Rear 84" offset scrape blade-which one to buy?

[JonBarleycorn]

Rear 84\" offset scrape blade-which one to buy?

I am looking at a scape blade for my Kubota 4330, and have considered the Woods, Land Pride, Bush Hog and Mid West models. I like the fact you can add a landscape rake to the Land Pride, but in truth, am uncertain that I have a near need for such. And it may not be such a wonderful feature. I DO want a HD blade with an offset feature, and like the 40 series in both Midwest & Land Pride.
The option of hydrailics on the blade also seems like a nice feature, again uncertain how necessary it is.
What are the differences between the MidWest 30 & 40 series? From the website there does not appear to be a difference.
From what I have seen, the Mid West blades seem some less costly-usually there is a reason for such. However, the few posts on TBN I have read speak highly of the MW blades.
I will be using this to scrape @ 1/2 mile of steep, gravel road; clean ditches & remove snow.
Your input is appreciated.
Thanks,
JB

 

[Boondox]

Re: Rear 84\" offset scrape blade-which one to buy?

JB -- I used a LandPride RB3572 with hydraulic angle on my L3010HST and was very impressed. The blade doesn't have an offset function if you mean the ability to slide the blade to one side, but it does angle to the side. (I had a King Kutter slider that offset exactly once, then stuck in that position forever!) I can get a couple extra inches of coverage by using the stablizer bars to push it over, though. The hydraulic angle was something I got talked into and with experience I came to realize it was one of the best ideas since peanut butter! Not only does it give me an infinite degree of adjustment from the seat (instead of selecting one of five positions after dismounting), but if the blade catches something immovable I can retract the blade till the obstruction is cleared then go back to the original setting. Nice. Very nice!

This week I'm upgrading to an L4630 with a Woods heavy duty 84" rear blade. I'm keeping my hydraulic cylinder, and am sorely tempted to go with a 96" blade instead. Too much length for moving dirt, but most of my scraping is snow, and the extra foot would let me angle the blade to pull snow away from stone walls without getting too close to the drainage ditches.

Sorry, but I'm not familiar with the MidWest line.

Pete

 

[OakHillFarmer]

Re: Rear 84\" offset scrape blade-which one to buy?

I just got the Woods Heavy Duty 7' rear blade for my L4330. This blade is a beast! It's super heavy, extremely well built and I think it's definitely overkill for moving snow. That's what I'm using it for now but it'll get a lot more uses come spring. I should note that I usually over-buy but this is almost completely unnecessary. In other words, it's perfect /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I actually went with the HD because it is upgradeable to be hydraulically controlled (which I'll do next year). It cost me just over $1,900 as is. I'm sure I could have found an acceptable blade for much less but this will last me forever and a day.

Good luck with yours!

 

[Darren]

Re: Rear 84\" offset scrape blade-which one to buy?

Go with the heaviest back blade your tractor will handle. I have a Bush Hog 176 that weighs about 1400 lbs. The blade is a pleasure to work. The weight makes all the difference in the world.

 

[HEC]

Re: Rear 84\" offset scrape blade-which one to buy?

Pete, when you say hd model woods do you mean the rb model as I have been looking at the 8ft. on the net also as I need one next summer.Do you have any idea what the 8ft. rb model goes for?I was thinking of going with the king kutter until I read your post.
Thanks,
Herb

 

[Boondox]

Re: Rear 84\" offset scrape blade-which one to buy?

Herb -- Give me a couple of hours. I need to trim sheep hooves, then dig the blade out of the snow before I can see the model. I'll edit this post tonight. Pete

 

[Boondox]

Re: Rear 84\" offset scrape blade-which one to buy?

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Herb -- Give me a couple of hours. I need to trim sheep hooves, then dig the blade out of the snow before I can see the model. I'll edit this post tonight. Pete )</font>

Can't edit because of the downtime, so here goes...

It's a Woods HBL-84-2. Still in the snowbank, but I hope to mount it this afternoon and put the hydraulic angle in place. Might even have time for a trial run. It looks pretty well built. Years ago when I got the L3010 I was more impressed with the LandPride blades, but Woods has come a long way since then.

Pete

 

[HEC]

Re: Rear 84\" offset scrape blade-which one to buy?

Thanks Pete for going to all that trouble, I have a woods dealer close bye so I will stop in and see what their prices are like.I won't need it until spring so no big hurry.
Thanks again,lets us all know how it works for you and did you get the 7 or 8 footer.
Herb,

 

[Boondox]

Re: Rear 84\" offset scrape blade-which one to buy?

No problem, Herb. It was part of a package deal so I don't really know how much it cost. The dealer gave me $700 for my old 6 foot LandPride RB3572 blade and I kept the hydraulic cylinder. I still have the winch on cuz I really want to see how much of a difference the larger tractor and winch make in the harvesting of firewood, but I did manage to pluck the Woods blade out of the snow and set it up on its stand. It looks awfully good!

I was sorely tempted to go with an eight footer so I could pull snow away from my old stone walls, but wasn't sure how stressful it would be for the blade and/or tractor if the tip caught on a immovable boulder. So I stuck with the seven footer. It looks much better designed (more rugged) than my old heavy duty LandPride blade, but I didn't want to push my luck.

Pete

 

[jmc]

Re: Rear 84\" offset scrape blade-which one to buy?

I had to return the heavy duty Woods blade I purchased with my L4330. It was designed for both a Cat 1 and Cat 2 3 point hitch. I like to set them up with the rearward projecting beam exactly horizontal so when you tilt the blade to push left or right, the bottom of the blade stays horizontal too. Otherwise, you tilt the blade and then have to adjust the sidelink so that the blade sits flat on the ground. With this particular Woods model, I had to use most of my 3ph lift to raise the tractor end of that beam to horizontal. There was not much stoke left to raise the whole implement. Might be something to watch out for, especially on the Cat 1/Cat 2 combos.

John