box blade- whats it used for?

[purpony]

What exactly is a box blade used for? Grading?

I am looking to do some grading on my back yard, what the best item to us or combo of items? box blade? rear blade? FEL? york rake?

thanks

 

[kwolfe]

I am in the processing of doing the same thing you are. I bought a box blade about 3 months ago and it is the perfect tool for this. The rippers enable you to dig up a lot of vegitation, pop out rocks & roots and loosen the soil so that it can be worked. I then took them off and have been using the box to perform the finish grade. It takes eom practice, but after a few hours of experimenting, you should get the hang of it. The trickest part is learning how to adjust the top link to get the desire cut and finish. Shorten the link and the cut gets more agressive. Shorten the link and you are better able to smooth and finish.

I have a rear blade as well, however it now is simply wating for the snow. THe BB has replaced it. Much more useful. If I can sell the RB, I am going to buy a rake. That would make small rock collection and seed bed prep easier and provide a very nice finish.

 

[3RRL]

...Shorten the link and the cut gets more agressive. Shorten the link and you are better able to smooth and finish....

LOL ... you must have a magic boxblade. I'm sure you meant "lengthen" the second time.
Other things you can use the boxblade for besides grading is moving piles of dirt, cutting "high" spots and filling "low" spots. With the rippers down you can loosen dirt and remove it, plow with it that way too. You can tilt it sideways to get a crown on your road or even tilt it severely to cut gutters. You can drag it to cut off a layer of old grass. You can push backwards like a bulldozer blade. Be careful here not to bend your lower drag links though. Many guys use it for "ballast" while doing fel work. I use it in conjunction with fel work, loaded bucket and boxblade full of dirt at the same time. I've cut hiking and riding trails with it.

It's a very versatile implement. Getting a top & tilt really helps in adjusting the position of the boxblade on the fly.

 

[kwolfe]

Your right, I ment lengthen. Good summary. You touched on a very good point. Do not try and push to hard in reverse, becasue you can bend at the draw pins. I did that last weekend. Not enough to make a difference, but a slight bend in the lower draw arm of the BB that bothers me. No one else wouuld probably notice. Guess I have to beef that section up a little.

 

[3RRL]

kwolfe,
Wanna know how I know? Read towards the middle of this thread.
Pushing in New Roads & Trails

 

[schmism]

they can be tilted to create ditches and crown your gravel drive way.

any dirt moving work that requires you to move dirt over short distances.

 

[exNCite]

LOL ... you must have a magic boxblade. I'm sure you meant "lengthen" the second time.
Other things you can use the boxblade for besides grading is moving piles of dirt, cutting "high" spots and filling "low" spots. With the rippers down you can loosen dirt and remove it, plow with it that way too. You can tilt it sideways to get a crown on your road or even tilt it severely to cut gutters. You can drag it to cut off a layer of old grass. You can push backwards like a bulldozer blade. Be careful here not to bend your lower drag links though. Many guys use it for "ballast" while doing fel work. I use it in conjunction with fel work, loaded bucket and boxblade full of dirt at the same time. I've cut hiking and riding trails with it.

It's a very versatile implement. Getting a top & tilt really helps in adjusting the position of the boxblade on the fly.

Pretty good summary. I've ripped up a lawn, spread topsoil, cleaned out woods with it. One of the most versatile implements for the $ that I can think of.

 

[flusher]

What exactly is a box blade used for? Grading?

I am looking to do some grading on my back yard, what the best item to us or combo of items? box blade? rear blade? FEL? york rake?

thanks

Since a box blade is boxy, you can use it to scoop up dirt from high spots and fill in low spots. The scarifiers (aka rippers) can be adjusted up and down to get more or less bite.

I use by 4-ft King Kutter box blade to excavate for paver block walkways.

Since the BB only weighs about 240 lb, I built three 120-lb concrete weights to get better performance.

 

[kwolfe]

kwolfe,
Wanna know how I know? Read towards the middle of this thread.
Pushing in New Roads & Trails

OK, you one uped me. I did not bend the tractor linkage, I bent the BB. I have the same one flusher does (see his pics). The left piece of iron that hold the draw pin bent inward slight between the draw pin and where it is welded to the tube that holds the rippers. I couldn't believe it. No running starts, and my bx1500 wieghs under 2000lbs with everything on it.

 

[3RRL]

That boxblade looks pretty sturdy for its size and it shows how powerful the tractor really is. My boxblade is a crummy old 7' Howse so I beefed it up a bit to take the punishment better. Here's a thread to what I did to it.
Beefed Up Boxblade

It ended up weigh nearly 1,000lbs. Here's what it looks like now.