1st Time w/Box Blade

[snpower]

I rented a box blade for my BX2360 for the weekend. WHAT A TOOL! It's too heavy for the tractor as United Rentals said they use it on their B21 but I'm making it work for the weekend.

My question is this: aside from grading areas and filling low spots with topsoil which I have already done, I wanted to use the scarifiers to tear up some areas where I can't get grass to grow (exposing the soil underneath), then use the box to redistribute and level the exposed soil. Is this practical?

 

[Bartcephus]

The scarifiers will break the soil, but they are no substitute for a disk, subsoiler, middlebuster, plow etc. They are limited on the depth factor. But when that's all you got, I bet it will do just fine....

 

[MarkV]

When you say it is too heavy for your tractor do you mean it will not pick it up? In my book the heavier the better when it comes to box blades.

MarkV

 

[gwdixon]

If the box blade is too heavy for your tractor then the scarifiers will likely sink in and act as an anchor - especially if the tractor has turf tires.

If that happens, you might set them shallow and make multiple passes until the ground is loose enough so the scarifiers can be set deeper.

Leveling loose dirt with a box blade can be a challenge if it is set to dig in too much. If you lengthen the top link so the rear blade scrapes rather than the front blade digs it seems to work better. You'll have to play with the adjustment to get it just right for your conditions.

These adjustments are to use the BB in "float" to follow the contours of the land. Using it is a set position tends to cause little hills and valleys as the tires go over imperfections and raise or lower the blade.

 

[TripleR]

I rented a box blade for my BX2360 for the weekend. WHAT A TOOL! It's too heavy for the tractor as United Rentals said they use it on their B21 but I'm making it work for the weekend.

My question is this: aside from grading areas and filling low spots with topsoil which I have already done, I wanted to use the scarifiers to tear up some areas where I can't get grass to grow (exposing the soil underneath), then use the box to redistribute and level the exposed soil. Is this practical?

Yes, it "can" be done, but is pretty hard especially with a BX that doesn't have position control.

As mentioned, you will be adjusting the top link and quite a bit as well as adjusting your scarifiers.

One of the problems is going to be dragging the clumps of grass around that will get caught under your blades.

I have been driving tractors for a while and while I "can" do it, I can't do it well; maybe it's just me. Even with my L5030 with hydraulic toplink, I get much better results with a combination tiller and BB.

 

[Kevinc2004]

With turf tires on my BX1860 I found it necessary to engage the 4wd in order to pull the disc harrow or the single shank subsoiler while I was plowing the garden last night. It did wonderful in 4wd, but would not pull hardly anything without it. I am using a LandsPride 48 in Box Blade and 12 disk cutting Harrow.

 

[Argosy]

If you've got chains put them on. It will help a lot with turf tires.

 

[Usta]

The biggest problem with a box blade and scarifiers on a small tractor is the limited power and traction. I use multiple passes with no or shallow scarifiers. With my scarifiers set deep the tractor is anchored where it sits.