BOX BLADE :: PHOTO comparision of brands
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Bob_Skurka
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<font color="red"> Also, I am looking at a finish mower. Can you do a photo comparison for me? </font>
Not today, but I really don't think it is necessary. The better BEFCO finish mowers are simply the best. They are not cheap, but they are great mowers, with lots of innovations that are hidden under the steel, in the gear box, etc that are not obvious to the eye. Buy one, you will not be unhappy. I traded in a 10 year old Befco and got almost as much for the trade in price as some of the bargain decks retail for. The dealer re-sold it for about the price of a First Choice deck. I think that says a lot.
I consider it money well spent to buy a top grade BEFCO if you mow quite a bit. Consider that most of use use a tiller for only a couple hours a year. Consider that most of us use a snowblower maybe a half dozen to one dozen times a year and typically for an hour or less. Consider that if you mow a lot, you may use a mower deck for a few hours every week for perhaps 36 to 40 weeks every year. So in one weekend you will put more hours on a mower deck than you will put on a tiller in a year. In one month you will put more hours on a mower deck than you will put on a snow blower in an entire season. I think it is prudent to spend money on quality on a heavily used implement.
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Bob, the Woods scraficer adjustment is interesting. Can you elaborate on how it works?
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The Woods adjustment system used a piece of steel that spanned 2 scarifiers. So removing the lynch pin you see in the picture unlocks the piece of steel that holds in 2 teeth. That piece of steel stuck down behind the scarifier teeth about 1/2" and forced them to the front of the square tube that they run through. There is some sort of notch that locks them in place, so the combination of notch and the piece of steel that fits down behind the scarifier teeth holds them in place. The only thing I don't like is that the locking plate (the piece of steel) is a proprietary design, if it ever breaks (which I grant you is unlikely) or gets lost (see the thread about the alien taking things away) then you are out of luck.
Not today, but I really don't think it is necessary. The better BEFCO finish mowers are simply the best. They are not cheap, but they are great mowers, with lots of innovations that are hidden under the steel, in the gear box, etc that are not obvious to the eye. Buy one, you will not be unhappy. I traded in a 10 year old Befco and got almost as much for the trade in price as some of the bargain decks retail for. The dealer re-sold it for about the price of a First Choice deck. I think that says a lot.
I consider it money well spent to buy a top grade BEFCO if you mow quite a bit. Consider that most of use use a tiller for only a couple hours a year. Consider that most of us use a snowblower maybe a half dozen to one dozen times a year and typically for an hour or less. Consider that if you mow a lot, you may use a mower deck for a few hours every week for perhaps 36 to 40 weeks every year. So in one weekend you will put more hours on a mower deck than you will put on a tiller in a year. In one month you will put more hours on a mower deck than you will put on a snow blower in an entire season. I think it is prudent to spend money on quality on a heavily used implement.
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Bob, the Woods scraficer adjustment is interesting. Can you elaborate on how it works?
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The Woods adjustment system used a piece of steel that spanned 2 scarifiers. So removing the lynch pin you see in the picture unlocks the piece of steel that holds in 2 teeth. That piece of steel stuck down behind the scarifier teeth about 1/2" and forced them to the front of the square tube that they run through. There is some sort of notch that locks them in place, so the combination of notch and the piece of steel that fits down behind the scarifier teeth holds them in place. The only thing I don't like is that the locking plate (the piece of steel) is a proprietary design, if it ever breaks (which I grant you is unlikely) or gets lost (see the thread about the alien taking things away) then you are out of luck.
Bob,
Thanks for posting this.
Another question on the Woods scarifier mounting system. Could you tell if the teeth can be mounted upside down? (I flip the teeth up when I don't want them so they don't interfere when just moving dirt.)
Can't take a pic as I think I killed my camera but I have a 6' Howse. It has 6 scarifier teeth with the pin setup that is similar to the Frontier and a curved back blade. The 3PH pins are open and bent the steel where it mounts after only a few uses. Otherwise, I'd say it's a decent blade.
Brian
Thanks for posting this.
Another question on the Woods scarifier mounting system. Could you tell if the teeth can be mounted upside down? (I flip the teeth up when I don't want them so they don't interfere when just moving dirt.)
Can't take a pic as I think I killed my camera but I have a 6' Howse. It has 6 scarifier teeth with the pin setup that is similar to the Frontier and a curved back blade. The 3PH pins are open and bent the steel where it mounts after only a few uses. Otherwise, I'd say it's a decent blade.
Brian
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Bob_Skurka
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<font color="red"> Another question on the Woods scarifier mounting system. Could you tell if the teeth can be mounted upside down? (I flip the teeth up when I don't want them so they don't interfere when just moving dirt.) </font>
Brian, leave it to you to ask me something I have not tried!!! Sorry but I honestly don't know.
<font color="green"> I have a 6' Howse. It has 6 scarifier teeth with the pin setup that is similar to the Frontier and a curved back blade. The 3PH pins are open and bent the steel where it mounts after only a few uses. Otherwise, I'd say it's a decent blade. </font>
One of my friends sells Howse equipment. I agree that it is "decent." The designs are pretty basic, the welds are pretty rough, but the implements generally work pretty darn well. If I have time today I will go over and take some pictures of a Howse Box Blade (his lot is a block from my office) if he has any on his lot.
I do know that the Howse blades have the traditional "cut corners" on the side plates. While I think they are better built than the Worksaver and Frontier blades I pictured, the only real problems I see with Howse standard blades is the fact that they don't have a real heavy "A" frame assembly and they don't have a "captured" pin for the lower link arms. Howse is generally priced a bit lower than Midwest or Buhler in my area.
Brian, leave it to you to ask me something I have not tried!!! Sorry but I honestly don't know.
<font color="green"> I have a 6' Howse. It has 6 scarifier teeth with the pin setup that is similar to the Frontier and a curved back blade. The 3PH pins are open and bent the steel where it mounts after only a few uses. Otherwise, I'd say it's a decent blade. </font>
One of my friends sells Howse equipment. I agree that it is "decent." The designs are pretty basic, the welds are pretty rough, but the implements generally work pretty darn well. If I have time today I will go over and take some pictures of a Howse Box Blade (his lot is a block from my office) if he has any on his lot.
I do know that the Howse blades have the traditional "cut corners" on the side plates. While I think they are better built than the Worksaver and Frontier blades I pictured, the only real problems I see with Howse standard blades is the fact that they don't have a real heavy "A" frame assembly and they don't have a "captured" pin for the lower link arms. Howse is generally priced a bit lower than Midwest or Buhler in my area.
Indydirtfarmer
Platinum Member
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Bob,
Thanks for posting this.
Another question on the Woods scarifier mounting system. Could you tell if the teeth can be mounted upside down? (I flip the teeth up when I don't want them so they don't interfere when just moving dirt.)
Can't take a pic as I think I killed my camera but I have a 6' Howse. It has 6 scarifier teeth with the pin setup that is similar to the Frontier and a curved back blade. The 3PH pins are open and bent the steel where it mounts after only a few uses. Otherwise, I'd say it's a decent blade.
Brian )</font>
I've got a Woods 84" box blade with the very same mounting system for the teeth. YES, they can be turned upside down.
My question is, what did that camera ever do to you, that it needed to die????? /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
Thanks for posting this.
Another question on the Woods scarifier mounting system. Could you tell if the teeth can be mounted upside down? (I flip the teeth up when I don't want them so they don't interfere when just moving dirt.)
Can't take a pic as I think I killed my camera but I have a 6' Howse. It has 6 scarifier teeth with the pin setup that is similar to the Frontier and a curved back blade. The 3PH pins are open and bent the steel where it mounts after only a few uses. Otherwise, I'd say it's a decent blade.
Brian )</font>
I've got a Woods 84" box blade with the very same mounting system for the teeth. YES, they can be turned upside down.
My question is, what did that camera ever do to you, that it needed to die????? /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
gmsssi
Platinum Member
Just found out about this newer implement manufacturer (Hawkline), follows is their BB info...........
http://www.gohawkline.com/docs/specs/box.pdf
http://www.gohawkline.com/docs/specs/box.pdf
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Bob_Skurka
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I had not seen Hawkline before. To try to compare it to what I did with the photos I took is fairly easy given the photos they provide in the PDF file.
A quick recap: The blade as clipped corners, the scarifiers are held by small pins that look like they would be hard to work with gloves on. The rear of the blade is neither curved nor straight, it appears to be bent about 1/3rd of the way up from the bottom such that it provides the benefit of a curve, but on the downside, on the rear of the blade it makes a pocket for dirt get packed in. The lower link pins are not captured on both sides, so it is similar to the Howse brand that Brian has, that he said he bent. From the looks of it, I would say it is built fairly light, perhaps in line with the Frontier or the Worksaver, but the PDF sheet does not give weights, or a good photo of the top link attachment point to tell how thick the steel really is and photo can make something look lighter than it really is.
A quick recap: The blade as clipped corners, the scarifiers are held by small pins that look like they would be hard to work with gloves on. The rear of the blade is neither curved nor straight, it appears to be bent about 1/3rd of the way up from the bottom such that it provides the benefit of a curve, but on the downside, on the rear of the blade it makes a pocket for dirt get packed in. The lower link pins are not captured on both sides, so it is similar to the Howse brand that Brian has, that he said he bent. From the looks of it, I would say it is built fairly light, perhaps in line with the Frontier or the Worksaver, but the PDF sheet does not give weights, or a good photo of the top link attachment point to tell how thick the steel really is and photo can make something look lighter than it really is.
SoloDotCom
Member
Bob, I have a Frontier BB1065 and it's identical to the Woods in this thread. I can turn all but the center one upside down. It hits on the 3pt framework. Also on loosing the mounting lock, I would think that JD would be able to order one since they are selling those made by Woods. I would also say that this boxblade work very well.
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Bob_Skurka
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Solo . . . I didn't realize that Woods makes blades for Frontier. The one Frontier blade on the lot is the one I took photos of. It was a 48" blade and it seemed to be more suited to use on a Sub-CUT 2210 than on a small frame CUT like a 4110 or similar size tractor. The Woods blade was at a different dealer. I can't remember the size, but I do remember that the center scarifier was not locked in the same way as the ones in my photo. In the photo the locking piece locked 2 teeth in. For the center tooth on the Woods blade I took a photo of it had its own locking piece, and I would think it would not turn upside down because of the A frame, but like I said, I didn't actually check that.
If the larger Frontier blades are the same as the Woods blade I saw, then I would say they are very well made blades. I was very impressed by the Woods blade.
If the larger Frontier blades are the same as the Woods blade I saw, then I would say they are very well made blades. I was very impressed by the Woods blade.