Land Planes, Rear Blades, and Boxblades

[msmud]

What are the differences in uses for these John Deere attachments? What can a Land Plane do that a Boxblade or Rear blade can't, and vice versa?

 

[Spudland_Dave]

What are the differences in uses for these John Deere attachments? What can a Land Plane do that a Boxblade or Rear blade can't, and vice versa?

This is far from a scientific explanation, but this is what I've always seen it as...

-Land Plane: As the name implies :laughing: great for "planing" the land, leveling the dirt on a road, etc... I see it as more of a road maintenance tool. It would probably do ok to fine grade some Loam when putting a lawn in.

-BoxBlade: Moving dirt longer distances, ripping up tough/compacted areas. A "rough construction" tool if you want to call it that.

-Rear Blade: good for shaping the land...like to make a ditch, etc..

Used in an example...if I had all 3...after getting some loam delivered:

-Spread it out with the BB
-shape ditches, features, etc with the RB
-Land plane to smooth everything out nicely

 

[jenkinsph]

I would only add that a good landplane does a great job of smoothing out tilled lawn areas as well as roads and driveways. I use my plane more than the other two. Best to have all three, gives you a good combination of tools.

 

[msmud]

Dave,
Thanks for the reply. How would you--or could you-- move a small hill, say a 5 - 7 foot elevation, let's say of radius 50 feet, with a compact tractor? If you wanted to strip the sod off, and level the landscape, could a boxblade alone move that much dirt or would you have to break it up with a plough, subsoiler or something else before the boxblade could move it?
I'm trying to figure out how much these little tractors can do. I have a dozer which can easily do all of this stuff but now that I've cleared off about 12 acres of trees and done the gross dirtmoving, I'm wondering if I can replace it with a (far less expensive) tractor.
Tim

 

[Spudland_Dave]

Dave,
Thanks for the reply. How would you--or could you-- move a small hill, say a 5 - 7 foot elevation, let's say of radius 50 feet, with a compact tractor?

I'd say yep...with a BB, no problem to do what you say.

If you wanted to strip the sod off, and level the landscape, could a boxblade alone move that much dirt or would you have to break it up with a plough, subsoiler or something else before the boxblade could move it?

Thats why there are scarifiers on BB's....if its super hard & compacted, the scarifiers should break it up so you can break it/pull it in one pass.

I'm trying to figure out how much these little tractors can do. I have a dozer which can easily do all of this stuff but now that I've cleared off about 12 acres of trees and done the gross dirtmoving, I'm wondering if I can replace it with a (far less expensive) tractor.
Tim

Suprisingly they can do alot...they are like ants IMO...can do much more work then their physical size would suggest. BUT dont get the mentality that a CUT is a complete replacement for a D5. Treat it like what it is and a CUT will take care of you and your property for years to come.

 

[msmud]

Thanks for the replies.
Tim

 

[defed]

box blades are pretty nice. i do both rough and finishing work. if the soil is dry and loose, it does a great job of providing a nice flat clean finish. hard or wet soil is difficult to smooth (maybe w/ any tool?).

i just did some stuff for my brother. he had a 100+ cubic foot pile of dirt rough leveled w/ a bigger machine and i went in and did the finishing. this was some HEAVY clay. in the heaviest areas, it would bog me down, even in 4wd, so i would have to make adjustments to the blade as i went. but once i got everything rough graded the way i wanted it (move material from high spots to low spots) it was a breeze to finish it smooth.

i am using a JD 4300 w/ 6' king kutter bb. this is only a 32hp tractor.

 

[defed]

while on this topic, is there such an implement, where you fill a hopper full of soil, and pull it across a field, lawn, etc, that will dispense soil into low spots but basically 'float' on any other ground?

i have some dips in the lawn from settling of old back filled stump holes. i could take soil to each one (there are quite a few) and dump it in, but it would sure be nice to drag a hopper of soil and have it auto fill the low spots while not leaving large amounts of dirt on the rest of the lawn.

 

[jenkinsph]

defed,

I have done this very thing while spreading a half inch of mulch over a lawn. I put temporary 3"x1/2" flatbar under the runners of my grader plane and used the tlb to keep it loaded with mulch.

 

[orlo]

Just one more comment to add to all the new ones. Most LB's can tilt right to left quite a bit without using the right lift arm adjustment. Due to this RB's are in my opinion much better at leveling (and even moving material out like snow plowing) right to left and box blades are better front to rear. Note that just by going over a section 90 degrees to where you just did (if you can) you can accomplish the same.

LB's also can make angled cuts on the side pretty easily. Also LB's make good snow plow cleanup tools in the winter.