Box Blade vs 6'rear blade?

[andy33]

Hey Triple R, good picture! Mine blade is exactly like that except a little smaller and mine doesnt have all those pesky hoses and parts on it! Andy

[TripleR]

TripleR has my tastes... I like that rear blade he had pictured. I just sold the tractor (with duals) that is pictured, but would still like to have that rear blade. I have a boxblade sitting unused because I have a dual blade grader that does all the road maintenance I used to use the boxblade for and a rear blade that offsets and angles like the one pictured would bring the road materials that wash into the ditches back to the center of the road and keep the ditches clean. My 3pt setup doesn't angle quite enough for the grader to do that.
David from jax

Just gotta love those big John Deeres.

That tractor belongs to one of our renters and he will do any work needed, I just like to do it myself though sometimes you just can't beat the right equipment and experienced operator.

We used a 10' drag scraper to establish most of our roads, but to maintain them, it is too cumbersome.

[TripleR]

Hey Triple R, good picture! Mine blade is exactly like that except a little smaller and mine doesnt have all those pesky hoses and parts on it! Andy

Yours sounds about like mine.

[bcp]

Maybe I'll build a weight box and invest in a post hole digger instead!

You could add weight to your rear blade.

Bruce

[patrick_g]

If you need to angle a blade for any reason (say to migrate material from edge to center on a road) then the rear blade has a key advantage. I think a box blade is more versatile overall though. That is what I use, and it has been great so far. If I have to do something in the future where a rear blade makse sense, I will buy one.

As I have hydraulic TNT I can do just about anything with my box blade that a rear blade can do and more. This includes moving gravel from edges to center of driveway, vice versa or spreading it equally. I have a rear blade, I can use it, but I typically don't. Had I known how little use it was to me I wouldn't have bought it. One advantage of the rear blade is it is LIGHT and easy to hook up. I have Pat's Easy Hitch system and I often store my box blade on a dolly so it is not a challenge to put on or remove from tractor.

Pat

[MrChris]

I would vote box blade. I prefer something on the 3 pt that has multi functions rather than just added weight. When moving dirt with the FEL it just works out better to first move the dirt, gravel, etc. and then turn the tractor around and smooth it out with the box blade.

[grnspot110]

I prefer my old JD #80 rear blade! Box blades have their place, but an 80 will do more for road work than a BB, unless you need to move a quantity of dirt a distance. The 80 will angle, reverse, off-set &/or tilt as needed! I have this 80 at home & two at the farm; one reversed & braced, for dozer work & one off-set & angled for working the dirt road.

I have a BB (of sorts) that I made from a King Kutter blade, seldom use it!

[AmericanTractorDriver]

I don't have either blade, but EverythingAttachments.com has a great video showing various uses for the box-blade and how to set it up for a variety of tasks you might like to perform. May help you decide if it's worth purchasing?

(Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with them in any way, but find their videos to be very helpful.)

[mikehaugen]

I have a an old IH 7ft rear blade, it is made to pivot using a hydraulic cylinder but the cylinder is missing and the blade is frozen in place just slightly off of perpendicular. I find it fairly useless unless I am working with loose dirt or gravel. I drag it down my gravel driveway and it doesn't do anything because the drive is pretty well packed. The only thing that I really use it for is snow removal now, and it is a pain in the neck (literally). I am considering buying box blade to hopefully start some leveling of some places in my yard that are bothering me. I like the idea of the rippers to break up the ground.