Box Blade vs. Rear Blade

[Soundguy]

HCJ, i think you have your prices askew.. at least down here.... a cheap box around here, new, is 250$.. a same sized angle blade is about 150$// as you approach 1000$ you no longer get to call them cheap.. they are getting into the heavy-medium duty and heavy duty. the cheap ones can be folde dup behing my antique 30 and 45hp machiens. I know.. I've done it. no way I'd put my 200$ 5' blade behing my 70hp ford 5000.. it wouldn't last the moment it hit the ground and I let the clutch out... it'd fold in half at the back or the arms would pull off it.


soundguy

 

[jenkinsph]

I would disagree that a box cost more than a blade. In my opinion most box blades are pretty similar, and they are pretty bombproof. I have pulled a fairly cheap box that is rated for a 30 horse tractor with my 70 horse and it works fine. It was pretty cheap (don't recall the exact price, but I think under a grand) A good wide rear blade for my tractor that has good features easily costs over two grand. I think horsepower ratings are more important for a blade than a box. In other words, I think pulling a under-rated blade with a too big tractor is much more likely to damage the blade than it would pulling a box. Also, a good blade has to be wider by a couple of feet than a box, and ideally it should have hydraulic controls. THis adds to the cost.

So I bought a cheap box and use it alot with no problems. Some day I am going to get a nice rear blade but it will be triple the cost. Obviously a box is made to move dirt. You can do some finish grading with it but it is primitive. A good hydraulic blade would be far superior and easier to use for good finish grading. In the meantime, I will continue dragging my box blade wishing I had a rear blade.

I never plow snow, but I think a box would be fairly worthless for that, as compared to a blade. I would be afraid of tearing up my drive if it was paved.

I can go along with alot of your explanations above but a good box blade or good rearblade can both cost several thousand dollars. Just depends on needs and means.

 

[Soundguy]

i'm guessing he don't need 5000$ of blades. probably 600$ of used ones be fine...

soundguy

 

[JIGBUILDER]

I have both and prefere the box blade for moving deep snow over the angle blade. My gravel drive way is a 1/4 mile long. I found the back blade pretty useless in snow thats deeper than the blade. About the only thing I use my angle blade is for moving gravel back to the middle of the driveway. Then hook up the BB tilt the back of it down so the rear blade drags/spreads the gravel out level without digging in.

I would get a BB first as I can do much more with it than a angle blade.

 

[Kiotikarl]

I have a 6 foot BB on my CK30, and use it for both grading and snow-plowing. Presently making a 3pt skid-steer hitch to hook up the BB to my FEL.

 

[wade simpson]

I have both and prefere the box blade for moving deep snow over the angle blade. My gravel drive way is a 1/4 mile long. I found the back blade pretty useless in snow thats deeper than the blade. About the only thing I use my angle blade is for moving gravel back to the middle of the driveway. Then hook up the BB tilt the back of it down so the rear blade drags/spreads the gravel out level without digging in.

I would get a BB first as I can do much more with it than a angle blade.

I agree with this. I have a dirt road approx a 1/4 mi long and I had a really tough time moving deep heavy snow with the blade , the box would break it up and move it around until I could push it with the FEL. The blade was great once the snow was broken up and reduced in depth. The biggest problem I had with the blade was it would skew the whole tractor sideways when it got really loaded up with heavy snow and the blade was at its max angle.

I reconstructed my road last year with the blade and it worked great. It's the only tool I have that can dig a ditch and move the dirt to the middle of the road. The box is great at loosing and smoothing the dirt.

If I could only have one..it would really depend on what would be the tools main job. A good blade will do most of what a box will, with a little practise.

 

[crazyal]

I think I would go with a rear blade first. Like others have said they usually are cheaper. Also before buying a box blade I would read up on grading scrapers. Also watch some youtube videos of each. Because the box blade and scraper cost more you'll want to take your time and pick out what's going to work best for you.

 

[BoFuller]

I could only afford one to begin with and the salesman convinced me it needed to be the box scrapper. I bought remote land and had to make a driveway about 1/4 mile long. The box works great, and I won't be plowing any snow (at least not for awhile). Depends mostly on what you use it for.

 

[crazyal]

I could only afford one to begin with and the salesman convinced me it needed to be the box scrapper. I bought remote land and had to make a driveway about 1/4 mile long. The box works great, and I won't be plowing any snow (at least not for awhile). Depends mostly on what you use it for.

They way I was told by the dealer was that the box blade was the tool to build a road, everything else would be slower. But the grader worked better for upkeep. The grader and rear blade can't move the dirt the box can. He also said the box blade required more technique to get a finished product. The grader you just pull and it floats so the only adjustment is the blade height. Each one has some overlap but they also have a place where they shine the best.

 

[KWentling]

OK. This is from a guy that only has a rear blade, so take it for what it's worth, but I wouldn't trade it for a box blade. Ever. And I have used a Westendorf 10' box a little. A rear blade can have wings added to the ends of the blade so it will carry dirt much like a box blade. Most of the bigger blades have this as an option. It would be pretty easy to add that feature to any blade. Some just flip up out of the way when you don't need them. My 8' Leon has provisions for bolt on wings. I can't see how a box blade could be better for road building than a rear blade. To cut a ditch with a rear blade, you angle and tilt the blade to pull dirt from the bottom of the ditch and deposit it on the road surface. All in one pass, though it will probably take multiple passes to get the depth needed on a new road. Then get up on the road surface and spread it. In snow, you need speed to keep the snow moving. Sometimes you have to go back and make two passes to get what makes it over the top. There is a depth limit to what you can blade though. I have a blower now so I don't blade snow much. One MUST have (in my opinion) accessory for a rear blade is a tail gage wheel. Makes it SO much easier to get nice smooth surfaces. In my opinion, a rear blade is just much more versatile.

Kim