weighting a boxblade

[jyoutz]

I have a Landpride 54" boxblade, which seems to be well-built and fairly tough. I'm getting my new loader installed this week on my 4100. This got me to thinking about a counterweight. The Landpride blade weighs oh around 350-400 pounds. This is somewhat less than a fully loaded ballest box. I have some huge heavy chunks of steel that I've been using for bolt-on front weights (1 1/2" x 8" x 25", about 75 pounds each). I've been thinking about mounting a bracket to the center of the box blade to hold 3 of these weights, which would add 225 pounds to my blade. This should help the counterweight problem considerably, hopefully this will be all that's necessary (my tires are not filled). Two questions for you more experienced folks: 1) would this be enough counterweight for a JD 4100 tractor? (tractor + loader is about 2300 pounds, loader has an 885 pound capacity-which I will seldom max out). 2) If I leave the weight on the boxblade always, I'm sure that it will cut and handle much better, but will this added weight tear up the blade and cause welds to start breaking?

 

[Thomas]

First of all was the boxblade design for extra weight.
If you damage the boxblade right off the dealer may not stand behind the repaires knowning about the extra weight.
The blade should take the punishment..but the welds not sure.

Most company weld to specs,and I would strenghten the welds and along w/some bracing.

Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Bird]

Jim, of course I don't know for sure, since I haven't done it, but I'd doubt that the extra weight on the box blade would cause any problems at all. In fact, I'm considering doing the same thing.

Bird

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I don't believe you have enough front clearance for front weights and "loader" combo. {Remember you're now adding the "weight" of the loader bucket, steel, etc. in lieu of front weights} Also check JD loader manual, most recommend "removing" front weights with a loader.

I think the rear box blade "as-is" will be fine as a ballast. Adding more weight may be "overkill". The nice thing is... try it first, you can always add more...

 

[Jag]

JIM, I have a home made box blade, (or a old one that had been rebuildt several times) that I pick up some time ago. I also aquired several rear weights from an old field tacrtor that weigh around 90 pounds each. I use two or four weights on the box blade. At first I had them on top of the box... I did not like that because I could not see into the box and tell how much material it was carring or how deep it was cutting. Ended up welding a bracket on the back of the box to take the weights and give a full view of the box.. If you add the to top make sure you can see into the box.

 

[DDT]

jyoutz
This is my thoughts. You have a 20HP tractor, add weight to the BB, I don't think it will hurt it (your not adding 1000LBS) A 20 HP tractor won't tear that blade up. As long as you can pick it up you should be ok. When I have question's on landpride equipment, I E-mail them and ask, they always give me common sense answers.

 

[paccorti]

This is a great thread. I've had a similar question recently.

I see different 6' boxblades. Some with hydraulic scarifiers some without. The ones with hydraulic scarifiers are much heavier sometimes 1100 lbs instead of 800-900 lbs. The heavier boxblades are always rated for 40 hsp and up, whereas the lighter manual boxblades (still 6') are 18 hsp and up. Specifically I've been looking at Woods/Gannon. Why would the gain in weight require so much more power? My tractor will easily pick it up. I'm considering 3 rear remotes so I could use top 'n' tilt and the hydraulic scarifiers. One the other hand I don't want to overwhelm my TC35D if it really cannot handle such a heavy 6' box. When digging with a box blade is the 3pt usually in float or is it kept from digging to deep?

Any thoughts?

Signed - really wanting a box blade and rear remotes - Peter

 

[jyoutz]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I will contact Landpride also and see what they say. What are the thoughts about whether or not this will be sufficient counterweight for average loader use? I would really like to stay away from filling my tires because I do a fair bit of lawn mowing with my machine. I would really like to stay with detachable weight, so I can stay as light as possible for lawn work, especially when the soil is wet.

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>When digging with a box blade is the 3pt usually in float or is it kept from digging to deep?</font color=blue>

It depends on whether you're just trying to take a high spot off or whether you're really intending to dig and move all the dirt you can at a time. However, I'll probably have it in float 99% of the time, and if you have the hydraulic tilt, you adjust the depth or amount of cut with that.

Bird

 

[paccorti]

Thanks Bird,

It sounds like my TC will handle the heavier blade since I could easily adjust the cutting depth.

Peter