Box Scraper Best Box Blade For My Money

[hcf]

Just bought a used Modern Mfg. box blade from Craigslist. I used SearchTempest to find CL ads for box blades - much faster than manually clicking on every nearby town and then clicking on Farm & Garden. Modern Mfg makes very heavy, heavy, and light duty equipment and a lot of it is hot dip galvanized. There were dozens of bb listed within a 1/2 days drive. Most were wrong size and/or rusty pieces of doo, but by searching through all the ads for a couple of weeks I ended up with a much nicer bb than I could afford to buy new. Being a low tech piece of equipment you can pretty much tell by looking what condition it is in, as opposed to anything with a gearbox where you have no idea about the condition of the gears. Good luck.

 

[hcf]

Was out using the box blade today without the rippers installed. Number of times I wished I had the rippers = 0. Number of times I wished I had a hydraulic lift arm to tilt the bb = 50+.

 

[DPTURBO29]

Amen, to the TnT suggestion. I'm going to have the tractor outfitted with enough remotes and then I'll probably be hollering at Mtn View about a TnT setup. I'd almost rather grade with a hoe than be crawling up and down constantly to crank on the linkage (probably overstating this a bit).

 

[schmism]

my .02

Get the least expensive one you can that will do what you want. you need it to cover the rear wheels of the tractor. Take the left over money and buy a TNT to go with it.

Given the 2 choices, Inexpensive BB and TNT.... or expensive HD box blade and NO TNT.... Id ALWAYS pick the first.

Its easy to weld on weight (like RR rail or cinder blocks, plate steel, suitcase weights, etc)

 

[PhysAssist]

I have a 5' Gill medium duty that I bought off my neighbor for $200. I'm not sure how good of a BB it is compared to others because it is the only one I have ever used. But if you notice one thing in most of the pictures that guys have posted, is Top-N-Tilt kits. They will change your life if you use a box blade enough.

Or you could just get the rollover BB as suggested by MtnView and now seconded by me... It negates the "need" for a TnT kit by using the design of the blade to decide what function you're going to get out of it, vs. needing to re-adjust the angle of the box to manipulate which of the blades or scarifier is in contact with the ground.

If for some reason you end up getting a "stationary" BB give serious thought to getting one with a hinged back blade, and if it isn't lockable, plan to change the so you can either lock it up or lock it down,

We LOVE our 48" Gannon Earthcavator Roll-Over BB because it makes our little B2320 without rear remotes able to do way more than we thought it would ever be able to in grading, excavating, smoothing, rebuilding/reparing our driveway and finishing the newly excavated/regraded banks of our pond to the point of being ready for seeding. The learning curve for the RO BB's seems to be significantly flatter and shorter than the standard models.

As always, YMMV and the management disavows any opinions expressed by the meat-puppet tapping semi-randomly on the magic glass screen...

 

[1savoy]

I don't know if you have seen the Dirt Dog prices/ spec's on eBay, but it will give you an idea on price. Looks like the roll-over is only rated for 45 hp in 4wd. This is supposedly the maker for the Bush Hog brand also. Second link is the Dirt Dog with manual retractable shanks and is good for 55 hp. Good luck with the shopping.

Russ

Dirt Dog Ro 84 84" Heavy Duty 3 Point Rollover Box Blade | eBay

Dirt Dog RBX 84 84" Heavy Duty 3 Point Box Blade for Utility Tractors | eBay

 

[bubbacuse77]

Saying a rollover BB negates the need for a TnT is simply not correct sir. A rollover my save you the time of removing the tines and installing them but mainly the Top function on a Top and tilt is ideal for adjusting the angle that the strait blade of the BB enters the material and the Tilt function, well, it tilts and saves you all the time of constantly getting on and off your tractor to adjust the draft bar. I think ideally you would have a rollover if you thought you needed to remove and install the scarifiers often enough to save you the time and effort.

I don't believe what Mountain View Ranch said was, get a rollover and skip the TnT. Mountain view Ranch may be the largest supporter of TnTs on this web site..................he sells them.

 

[PhysAssist]

Saying a rollover BB negates the need for a TnT is simply not correct sir. A rollover my save you the time of removing the tines and installing them but mainly the Top function on a Top and tilt is ideal for adjusting the angle that the strait blade of the BB enters the material and the Tilt function, well, it tilts and saves you all the time of constantly getting on and off your tractor to adjust the draft bar. I think ideally you would have a rollover if you thought you needed to remove and install the scarifiers often enough to save you the time and effort.

I don't believe what Mountain View Ranch said was, get a rollover and skip the TnT. Mountain view Ranch may be the largest supporter of TnTs on this web site..................he sells them.

Hey Bubbacuse,

I do have to kind of agree with your point about the tilt, but we do not often find any need to tilt or angle our blade very often (though that could be because we don't have TnT and we DO have a ROBB ).

But regarding your point about using the top link adjustment for changing the box blade's angle of engagement- that's more of an issue with the standard (nonrollover) BB's because of the need to accurately/carefully manage the angle of the BB to control which of and how the dual blades and/or scarifiers engage.

With the rollovers, because of the ability to engage the blades and/or the scarifiers separately, the top link doesn't require adjustment often (if at all) in order to achieve the desired result.

For us in particular, the roll-over BB has essentially been a set and forget tool, allowing us to concentrate on doing the job, and not adjusting the angle of approach.

I know that Mr. MtnView is an advocate for TnT on tractors where it will add needed utility and be used often, but one of the reasons that he is respected so well here, is that even though he manufactures/builds them, he isn't fanatically trying to sell them to every person on TBN who has a 3-pt implement on their tractor.

As I have said before, he is one of the several folks who, on my long review of past posts on TBN while lurking and not posting, have virtually always offered considered and balanced advice without beating a topic/viewpoint into the ground, or being overbearing.

In my case, and perhaps the OP's as well (although I don't pretend to be clairvoyant enough to know his/her particular needs or situation), it may not be necessary to have TnT, if using the inherent abilities of the rollover BB suffices to give adequate control and function, and it (TnT) is a not an insignifianct expenditure.

Add to these facts/benefits, the substantial weight and pretty much uniformly heavy-duty construction of the average roll-over BB, and it's a pretty good starter package for someone new to using 3-point implements for grading.

In my case, my prior experience with tractors was disking/plowing/etc., as a kid on my uncle's farm with single hitch/draw bar farmalls and the like, and none with 3-point hitches, yet within a very short time, I was able to start to use our ROBB (I think) reasonably effectively to perform all its advertised functions in a variety of substrates and settings- grading the clay banks of our pond, ripping and digging topsoil to move and use as fill, leveling our pot holed gravel driveway and spreading new gravel among others.

Further, my wife, who is somewhat mobility-impaired, and who had never before operated a tractor, was also able to learn how to use it after only a very brief tutorial (thanks for the videos EA!).

Thomas

PS: I must add that I also do not pretend to know what Mr. MtnView was thinking or his intent when posting, except for the overt advice he offered.....

Thomas

 

[Arc weld]

Woods makes several models and also purchased the Gannon and Gill lines. I bought my Frontier/Woods from the JD dealer because there was no shipping fee to bring it in. I can live with the green paint to save at least a couple hundred bucks on shipping.

 

[bubbacuse77]

WOW- I'm out, not cool, to come into a forum and discount others ideas and posts then defend your way as the only way. The fella who started this forum just wanted advice on what works for others.