Box Scraper Box blade opp. Will it work for me?

[Gittyup]

Thanks for all the inputs everyone. I've never sand blasted before. But, I can buy a gravity feed unit from TSC for $100, and I have a compressor. Couldn't I just do this my self for not a whole lot more and then have the blaster for future needs? How much sand will I use? Can it be recycled?

I'm going to buy it. Just waiting on his call saying he has his tractor there to load it.

 

[john_bud]

Wow, I feel honored. The pictures of the box blade that MJ posted are mine.

Gittyup, If you want to get the rust off a wire brush cup (course) and a 4 1/2" angle grinder will do you better than a cheap blaster. The cheap ones will drive you to drinking. They blow thru sand like a drunk sailer goes thru money and they get even less accomplished. You really need a compressor in the 15-20 cfm range at 150 -175 psi to be effective on a large project.

By the way, the pics are winging there now...

jb

 

[Leon Wittner]

I have a 6' King Kutter box blade that my L-2800DT Kubota pulls with no problems (24 HP) I think I paid $349 for it new with six scarfers fully extended it rips up rocks and all in my Montana rocky soil. I would post a picture of it but I can never get a picture to download on this site.

 

[Gittyup]

Gittyup, If you want to get the rust off a wire brush cup (course) and a 4 1/2" angle grinder will do you better than a cheap blaster. The cheap ones will drive you to drinking. They blow thru sand like a drunk sailer goes thru money and they get even less accomplished. You really need a compressor in the 15-20 cfm range at 150 -175 psi to be effective on a large project.

By the way, the pics are winging there now...

jb

The grinder was my original plan. But, it'll probably mean 2 or 3 wire brushes. And then there are the nooks and grannies. This is where the sand blaster would be useful. Maybe even a cheap one. Saw a small pressurized unit at harbor freight for $70. It's 125 psi, pressurized. Or maybe just some of that chemical paint that turns rust hard would work. First things first. Gotta solve the scarifier mystery before it'll be ready to paint.

Got your photos. Thanks a bunch. I see there are torsion springs in yours too, not just posts. And your top link brackets are much different. How do you disengage the locks? With your foot?

I'm still unclear on how to make this thing work. Perhaps it'll get clearer once I have it in my possession and can exercise the movements on it a bit. Man I was sure hoping yours was exactly the same. I keep stairing at those wire cables, completely befuddled. Help! Is there anyone out there with this exact design that can share a picture or input?

Does anyone think that a Woods/Gill dealer could be helpful? My fear is that it is so old (before the Woods acquisition) that there is no documentation available any more and parts are not available. The springs are the real concern right now because these would be the hardest to replicate.

 

[MJPetersen]

John,

I did not remember whose box that was, but for the time that I have been on TBN I have been collecting pics and I put them in folders in a special place so that I can use them if I decide to build something. I collected the pics of boxes when there was that great thread on what makes a good box good. Thanks for the use of your pictures. I think that I will go back and label them as being yours

Mike

 

[Gittyup]

Mike,

FYI. Those tubes I was asking about do contain torsion springs. Probably covered for protection.

 

[john_bud]

The grinder was my original plan. But, it'll probably mean 2 or 3 wire brushes. And then there are the nooks and grannies. This is where the sand blaster would be useful. Maybe even a cheap one. Saw a small pressurized unit at harbor freight for $70. It's 125 psi, pressurized. Or maybe just some of that chemical paint that turns rust hard would work. First things first. Gotta solve the scarifier mystery before it'll be ready to paint.

Got your photos. Thanks a bunch. I see there are torsion springs in yours too, not just posts. And your top link brackets are much different. How do you disengage the locks? With your foot?

I'm still unclear on how to make this thing work. Perhaps it'll get clearer once I have it in my possession and can exercise the movements on it a bit. Man I was sure hoping yours was exactly the same. I keep stairing at those wire cables, completely befuddled. Help! Is there anyone out there with this exact design that can share a picture or input?

Does anyone think that a Woods/Gill dealer could be helpful? My fear is that it is so old (before the Woods acquisition) that there is no documentation available any more and parts are not available. The springs are the real concern right now because these would be the hardest to replicate.

Yeah, the top link connection on mine is a bit stouter than yours. Not that it matters much - both are strong enough.

The bottom of the swinging scar bar has a hook that latches onto a lug on the bottom of the main cross bar. The lever un-latches it and the torsion springs allow it to float back up - effortlessly. There are a couple pictures of that in the bundle I sent. Probably many are hard to figure out with out the box next to them! If you don't want to use springs, you could put a cylinder or even just a chain. Would be a 50-75 pound load to pick up but it would work.

I would bet that the springs on about anyones box would fit. Gannon, Gill or even Gearmore.

 

[Gittyup]

Well I bought today. Had to take my own tractor to pick it up. Man didn't have any of his 13 tractors at his house! Image that! Said that he wouldn't have equipment there to move it until April or May. Luckily it was only a 10 minute drive down the road.

I was worried about my little Kioti being able to handle it's weight. Hooked it up to the 3PH and didn't even know it was back there. Got it home easily. But had other obligations that took up my whole day. Tomorrow I plan to check it more thoroughly. More photos to come.

I hadn't seen the blade nor the ends of the scarifiers before I picked it up because they were buried in the ground. All the scarifiers are intact with points, and he gave me a spare. None are bent. Quick look at how they are held in looks like a rod the width of the box that passes through a notch in them is used to hold and adjust depth. Two depth settings.

As I said before the back blade is missing. He has a blade off a bigger snow plow he will sell me to use. But, this blade is straight and the box looks to be designed for a curved blade. What do you think? Should I buy a new blade to tune of $140 or make the bigger snow plow blade work. The latter would require cutting to size and drilling new holes in the hinge plate to match the blade.

As for the front blade. It's there and doesn't look to have ever been flipped over to the other cutting surface. The plow bolts are shot though. Some are loose too. Very heavy rust with shallow threads. I don't look forward to getting them off.

I don't plan to replace the original parts. I will weld on a hand winch to raise the scarifiers. Haven't figured out how to rig of up the scarifier lock down release just yet. I do know that it only has one BIG lock at the center of the bar. Just haven't had time yet to examine how it was originally designed to work. Thinking heavy duty cable lever or cable squeeze control of some kind.

Sure hope I end up with a descent box blade for the trouble.

 

[Gittyup]

Here are some photos of it.
One shows the hinged rear plate tied up.

The last one is after I took off most of the parts. The scarifier bar came apart pretty easily. Removed the teeth retaining bar and all the teeth. Then pulled the pins that hold the scarifier square tube. It is very heavy, even without the teeth. I'd guess around 140 lbs. I had to be careful not to let it drop on me while I was disassembling. That thing could hurt ya!

Got the cables and the mangled lever handle off too. All that is left to remove is the cam wheel assembly, springs, and the blade. Basically what ever is bolted on. All the bolts are a mess and I expect to have trouble getting them out. I sprayed with WD-40 and will let them soak for a day or so. Then I'll apply heat and give it a try.

I think the locking hook had a wire directly welded to it that ran up onto the lever handle somehow. Seems to be be hinged such that it free falls open. So cable had to hold it closed some how. Not sure yet if I'll use this again. Might just go with a chain to hold in down and still plan to use a winch to raise it. No way am I gonna try to raise that beast without some kind of mechanical helper. The fully assembled bar has to weigh close to 200 lbs.

 

[Gary Fowler]

That is a beast of a BB. It makes my Howse look like a lightweight and it is supposed to be the heaviest Howse makes although Howse brand is a low end brand, it still weighs in at 480# if I remember right. I have bent 2 of the scarifier teeth on big rocks and or some buried concrete that was poured around some fence post, but they straightened out with a 16# sledge and several taps. It does give my 45 HP tractor more than it will pull when it hits roots and such with all 7 scarifies engaged to the max, so I am betting that you have a little problem pulling them that deep, but you can always make multiple passes. More is better in this area and the extra weight of holding it up with sure add to the traction. Good luck on getting that thing cleaned up. You might want to try some Naval Jelly on it when you get ready to clean it up and paint it. It should take all the paint and at least some of the rust off. Phosphoric acid will also dissolve the rust and then just rinse thoroughly with water and you should be ready to paint. I would think that with all the rust pitting, you should have a good profile for the paint to adhere to which is the other reason to blast before painting, not only do you clean the rust and gunk off, but it gives the paint a rough surface to stick too. That shouldnt be a problem on that BB.