Floating Tailgate BoxBlade Finally!!

[Degolyerent]

I have a Gill SR25, it is heavy and a very good box. I don't think that a locking feature is necessary, but heavier built scarifiers would be a great feature along with hydraulic rollover.
John

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Erik,
It seems like you really thought this through! I'm curious about a couple things though...


I found this a bit confusing, why would the pins to hold the rear tailgate down, have anything to do with a quick hitch system, or popping small stumps/roots out of the ground? If popping stumps by going forward, you will be using the fixed cutting edge, not the hinged rear blade.

Right: in reverse, the tailgate should "shoulder" so that the locking pins do not bear any weight. However, if the tailgate cannot shoulder, then the locking mechanism takes all the weight from the Erics of the world leaning on it, a bad thing. Basically, I shared just so that whatever locking mechanism is used, that hacks like myself are factored into the design so that we cannot break it.

Likewise, when popping stumps going in reverse, the locking pins for the rear "tailgate" blade are a non issue, since you will be applying all the force against the stops anyways. The only advantage of having the locking pins, is when you want to extend your top link, lifting the front of the box blade, and lowering the rear, and use the fixed tailgate to help smoothly spread, and slightly compact the soil being spread. Without the rear tailgate locked, you really can't do this, as it will just hinge upward and all you'll have is the weight of the hinged tailgate itself to apply pressure.

Agreed.

I think the main concern with the forces being apply in reverse, as in, when backing into a stump, is going to be your 3 point linkage. It will be the week point and likely fail before anything on the box blade fails. Most likely, you'd lose traction, or bend your 3 point hardware, long before bending a beefy box blade, or the mounting brackets.

You'd think I'd lose traction but with Rim Guard ballasting all four tires, you'd be amazed at the traction before the wheels break free or the engine run down.

Are you referring to reducer bushings?
It appears this box blade isn't designed for Cat 3 tractors. :thumbsup:

On the CAT2 SpeeCo Quick Hitch the lower rungs are sized to CAT3 to distribute the load over a larger area. The Quick Hitch is made for CAT2 applications and sized to fit CAT2 Quick Hitch applications.

By the way, what you have done with your tractor is truly impressive, and I'm envious of that nice machine you have worked so hard on! :thumbsup:

Thanks. A testament to Kioti's NX Series tractors!

That said, the tractor is out of my hands for winter and is now tasked to snow clearing duty over at my sister's place.

 

[Baby Grand]

I like it.

Is a lock out for the tailigate that important?

Based on my use, yes. I have a Cammond that requires me to reach under the rear blade to lock/unlock. Sort of a pain in the arse to do with any frequency. It's a great 'blade, and at 66" a perfect match for my machine. That 66" size was rare in this weight and a deciding factor in my decision to buy (hint-hint). I've been thinking about cutting up a 3pt quick hitch and using that mechanism to lift & lower a pin to lock/unlock the blade:

This would require getting the vertical actuating links across the horizontal hinge - a challenge, but not impossible. I don't see why the hinge can't be "segmented" in the 2 locations where the vertical actuating links would need to cross.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

I would not want a floating tailgate that couldn't be locked down. Locking it down means you have two fixed surfaces instead of one, and the box blade works MUCH better for fine grading because of that, at least in my experience.

Think about it. Most of the box blades out there have a fixed tailgate that is essentially the same thing as a locked down floating tailgate. I would not want to build and market a floating tailgate that couldn't be locked down. The competitors will use that missing feature to sell against you. Especially when the reason for not being able to lock it is to "fix" a problem that doesn't exist.

Unlocking it allows the front blade to dig in much more and is better for moving large volumes of dirt, especially if the box blade is tilted forward somewhat with the toplink.

 

[94BULLITT]

I guess if you did not have a locking tailgate you could not lengthen the toplink so the back cutting edge drags and be as effective a box blade with a fixed tailgate.

 

[DT86]

Honestly I do not understand the need for a locking tail gate.

Any one care to explain?

 

[Fordman1981]

We have found that they just don't make scarifiers like they used to. I've been talking to Ted about this and, for this boxblade, I think we're going to make our own, rather than settling for "off the shelf" shanks. The details, as of now: 1" thick x 3.5-4" wide T1 Steel with AR400(abrasion resistant/400 tensile strength) tips. We're talking STOUT and long lasting. To our knowledge, this is something that no other mfg has offered, past or present. Travis

Will these new scarifiers be backwards compatible? As in will the new ones you are making work with you existing box blades or just the new one your designing? I bought the 96" severe extreme duty box blade for my T5050 and haven't had an issue yet but did see the broke scarifier on Erictheoricle's thread. I'm concerned that if his smaller less powerful tractor can break the current one that mine will as well. BTW I had to move the 3pt attachments higher for it to work with my tractor. I'm not done with the fab work yet but have tested hooking it up with the new design and works perfect now.

 

[94BULLITT]

Honestly I do not understand the need for a locking tail gate.

Any one care to explain?

The only reson I can think of is with the tailgate locked you will have more weight on the back cutting edge for smoothing things out while drivig forward.

 

[Xfaxman]

Honestly I do not understand the need for a locking tail gate.

Any one care to explain?

Check this thread: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/122762-beginners-guide-using-box-blade.html

 

[EverythingAttachments]

Will these new scarifiers be backwards compatible? As in will the new ones you are making work with you existing box blades or just the new one your designing? I bought the 96" severe extreme duty box blade for my T5050 and haven't had an issue yet but did see the broke scarifier on Erictheoricle's thread. I'm concerned that if his smaller less powerful tractor can break the current one that mine will as well. BTW I had to move the 3pt attachments higher for it to work with my tractor. I'm not done with the fab work yet but have tested hooking it up with the new design and works perfect now.

Unfortunately, the dimensions of the new shanks are going to be larger than the shanks that we use on our severe xtreme. The shanks that we have been using are the best that we've been able to find off the shelf and we have had very few incidents with breakage.

Ted said that he'd like to see pics of the back of your tractor concerning the height issue. He was a Ford and NH dealer for many years, knows those tractors very well, and doesn't understand why you would have to adjust anything on the box blade for it to work. You may have the tractor adjusted, but Ted will take a look, which could help you with hooking it up to future attachments.

Travis