ATTN: Heavy BOX BLADE Experts.....Give us your opinions please.

   / ATTN: Heavy BOX BLADE Experts.....Give us your opinions please. #31  
I suggest marketing box blades as 5-125, 6-125, 6.5-125, 7-125, etc. First digit width, second digit approximate weight per foot of width.

You could same number nomenclature for all ETA's box blades.

Existing hyperbole is confusing. Has to be costing ETA business.

I forecast half of customers will order one grade heavier.

RETIRED SALES/MARKETING GUY
 
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   / ATTN: Heavy BOX BLADE Experts.....Give us your opinions please. #32  
Existing hyperbole is confusing. Has to be costing ETA business.

I agree with this

Number by pounds/foot doesn't really work because as the blade gets wider, even with using the same materials, the weight per foot will drop pretty quickly because the weight of the sides are included even in the first foot.
 
   / ATTN: Heavy BOX BLADE Experts.....Give us your opinions please. #33  
For marketing purposes, which is what we are talking about, it will work fine.

If ETA uses "middle number" in its three to five offered widths, per range, it will be close enough.
 
   / ATTN: Heavy BOX BLADE Experts.....Give us your opinions please. #34  
The Gannon is the premier box blade. Cammond is not a real old company but they have some very well designed equipment. Cost vs utility I prefer the Cammond 4C2.
 
   / ATTN: Heavy BOX BLADE Experts.....Give us your opinions please. #35  
Ken, those came off an old elevator. My brother's father-in-law picked those up about 30 years ago from a junk/scrap dealer in Florida. The guy had a whole stack of them. My brother's FIL took 2 I guess and they sat for 30 years till he gave them to my brother who never used them. He ended up giving them to me. My brother used a different weight block...maybe he'll be along to post of pic of his setup (he's also a member here.

It seems a bracket of some sort would be an easy add-on for BB manufacturers to add. This little weight makes a noticeable difference.

In loose dirt, extra weight may not be an issue, but in our clay soil, even a "heavy Duty" BB more or less skips over the ground when trying to scrape. I don't have a good picture, but I added a 234 lb weight to my 8' LMC heavy duty box blade and noticed a considerable difference in its ability to let the cutting blade actually cut into the clay. I pull it with a Kubota M9540.

Also, when backing into piles of rock or limbs/trunks, a light BB will ride up over the object being back bladed. I'm a firm believer that weight makes a huge difference. I would suggest adding the ability to add ballast to the box in some fashion as some others have suggested.
 
   / ATTN: Heavy BOX BLADE Experts.....Give us your opinions please. #36  
I would suggest adding the ability to add ballast to the box in some fashion.

This is impracticable for a manufacturer. Too many warranty claims from users who decide to add just a LITTLE more weight, TIME after TIME after TIME.

Then, when the implement inevitably fails, the "adders" want compensation from the manufacturer.
 
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   / ATTN: Heavy BOX BLADE Experts.....Give us your opinions please. #37  
Ted is on a mission now....after repeated advice from several members that recommend heavy, heavy box blades.


After seeing recommendations for heavier on a regular basis here on TBN, he wants to make an even heavier box blade and would like some opinions on which blades are the best in the 800-1,200 pound range.

What do you think guys??

First of all, thank you for listening to the repeated recommendations that we've all preached over the years :thumbsup:

I believe there is no substitute for weight, and as mentioned, not just added weight, but extra weight due to a 'beefed up' design, using thicker steel, better support, and thick clevis style mounting, as well as hydraulic scarifiers. My 6.5' box blade is very well built and weighs 1k lbs, however, I wish it was a bit heavier. In some circumstances it doesn't have enough weight to break into the soil and ends up riding over it if the conditions are right (wrong.)

I think the recommendations from Mtnviewranch, Jenkins, and Triple R and Xring pretty much spell it all out. I am just going to "back them up" with what they said. I second the idea that one of the turn off's at this point is the "beefed up" marketing in the naming rather than the "beefed up" item itself. If you build a 1200lb heavy duty (REAL heavy duty, not just "called" heavy duty) 7' box blade with hydraulic scarifers and beefed up supports/mounting, and charge what you need to charge, I know people like myself, who value quality over the bottom dollar, would be happy to purchase from you guys, especially with the good reputation you've earned yourselves thus far.
 
   / ATTN: Heavy BOX BLADE Experts.....Give us your opinions please.
  • Thread Starter
#38  
Thanks for all the opinions. Keep em coming. A good boxblade discussion is always fun and helpful.

In my eyes, those Gannon and FFC box blades are a totally different class of HD which is different from any of the blades that we currently make.

I don't think that the regular guy with a tractor, especially a compact, doing work around his home/hobby farm, is going to be shopping for a blade of that caliber.

Ted is going to make this blade, I think, mostly because he can; not because he thinks we'll sell a lot of them.
I think that our heaviest existing blade with(or without) thicker steel will out-sell this larger breed by far.
I hope you guys will prove us wrong though.

We haven't had any issues selling the current blades we offer nor have we had any issues with them.
I am also confident that our Severe Xtreme Blades provide a better value than about any box blade on the market at the same price point.
Travis
 
   / ATTN: Heavy BOX BLADE Experts.....Give us your opinions please. #39  
So why ask?
 
 
 
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