Scraper owners, which features do you value?

[MtnViewRanch]

My blade has angle, tilt, and offset adjustments. I use it mainly to maintain a quarter-mile driveway (see An Interesting Driveway) and clear snow (we live in the mountains of western NC, so get somewhat more snow than you do).

I find the tilt adjustment not too useful - the adjustment points are too far apart. I do better by setting to angle adjustment, then adjusting the top link to tilt the blade forward, which causes the front corner of the blade to cut in, but less vigorously than the tilt adjustment.

I seldom find the offset useful. But I can tell you that if you fail to plow the snow far enough off the road and come back after it's frozen to move it more, the offset adjustment will quickly put the tractor into the ditch.

Terry

Terry, I think that you will find that your side link of your 3pt hitch pretty much covers all of the adjustment in between the major tilt adjustments of the rear blade. So if you need a smaller amount of tilt, then get it with the side link adjustment. If you need more tilt, then you would use the first blade tilt location and fine tune the tilt with the 3pt side link. That would apply to each major tilt adjustment that the rear blade has.

 

[paulfun9]

Weight is your friend and making adjustments by hand gets old fast. My last blade purchase was a Taylor Way 8500 Taylor Pittsburgh Taylor Way 8' 8500 Series Heavy Duty Rear Blade with Manual Offset and Tilt with Hydrualic Angle 8500-RMB-96MHM by Taylor Pittsburgh Manufacturin for $2,141.97 in Box Blades - 3 Point Blades & Box Blades - 3 Point Equipment & Accesso with HYD tilt/offset and angle that I got for a real good price when a guy returned it on trade after finding out he couldn't work it with his tractor, a little too much bite with an 8FT blade for his intended use. This is not my first heavy blade but is my first with HYD adjustment and let me tell you I wish I would have gone with the HYD many years ago.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Dirt is tougher than snow. A blade for snow and a blade for dirt. But a heavy duty blade can do both.

 

[TerryR]

Terry, I think that you will find that your side link of your 3pt hitch pretty much covers all of the adjustment in between the major tilt adjustments of the rear blade. So if you need a smaller amount of tilt, then get it with the side link adjustment. If you need more tilt, then you would use the first blade tilt location and fine tune the tilt with the 3pt side link. That would apply to each major tilt adjustment that the rear blade has.

Thanks Brian,

I've experimented a lot with the adjustments. I find the side link adjustment on the 870 has very little range- it seldom is enough to help. I get much more range by adjusting the top link.

The tilt adjustment I find not usable on my blade because the first hole is always too much angle to be useful. But then I'm using it to clean ditches, not to create them. If I were starting from flat ground it might be useful.

 

[brown40]

How much snow will you realistically need to move?
For 1-2" a box blade will do a really nice job without creating a windrow on you, and it has scarifiers for breaking into soil for maintaining surfaces close to the grade they are at. They are great for moving material forward and backwards, and can shift material laterally, but nowhere near as effective as a plain blade.
3" plus of snow and the box blade fills too quickly to be very efficient. I use the rear blade primarily for maintaining the road crown.
Features I like on a rear blade.
1. Enough weight to be an effective counterweight with the loader on (mine is not).
2. Captured hitch pins.
3. Configuration that allows turning the blade 180 degrees while mounted, to go from cutting to smoothing without removal from 3pt.
4. Replaceable, readily available cutting edge.
5. A kickstand/front support that keeps the 3pt up for hookup.
I have a rear blade and a box blade, and tend to favor the box as its such a nice counterweight, and doesn't make a huge radius in turns, like an offset, angled rear blade does. I found the rear blade to be minimally more effective in snow 2-4", but nowhere near as tidy, and more prone to catching high spots on the substrate the box would ride over (box has two blades--front and back). Neither was great for significant snowfall--you may not have much of that.
Unless you get a heavy blade, it'll tend to slide above turf--once its in it can shave off material nicely, but sometimes is hard to dig in. Scarifiers are nice for breaking up and getting in.
I have the KK 7' professional blade you linked to. It has a lot of manual adjustments in it, so my experience is based on that. It is their "HD" unit--but it is not heavy enough to really deserve the name. The solid mast is nice, but no captured pins, and it is light. I never knew you could put end plates on a regular blade--that'd be neat to see in action.
Good luck with the shopping.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Thanks Brian,

I've experimented a lot with the adjustments. I find the side link adjustment on the 870 has very little range- it seldom is enough to help. I get much more range by adjusting the top link.

The tilt adjustment I find not usable on my blade because the first hole is always too much angle to be useful. But then I'm using it to clean ditches, not to create them. If I were starting from flat ground it might be useful.

Terry, obviously what you do works for you.

I would be curious as to just how much tilt you can actually get with your side link. One of the problems with getting your angle cut by using the top link is that you change the cutting angle of the cutting edge from where it is designed to work best. Sort of like so many guys that shorten their top link with a box blade to get the rippers further into the ground, they drastically change the optimum cutting angle of the ripper by making the cutting edge more vertical. This is the same thing that you do when you shorten the top link on your rear blade to get the blade to tilt down when you rotate the blade.

Again, this works for you and that is great. :thumbsup:

Just a thought, can you drill some other holes in the blade adjustment so that the pinned adjustment is not so great? :confused3:

 

[TerryR]

I would be curious as to just how much tilt you can actually get with your side link.

I can't say in any real terms. I know from experience that the tilt has to be pretty close to what I want for the side link adjustment to dial it in.

One of the problems with getting your angle cut by using the top link is that you change the cutting angle of the cutting edge from where it is designed to work best.

I understand that in theory. But I'm mainly either plowing snow or re-grading gravel back on the road, which I do when the road is wet, so getting it to cut isn't an issue.

One advantage of using the top link to adjust is that I can reach it from the seat, so I don't have to dismount to adjust.

Just a thought, can you drill some other holes in the blade adjustment so that the pinned adjustment is not so great?

Could be. But I don't own anything that would drill a hole that large in a piece of steel that heavy.

 

[Code54]

Just mentioning this in case you want to try it.

If you want to try and drill a hole in it you can do it with a regular elec. hand drill (there are better ways but for a one shot deal it will work just fine) - just need to buy a hole saw (maybe 1" or whatever size your pin is just a hair bigger) and use a lot of oil or cutting fluid (old engine oil will work if you don't have anything else)
I used the rigid holes saws from Home depot before and they are not real expensive and worked fairly well.

 

[TerryR]

Just mentioning this in case you want to try it.

If you want to try and drill a hole in it you can do it with a regular elec. hand drill (there are better ways but for a one shot deal it will work just fine) - just need to buy a hole saw (maybe 1" or whatever size your pin is just a hair bigger) and use a lot of oil or cutting fluid (old engine oil will work if you don't have anything else)
I used the rigid holes saws from Home depot before and they are not real expensive and worked fairly well.

Really? You can drill a hole in 1/2 in. steel with a hole saw? I wouldn't have thought so. I wouldn't have attempted even a 1/4 hole with a regular drill bit in that much steel.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Really? You can drill a hole in 1/2 in. steel with a hole saw? I wouldn't have thought so. I wouldn't have attempted even a 1/4 hole with a regular drill bit in that much steel.

Hole saws typically work pretty good up to 1" thick material. As mentioned use some oil, WD40 or similar works well. You are just trying to cool as well as flush the chips out of the slot-hole.