Box blade slober

[mfrost]

Does anyone have a cure for box blade slober. That is what I call it when you are trying to finish grade and leave a small trail of dirt on each side of blade with minimal dirt in the box. Currently I just go over it with the box tilted back to take care of each row and that is time and money. Maybe just a piece of chin link fence will cure it.

 

[Birdhunter1]

Dragging a piece of fence about 1' wider than you box blade on each side will help eliminate the rows left behind. I use a couple old harrow sections that I built a mount to raise them in conjuction with the box blade but a piece of fencing wire will work too. The harrow sections are also nice about dragging any roots, sticks or grass clumps out too and whenever you raise it all up it drops them.

 

[john_bud]

Mfrost,

How is the box set up? Mine doesn't "slobber" unless the box is full of dirt to the point of overflowing (about 25 cu-ft) or I hit some heavy dirt and carve off a peal that just shoots out.

My guess is that you may have the front too high. Is your back blade fixed or swinging? You need less nose up for a fixed rear blade.


just a thought.

jb

 

[patrick_g]

I have only used my own box blade (only one I have had) and it will not dribble from both sides. I have TNT and can make it dribble on one side at a time but not both no matter what I do. If I overfill the box it may lose a little dirt over the top but it is somewhere between random and uniform but certainly not from both sides at the same time.

Pat

 

[mfrost]

Mfrost,

How is the box set up? Mine doesn't "slobber" unless the box is full of dirt to the point of overflowing (about 25 cu-ft) or I hit some heavy dirt and carve off a peal that just shoots out.

My guess is that you may have the front too high. Is your back blade fixed or swinging? You need less nose up for a fixed rear blade.


just a thought.

jb

Don't know if you can see or not but the front and rear blade are about an inch below the box. That works good for cutting but try to finish then it just slobbers all over. Of course the soil here is like sand when dry hence the sand flost attachment on the back of box. If I didn't have that then nothing would be smooth. It folds up out of the way when not needed. I was thinking about attaching something to the float on both sides so I could fold them in when not needed.

 

[john_bud]

I think I see your issue. The added float is at a non-optimal angle. The box in smoothing mode should be nose high, but just a touch. Your picture where the "float" is touching, shows the box tipped too sharply up in the front. Go over to a flat smooth level driveway. Now lower the box down so the back blade (no the float) is just touching the ground. Adjust the top link so the nose of the box is just 3/4" higher than the back.

You may need to adjust the float to work with the box in that configuration. I do like your float idea. If you're interested, here's some suggestions for improvements.

Make the top bars into springs to push the float down.

or
Remove the top bars, make the float heavier and allow it to just freely drag behind. You can put a hook or pin to hold it up.


good luck!
jb

 

[patrick_g]

Alternatively, you could bring me a bunch of your sand and take some of my clay back to "undesert" your yard.

Pat

 

[mfrost]

I think I see your issue. The added float is at a non-optimal angle. The box in smoothing mode should be nose high, but just a touch. Your picture where the "float" is touching, shows the box tipped too sharply up in the front. Go over to a flat smooth level driveway. Now lower the box down so the back blade (no the float) is just touching the ground. Adjust the top link so the nose of the box is just 3/4" higher than the back.

You may need to adjust the float to work with the box in that configuration. I do like your float idea. If you're interested, here's some suggestions for improvements.

Make the top bars into springs to push the float down.

or
Remove the top bars, make the float heavier and allow it to just freely drag behind. You can put a hook or pin to hold it up.


good luck!
jb

John, the picture above were taken some time ago and they were only to show the extremes of my T&T. I have done everything about adjusting it but it still slobbers especially when it is dry. When I have a full box or when I am finish grading I am at neutral blade position or a slight bit up on the front blade. This leaves the sides of the box about 1 inch off the ground which = slobber, even if the box is not full. To resolve this I think I will make some adjustable side plate extensions. The float is rigid to the box so that I can finsh grade in very dry soft soil. If it wasn't there the box would bury itself even tilted back as far as it could go on the back blade.

Attached is a picture of the float in storage position.

 

[john_bud]

Well, if it's set up correctly and it does that --- then it's beyond me! {sorry}

Mine does neither of the bad things yours does. Gannon box- It won't hardly dig at all when set back and holds the soil without mess or slobber. Yet it still digs like a miner when tipped forward. It doesn't have that neat leveler on the back though - nice addition!

What are the verticle rods on the back of the box? Is that a mod to make it a mulch fork?

jb

 

[mfrost]

Well, if it's set up correctly and it does that --- then it's beyond me! {sorry}

Mine does neither of the bad things yours does. Gannon box- It won't hardly dig at all when set back and holds the soil without mess or slobber. Yet it still digs like a miner when tipped forward. It doesn't have that neat leveler on the back though - nice addition!

What are the verticle rods on the back of the box? Is that a mod to make it a mulch fork?

jb

John, Think of it as guage wheels. It works on the same principle. I just didn't have any wheels and I needed more surface area in the sand.

Those vertical things are attached to a common shaft and I use it for grubing shall brush and moving things that I don't want the dirt to go with it. The picture below shows the rake in the operational position. It can also be put inside the box blade if you get a sore neck looking back and also has a swing up storage position. Both these tools add weight to the box for better performance and are operational in less that 30 seconds.