Rear Blade Need a new rear blade

[Corm]

Hello folks. I could use a little help. Yesterday I twisted my rear blade up like a pretzel/w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif. It was an inexpensive blade that I bought with my tractor, a no name generic brand. I am going to get another one, and I want to make sure my new one lasts me many years. My tractor is a Cub 7260 with all 4 tires loaded. I have an FEL on it. The total weight of the tractor and everything on it is about 4500 lbs.

I looked at a few of the manufacturers sites, and both Land Pride and King Kutter make a heavy duty blade (I'm looking for a 7 footer) that certainly look plenty heavy duty, and they weigh about 700 lbs (probably heavier than I need).

Does anyone have any recommendations for a rear blade that would fit my requirements? Any experiences (good or bad) that you care to share? Thanks in advance!

Corm

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

I have a WOODS RB60 for my small JD. I am impressed with the construction and the ability to adjust it for different needs. WOODS makes these blades in a couple of bigger sizes.

 

[Darren]

I think you know everything you need. You know what won't work. I've seen more sprung light duty back blades than I cared to count. Now you've seen one too.

Look at the rated lift capacity of your tractor and buy the heaviest reinforced blade your tractor can handle. A local place has a used King Kutter that's very well built. It has vertical reinforcing webs on the back of the blade. Judging from that, even the cut-rate builders have some good stuff.

Just ignore the cheap lightweight stuff sitting on the dealers' lots and order a heavier blade.

 

[HayDR]

A Midwest 22 series or the 40 series will be what you are looking for. THe 40 is just like the LP 35 series but heavier built. The link will take you to Midwest site.

 

[balchy]

At work we have a woods rb85 (I think that the #) on the back of a M9000 . We also have a old yellow(1980 or so)JD 210 with a 8ft. blade thats made by JD it's green .Both are heavy duty we use them alot this time of the year. I have the rb60 on my bx 1800 it about 300 lbs .

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I bent my Woods RB72 blade on my Mahindra 4110 in the first 5 hrs of use. Blade rated at up to 40HP. My tractor is 41 HP. One too many, [censored]. This blade only weighs about 300 lbs, only 3/16'' thick and I didnt know its rating until after I bent it. Woods makes two blade lines heavier duty than the RB series and I was a fool to buy the RB series. I believe the next medium duty series weighs more than twice as much and cost twich as much, $850 for a 72 inch non hydro rear blade? Give me a break! I bought my blade with my new tractor because it was what my dealer carried. I believe that you should look for something that weighs more than 500 lbs that has 1/4" or more blade thickness and has all the adjust ment features you are looking for. That should hold up better.

 

[Corm]

Thanks everyone for your input. Much appreciated!! I decided to buy a Woods HBL84-2. This is their medium duty line. It's a 7 footer with angle, tilt, and offset capability. Weighs in at a hefty 528 lbs (about twice the weight of the one I broke). It's rated for 30-75 hp. My little 26 horse Cub shouldn't be able to hurt it! My dealer gave me what I think is a pretty good deal - $790, about $100 off retail price. I should have it by the end of the week. Let it snow!!/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif.

The Woods website <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.woodsonline.com/>Link</A> shows several options for this blade, one of which is a tail wheel. It looks like it would be a useful option for grading my driveway in the unfrozen months, when used in conjunction with the hydraulic top link my wife gave me for Christmas (I love that woman!). Has anyone used one of those? How did it work?

Again, thanks to all for your input!

Corm

 

[patrickg]

Pardon the dumb(?) question... What do you do to pretzelize a back blade? I use a terrifically heavy duty box blade for demanding tasks (after messing up a reqular style, twice) but use a light duty King Cutter rear blade with no problems except having the locking pin bounce out when "road grading" at about 15 MPH. Just dressing up gravel.

I use it to spread deep (2-3 ft) gravel rows and back fill trenches with heavy dirt. Maybe I am lucky... Anyway tell me what messes them up and I'll try to avoid that.

I'm 40 HP 4x4

Pat

 

[Hoeman00]

The times I broke the locking pin was
pushing snow backwards and catch the
corner on frozen dirt or asphault and
watch the blade twist or pin break.
If u put a harder bolt or hitch pin in
the lock the weak link WILL be the
blade.
After the first couple uses and I saw the blade flex
I went to the shop and welded 4x6x3/8 angle to back
of blade (both legs of angle are welded to moldboard).
On each end I cut 6"x3/8 strap to fit radius of blade
and welded on.
Then put 3/4x8" cutting edge on for more height and
strength.
This work doubled weight of blade.

 

[Corm]

How did I break it? I was plowing in reverse, mid range, at about 1400 RPMs. Going very slow... I hit a small stone that was frozen in my driveway. I've hit a hundred stones like this in the last 4 years of plowing my driveway, never had a problem before... maybe it was built to only last 100 times....

What broke was the mechanism that allows the blade to rotate 360 degrees. There is a piece of 4" square, about 14" long, 1/4" wall tubing that at the top is welded to a piece of 1/2" plate which has the indexing holes in it where you put a lynch pin in to hold it at whatever angle you want. The bottom of this tube is welded to the frame that the moldboard is welded to. In the middle of this tube is a 1" solid steel axle that allows the moldboard to rotate 360 degrees. I hope this description makes some sense...

When I hit the stone, it twisted this piece of 4" tube so much that it cracked from top to bottom like a corkscrew, then bent the piece of 1/2" plate about 3/4" on each side, broke the welds on the 1" axle, and bent the 3/4" lynch pin over at about a 30 degree angle. All in the blink of an eye /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif.

It didn't do any damage to the mold board that I can discern, and it didn't damage the frame that connects to the 3 pt pins, but everything else is now junk. I looked at trying to repair it myself, but my skills and equipment are not up to a challenge like this (yet), and to have someone else do it for me was going to cost nearly as much as I paid for the whole blade.

I've moved a lot of stones and dirt with my blade in the 4 years I've owned it. My experience has shown that plowing snow is far rougher on one of these blades (especially in the last few days..) than anything else I've done with it during the summer months. I'm hoping my new blade will last many years!

Corm