Front-End Loader Box Blade VS. rear angle blade VS. FEL for dirt driveway

[3RRL]

...
but i still stick to my "rear blade is best for maintaining a gravel drive"

Why, of course you do schmism!

 

[bjcsc]

Here ya go. Mine is considered a 7 footer. Actual width is 89". 24" sides. 84" long. Two blades extend 1" below sides at about a 20-25 degree angle side-side. Weighs in around 1400-1500lbs. I pull it with my 75 horse 7520 Mahindra that weighs just under 14000lbs with the loader and road scraper. A couple of reasons that it works better than a box blade is that it has 2 blades on an angle, long sides to help keep the blades from moving up and down as much as a 2' box blade will. The angled blades work great for removing wash boarding. This thing is like pulling a 7' square down the road, instead of a 7' x 2' rectangle. Shear size helps smooth better.

I currently have a 5' and 7' for sale.

OK, so the front blade cuts in 1" deep, the "spoils" go over the blade and then the rear blade fills in/levels with them. Right? The rear blade tip is level with the sides?

 

[MtnViewRanch]

OK, so the front blade cuts in 1" deep, the "spoils" go over the blade and then the rear blade fills in/levels with them. Right? The rear blade tip is level with the sides?

On the units that I have, both blades are 1" below the sides. I don't know about other makes.

 

[Charlesaf3]

Mtnview,

Did you say that you don't have the roadboss after all? Any idea on what the difference is between yours and the road boss if so?

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Mtnview,

Did you say that you don't have the roadboss after all? Any idea on what the difference is between yours and the road boss if so?

I found out that I don't have the Road Boss back in Feb at the Tulare AG show. I stopped at the Road Boss booth and was talking to the owner telling him how great the graders are and that I have sent him many customers and asked him when he had changed the style of their grader. He sort of gave me an odd look and asked what did I mean by change. I said that your hitch now bolts on and mine is welded on and my sides are about a foot longer than the new graders. (He happened to have a 7' model there on display, same width that I have) He said that I didn't have a Road Boss, but that I most likely had a Road Master blade and that they were the closest to his than anybody else's blade. That they were actually heaver than his,(because of the longer sides) but that the Road Master didn't have replaceable skid shoes and that the Road Boss was the only grader that had double sets of holes punched in the blade mount so that the cutting edges can be lowered thus doubling the life of them. Had nothing bad to say about mine, just that the Road Boss had better serviceability, (bolt on skid shoes and 2 locations for the cutting edges). He also mentioned that the Road Master guy had gone out of business. One of the things that he did mention was that a lot of other light weight blades are out there and that they just don't work as well as a heavy grader blade.

Anyway, it looks like I do not have a Road Boss Grader , but I will continue to recommend them because they are a good implement to have to maintain a dirt road in my opinion.

One last thing, I have a 5' & 7' Road Master for sale if you know anybody that needs one.

 

[john_bud]

The better it works and the easier it works, the more money it costs. I have never seen anybody that bought a $350 implement and have it work like a high dollar one. You usually get what you pay for when it comes to attachments and implements.

Now there is a very very accurate statement!

 

[Charlesaf3]

Thanks Mtn view. I take it you like the road master as well? Longer sides seem better at a guess...

Would shipping the road masters out to the East Coast be a pain?

 

[Charlesaf3]

Also, do you think putting rear wheels on the road boss/road master would help, by lengthening it even more?

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Also, do you think putting rear wheels on the road boss/road master would help, by lengthening it even more?

I would say that I don't feel that the Road Master needs any altering what so ever. It has worked great for me so far. I am planning on using it quite a bit this weekend, I will get a few pictures.

 

[Wyld Bill]

I have borrowed a 5' grader blade & have been trying that out. There is a bend in my driveway (as in, it isn't straight) so rather than crown it I've decided to "tip" it to one side so the water will run off the one downhill side. One thing I have noticed is that the blade is too narrow for my liking when you have it angled all the way. I found a guy about 40 minutes from me that buys & sells tractors & tractor implements for a hobby. He has brand new 7' grader blades for $375 so I might buy one of them so I'll have my own. He had box blades there too but he said it wouldn't do what I wanted. The way he explained it to me it sounds like a box blade is like a giant hand plane. He said it is good for moving a bunch of material from a high area to a low area but not good for doing my driveway. He said before I got to the top it would be full of material then I'd have a big pile of material half way up the driveway. Also wouldn't be able to pitch driveway.
Tell me more about a York rake. I think he had some of those too. I thought those were for collecting rocks from the dirt.