Yet Another Box Blade Question

[scruffy]

Harv, don't even think about not having your Mom next year! I just lost my 87 year old father a little over a week ago on July 8th. Lost Mom back in 1970. Not fun to lose them, even though you know its inevitable, and realize they reach a point where each day is a blessing to have them still with us.

 

[Harv]

GlueGuy -

I'm starting to believe that I would be much better off if I could lock my rear blade, and I appreciate the offer of the welding help. I think my next family car is going to have to be a 5-ton flatbed so I can cart my tractor and its toys around. If I can't get some of my own welding going, I may just have to bring in someone local to my property. There's a few good welders up there, too. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

scruffy -
Very sorry to hear about your dad. I know you went through a lot with him in recent years. By sad coincidence, my wife's mother passed away one week before your dad. That's one of the reasons I've been a little scarce around here lately. Amazing the ripple effect from the passing of a loved one.

You're right that I should hold a positive thought for my own mom. The past two weeks have been very rough for her (when it rains, it pours), and I think we'll be looking at 24-hour care real soon now. Hopefully, however, she will be able to continue her walks for a while (aided by caretakers, of course). It's one of the few things she still loves to do, and if I can help by flattening a simple path for her, then by god I'm gonna do it. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

 

[roysallis]

The hinged rear blade if designed for producing a level surface. If the blade is adjusted properly, front blade just slightly higher than the rear blade, the hinged rear blade will allow a little dirt, gravel sand, whatever to flow under it creating a "mirror smooth surface".

 

[Bill_in_MI]

Glen,
I have the Woods B100 Box with hinged blade. It works pretty much as you have stated. I don't have top n tilt (yet!) but have tried all the positions...with rear free swinging. It does dig in pretty quickly when you want to do serious earth moving. And, it does a decent job of leveling in the tipped back position...with a load in the box. I made a pad for a pole barn that is due soon, and shaped the land around it for drainage. I was pretty happy with the result considering it was my first time with a box blade. The rear can be fixed with a couple of bolts/pins into brackets that are up and between the two blades. I was not sure I had that feature until I raised the unit and looked under there. (Wouldn't work on it without blocking it up!)

Got my "quote" from Gearmore today via e-mail. As was suggested in earlier posts they sell the kit for $840 less hoses. They have a ROPS mounting bracket for another $100. Kit includes 3 spool valve.

 

[cowboydoc]

Harv,
Roy is right about the hinged rear blade. It is there to smooth out the surface in the back. The hinged blade is used more by landscapers to level out very loose soil. The solid blades on the other hand are used more for dirt moving and leveling of rougher ground and dirt. Just like there are several different kinds of mowers for several different purposes so it is with box blades. Just like a person may have two or three different mowers a person may have a couple different box blades depending on what they are doing. Most box blade work is done with the box level or at a slight angle up or a slight angle depending on if you are moving dirt or leveling dirt. Those guys that know how to use a dozer blade will know that you have to finesse the stick to grade a good road. The same is true with a box blade. It's not just sticking the box into the ground and going to work. You have to constantly be using the three point to raise and lower a little bit to get the results that you want. It's not something that a person can learn to do overnight. I think that's why you see so much frustration here with box blades is because it's more of an art to using one. It takes practice and some good techniques to make one perform like it was meant to. It really doesn't matter how heavy the box blade is either. What matters is how you use the box blade. If you have a lighter box blade you are still going to be able to do the job but just not as quickly. You'll have to make more passes. Now if you have really hard ground then the lighter box blade may not be up to the task to dig in. Just like the light discs. You can't expect to go out and disc up a 10 year old pasture. You'd need a big hydraulic disc to do that. Again the right blade for the job.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Harv,

C'mon bite the bullet and get a real box-blade, weighs about 21,000 lbs., and you only need minimum 360 HP tractor to pull it.../w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif

P.S. - I'd love to see Bird hook-up TNT to this.../w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[GlueGuy]

Harv & Scruffy,

You're right, when it rains it pours. I just burried my Dad (81 years) about 6 weeks ago. Mom passed away back in '89. Dad had been dealing with Parkinsons, but it's true what they say, you're never "ready"...

The GlueGuy

 

[Harv]

Roysallis -
What you say about the hinged blade being used to meter out a small amount of soil, sand or whatever makes perfect sense to me provided the soil is loose enough, as stated by Richard (Cowboydoc).

Bill -
<font color=blue>I was not sure I had that feature until I raised the unit and looked under there.</font color=blue>

Now you got me wondering -- maybe I haven't looked close enough. Since I obviously don't know my box blade very well yet, I thought it was too soon to go peeking under its skirts. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Unfortunately, it will be two weeks before I get back to the property so's I can check. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Richard -
You speak many words of wisdom on the subject. Thanks!

<font color=blue>You have to constantly be using the three point to raise and lower a little bit</font color=blue>

This brings us back to the ol' position control discussion. On my L2500 I find that I can lower the blade with reasonable precision, but raising it is a whole different matter. On a low-to-high scale of 1 to 8, nothing happens at all until I'm nearly up to 8, and even then it's herky-jerky. /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif

John -
Since that box blade costs half again as much as my tractor, it should damn well drag itself! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

GlueGuy -
My condolences on the passing of your dad. My own dad died about the same time as your mom. My mother, among other things, is suffering from severe dementia. She doesn't really know who I am any more and can rarely complete an entire sentence (she used to teach 3 languages). To me, the woman I knew as my mother has been gone for several years now. I'm guessing some folks out there know what I mean. But as you say, we'll see just how "ready" I am when the time comes...

 

[cowboydoc]

Harv,
I'm not sure on your tractor but on most of them you can set the three point to be more or less sensitive.

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>I'd love to see Bird hook-up TNT to this</font color=blue>

I thought it came with its own TNT./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Bird