-6 inches with each pass - in hard soil, you either need a very heavy box blade, or to put weight on the one you have (concrete blocks, etc) - yes, you can lower the rippers on a box blade to loosen hard soil before fashioning the swale, or if it's real tough, use the FEL to scoop out the first rut (but using a FEL takes a long time).
 
   / back blade for grading/swails
  • Thread Starter
#24  
Well, someone said that their advice may be late, I may be done by now. Not to worry! I'm not even close. At least one large area is too wet to get the tractor into. And it will continue to be too wet until either I get a long dry spell, or until I get some drainage cut with the tractor. It's a chicken and egg problem for now. I've put in probably 200 feet of drainage so far. But the last 100 ft left will required alot of dirt to be moved, in tight quarters near the house, and whole grade needs to come down more than a foot.

I have used the tilted box blade and FEL so do the work so far. I'll rough it out with the FEL, the smooth with the box. Using the box for the whole thing would be REAL slow going. If I take a deep cut, the box fills up after a 10 foot pull, then I have to pull off to the side to empty. If I'm in wet clay, I have to pull off and the clay often won't drop out, I have to get off and use a shovel to knock it out :( For my soil, the FEL moves quanities of soil much faster than the box.

And keeping a good drop the whole length of the swale is the subject of a whole 'nother thread.

I have to believe Fred, that with a heavy back blade it would go faster, but the cost per pound of a new, heavy blade is pretty high. I'm watching for a used one.

I keep thinking that a properly tilted, and angled back blade (in dry soil) will be "self-emptying" as the dirt slides back the angle, and off the end of the blade. Where the box, I have to empty it on each pass.

If I end up buying or borrowing a rear blade, I'll have to report back after I give it a try.

Mike
 
   / back blade for grading/swails #25  
For anyone - could some kind of 'shelf' be welded onto a rear blade for mounting extra weight? Would it be practical, I mean could you get enough weights on a 6' KK rear blade to get it to dig in? Would the weight you need for such a blade be too much for a Kubota BX 2200?
 
   / back blade for grading/swails #26  
You can and I was considering doing it to my blade. I have two pieces of steel that look like sections of railroad track. Weight about 125 lbs each. Lot of weight in a small volume. It would be very simple to weld some brackets of the rear of the blade to hols these weights. Right now I have them strapped to my box blade for extra weight.
 
 
 
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