Box blade and hydraulic top link on X739?

[Eric102]

I'm considering adding the 3pt hitch to my X739 and one of the uses could be a small box blade. Is a hydraulic top link possible? After having top and tilt on my 3320 I would probably feel lost without at least the top link being hydraulic which is what I seem to use the most often when blading.

Does the gas X739 have the power and traction to pull a 4 ft. box blade for doing some light leveling in dirt landscape areas? My 3320 with a 5 1/2 ft. blade is to large to access many of those spots.

 

[beenthere]

I'd expect it to, as long as "light leveling" is indeed the chore.

Are you in the landscaping business?

 

[jenkinsph]

Eric,
I use 4 ft box blade and land plane with my x749 for the close quarters work. It works okay but it is a load for the mower haven't added the top link yet but I do plan on it.

 

[Eric102]

I'd expect it to, as long as "light leveling" is indeed the chore.

Are you in the landscaping business?

Nope, retired with 5 treed acres that I'm gradually developing into lawns and planting areas.

The 3320 can do most of the heavy work but since I have the 739 just thought it might come in handy for those tight areas and save some shovel/rake work.

 

[beenthere]

Eric102
My suggestion would be to space the leave trees on your acres using the 5 1/2 ft blade on the 3320. That will leave good spacing for the future when you are mowing with the x739 or equivalent. As I see it, trees increase in diameter as they grow, and all too soon you will not be able to get a 54" or 60" deck between them. In 20 quick years, you will be glad you did. IMO
Go with the box blade you have now... save wear and tear on the x739.

50 years ago I planted red and white pine 6' apart. Today, most of those trees are 15-18" diameter and I cannot get between them with my 54" deck to mow. And I'm too stubborn to cut one of them down as it is a lot of work to dig out the stump or cut it low enough to mow over it and I don't want to look at the open space.

 

[Gittyup]

I put a set of rear remotes on my x739 with manual plumbing at the patch panel. I use them for a dump trailer. I guess they could be used for hydraulic toplink. Haven't thought about how these might be used for that purpose. Should work if you use the other hydraulic control.

 

[Gittyup]

I put a set of rear remotes on my x739 with manual plumbing at the patch panel. I use them for a dump trailer. I guess they could be used for hydraulic toplink. Haven't thought about how these might be used for that purpose. Should work if you use the other hydraulic control.

 

[bruceatlam]

If you really want to continue planning this project, best make sure that you can get a hydraulic top link that will be short enough and at the same time have the stroke that you'll need for a box blade. Shortest that I'm aware of are 16" closed with a six inch stroke --- or thereabouts. Will that work with a 739??? Just asking -------

 

[Eric102]

Not having the 3 pt. or the box blade yet I'm not sure what length the top link would need to be but I have seen a cat 0 that's 11" closed with a 5" stroke and a cat 1 that's 14 1/4" closed with a 4" stroke. Maybe jenkinsph would have a good length estimate since he's using a box blade now?

Also just noticed this rear hydraulic coupler/hose kit is available for the X700 series: X-Series Rear Hydraulic Kit

 

[Gittyup]

Not having the 3 pt. or the box blade yet I'm not sure what length the top link would need to be but I have seen a cat 0 that's 11" closed with a 5" stroke and a cat 1 that's 14 1/4" closed with a 4" stroke. Maybe jenkinsph would have a good length estimate since he's using a box blade now?

Also just noticed this rear hydraulic coupler/hose kit is available for the X700 series: X-Series Rear Hydraulic Kit

Yeah I've seen that kit before. It is convenient. And might be your best avenue. I couldn't use it because I wanted to use 1/2" couplers on my dump trailer so that I can use the trailer with either the JD X or my bigger Kioti. Kioti already had 1/2" remotes. So I made my own assemblies and port bracket. I welded the port holder to the click-n-go bracket. I tried to buy just the bracket from JD and they didn't seem to know anything about it. I asked the folks at auxhyd for help with the part number and they were equally unhelpful. They wouldn't sell me the bracket alone nor tell me the JD part number.