Box blade work- again

[QuartzCreek]

I'm trying to put all the pieces together in making a tractor buying decision and what attachments may be best. My question: What can one really do with a box blade? What kind of leveling/grading can one do with one mounted to a 30hp or less tractor? I have read the enormous thread on box blades and picture comparisons. Thanks!

Mike

 

[Tractors4u]

A lot can be done with a box blade on an under 30hp tractor. Of course the smaller the tractor, the longer it will take. The thing that hurts you with a smaller tractor is that the heavier the box is the better. You get to a point where you could have more box than your tractor can manage with a full box of dirt. My first tractor was a little bitty Bolens G152 and I did a lot of box work with that little tractor.

Box blading takes time, you will not get perfect results with the first pass. With a box blade it take some finese that comes with experience using the box.

What type of leveling/grading are you wanting to do?

 

[QuartzCreek]

One area I'm looking at falls about 2-3ft from high to low and I'm wondering whether a box blade and loader would really be able to put this into level.

 

[johan3400]

It will take some time, but yes you can. The more experienced you become the easier it will be.

 

[millsnhills]

Sure you could. Now you could run into rock or some unseen problem but if you have the time with a tractor it will get it done.

I built my home about 1 1/2 ago, moved in now. I moved and spread over 40 tons of gravel and who knows how much dirt. I did most of my back fill and a lot of the final grade, all my lawn, mulch mulch mulch. I have done all of this with a 20 horsepower tractor. Forgot to mention mowing 2 acres of lawn at a time.

You have to think of the bigger picture all I can gather from your explanation is that you want to level out a dip and yes that can be done. Good Luck

 

[3RRL]

QuartzCreek,
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( One area I'm looking at falls about 2-3ft from high to low and I'm wondering whether a box blade and loader would really be able to put this into level.)</font>

It does take some finess to get it right but can be done. You don't say how long a run between the rise and falls but you can level them with the box blade. After some practice, I got pretty good with mine.

This is what I did to get the "humps" out.
I used the scarifiers on the tops to loosen the soil and then back bladed in reverse with the boxblade. When you're pulling it, your tires ride up and down the slopes and the box tends to follow the contours. By backing into the ripped area, the rear blade pushes the dirt off the top before your tires get on the rise. You can "cut the tops off that way. Do this using several passes so you dont cut too deep. Then lift the scarifiers and smooth it out. Aother thing I do is remove the rocks that are rolling around in the box when smoothing. Otherwise they'll end up getting lodged between the front and rear blades and gouging you grade leaving a small "rut".

I've done quite a bit on my ½ mile long dirt road and am very pleased with the way it turned out. Here's a pic of my road. It shows some streaks from the rocks in the box but not bad. Also, by backing blading in reverse, I was able to cut an exit for water to escape. It's dirt, so I'm constantly smoothing it. Gives me an excuse to get seat time. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[JSUnlimited]

I bought the cheapest 5' box blade I could find because I thought I would never use it. It turns out that I use at all most all of time. I bought the King Cutter from TSC and it has held up great despite I meant only to use once in a while. Once I praticed with it, I was able to make this swale for the water to run off from between the house and the big hill going into the house. The elevation is hard to make out from these pics but it worked great, especially with hydraulic top and side links.

 

[JSUnlimited]

Another.

 

[scott_vt]

Hi Mega,
Nice job!

scotty

 

[JSUnlimited]

Scotty,

Thanks for the comments. We've never had a wet basement problem, but I thought with some drain tile/gravel and an avenue for the water to fall away, it would add some insurance. The box blade works miraces on the limestone driveway as well.