Hinged or rigid box blade?

[Ken_CT]

I'm looking at buying a box blade for my Kubota BX23. I saw on the Howse webpage Howse implements a 48" box blade. What is the difference between a rigid back and hinged back box blade? I will be using it for residential use - leveling a gravel drive, spreading and leveling topsoil, and clearing and leveling some overgrown areas. The soil in CT has lots of rocks. Which one would be better for my use? Does Howse make a good Product? My local Kubota dealer wants way too much for their BB. I would appreciate any info on who makes a good product & where to obtain one. Thanks.

 

[_RaT_]

I have both and frankly, the hinged is of little use for me. I keep it locked down.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Howse products are typically lighter weight and cheaper than the premium brands, they often lack features found on premium brands. I generally think that if you are going to depend on an implement for heavy usage you should buy the best made you can afford, but if the implement is going to be lightly used there is often no need to pay for quality and features that you won't get much use out of.

 

[KiotiJohn]

Howse generally makes different grades of implements, with some being quite heavy duty. I have been very satisfied with their rotary cutter that I use extensively, and it's only a light duty one.
Many real users of Howse products have reported good results.
As for hinged, I wouldn't bother to buy one as you will most likely keep the hinged portion locked most of the time for dragging materials. The hinged would just allow for you to drop material out the back rather than build it up, which I find rather useless as you can drop material by setting the height just so, and letting the material drop the way you want it to.
I think you'll save money as well getting the rigid box. Make sure you get one with rippers as well. Some come without, but you'll find them useful for breaking up hard packed surfaces. John

 

[JerryG]

<font color="blue">The hinged would just allow for you to drop material out the back rather than build it up </font>
What?

 

[KiotiJohn]

I had this confused with one a friend made that had a hinged back, not hinged back blade. He used the hinged back to allow the dirt to move out the back and then the hinged portion would "smooth" the dirt as he went.
I went to Howse and looked and realized their offering is a hinged back blade only. Sorry for the confusion. John

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I went to Howse and looked and realized their offering is a hinged back blade only )</font>

That may be true now, but in '99, I bought a new 5' Howse box blade without the hinged back blade. Personally, I've never used one with the hinged blade.

 

[JerryG]

The Howse "BB" series has a hinged back blade, the "EB" series doesn't.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

<font color="green"> Many real users of Howse products have reported good results.
</font>

I am not one of those. My Howse rotary cutter was a piece of cheaply made junk. The metal was thin, the welds were bad, and the design was bad. When I sold one of my tractors I gave the cutter away just to get it off the property. I really dislike poor design and poor workmanship. But when I bought the cutter I didn't have much experience with implements.

I've use, but do not own, a Howse rake. It is also lightly made, but the price was high. The design is marginal. But I will say it did the jobs I asked of it. If I were to use one more often, I would buy a better brand.

As far as box blades go, make sure you get adjustable scarifier teeth that can be adjusted to several depths, and done so without the need for tools. As box blades go, heavier is better.

 

[MicroPilot]

See the post Rollover Box Scraper / Floating Tailgate for one of the best descriptions I've read about the differences in Box Blade design and what it means in use. As a bonus there is another very good post about the use of a roll-over style box blade and it's advantages.