Kodiak vs Tennesse River

[Happyman]

I'm looking to buy a 7' box blade this week. I can't afford a Woods, LandPride or United, but found both a Kodiak and a Tennesse River brand that is affordable. Most of my work will be on a long gravel driveway leading to our farm as well as moving some dirt around where I have leveled pasture ruts and such. I don't abuse my implements, but I certainly use them to their full extent. This is going on a Kubota L3940.
Anyone have knowledge or experience with Kodiak or Tennesse Farm brands? Thanks for any advice you may have

 

[Dallas_Lilly]

My tractor was bought with a boxblade and the tractor came in before the boxblade so the dealer delivered it with a Kodiak 6' blade until the gearmore came in. The Kodiak was not heavy enough to do much good and I was very dissapointed. The gearmore was much better but I have still added about 500lbs of cutting edges to it.

 

[Happyman]

Come on folks.....there's gotta be more than one opinion out there. I'm only hours away from pulling the trigger and I don't want to shoot myself in the foot.

 

[Lunk]

Come on folks.....there's gotta be more than one opinion out there. I'm only hours away from pulling the trigger and I don't want to shoot myself in the foot.

General thought on TBN is that heavier is better. That being said, a heavy, poorly built unit will probably not outlast a lighter, well-built unit. Look at both units and check for quality of construction / beefiness.

 

[deere5105]

Worked for years with an old unit we had, don't have a clue on the brand, that did not have the adjustable teeth for ripping and not much of a cutting edge. It was continually bending to the point of repair and never really did a good job. We picked up a 78" BushHog brand and it is amazing at the difference. We didn't realize how bad the other was until using the new one. If all you are doing is spreading a little dirt and moving a few rocks on the drive you may get by. My problem with the old unit was I couldn't ever get it to "bite" in the rocks. It would just slide across the top. With the new one I can grade to fill in low spots or adjust and remove all the rocks if needed.

 

[bjr]

I see the posts about the durograders being good to maintain gravel roads, no digging deep pits and then humps kinda thing. The box blade has it's place but if I had maintain a long gravel driveway I'd look into those double bladed durograder things. bjr

 

[Happyman]

Went with the 7' Tennesse River brand.
Seems fairly stout, but only my tractor will know for sure!
Real world testing to come over the weekend.

 

[BobG_in_VA]

Went with the 7' Tennesse River brand.
Seems fairly stout, but only my tractor will know for sure!
Real world testing to come over the weekend.

Just saw your post...Hope you do well with the Tenn. brand box blade...really wanted to ask you if you live in Richmond and have a place at Kent's Store...I may be the only other TBN'r that knows what/where Kent's Store is...My place is at George's Tavern, however I'm still up here in Northern VA till we can build a house. I bought a Midwest Heavy duty 7 ft about 5 or so years ago. It has 1/2" steel side plates and "clevis" style hookups for the 3 pt. Really HD....Had it shipped up from Corrihers' in NC. Not sure if they are still in business or not....Where did you get your boxBlade from??? Good luck..BobG in VA

 

[schmism]

i have a no name light weight 5' i bought from a front yard.... same as what you might find at TSC or the like. Paid slightly less.

not as heavy as a NICE BB but it mostly works. Would a nice one cut better due to its weight. yes. Do i run out of tractor traction/hp as it is. yes.

really i dont think you can go wrong with any BB.

 

[Happyman]

Just saw your post...Hope you do well with the Tenn. brand box blade...really wanted to ask you if you live in Richmond and have a place at Kent's Store...I may be the only other TBN'r that knows what/where Kent's Store is...My place is at George's Tavern, however I'm still up here in Northern VA till we can build a house. I bought a Midwest Heavy duty 7 ft about 5 or so years ago. It has 1/2" steel side plates and "clevis" style hookups for the 3 pt. Really HD....Had it shipped up from Corrihers' in NC. Not sure if they are still in business or not....Where did you get your boxBlade from??? Good luck..BobG in VA

Hey BobG,
You know where Kents Store is? Wow, that's one in a million! I know George's Tavern as well. Nice little Deere dealer right there. I pass through GT and go north through Columbia when I want to take the back roads to our farm. Yes, we live in Richmond full time and spend about 3-4 days a week at our farm. There's an old 1800's farm house on the property right that needs some work, but very livable. We will build a home there in about 2 years when my son finishes high school and goes off to college.
The Tennesse box blade seems like it will work just fine. But like I said, this weekend will be the test. We just finished clearing 6 acres of timber for our Christmas tree farm and I have some work to do, hence the box blade.
I purchased my blade from a company called Agri Business in Ashland. I usually buy ALL my equipment from Cavalier International, but all they had were Woods or Landpride. I got this new 7' blade for $618.00. It looks like it was on their yard for 5 years! Pretty faded and had some rust. I got a 10% discount due to its condition.
Nice to hear of someone in the area. There's anothe TBn'r here named MedicShawn who is not far from me on Route 250. We actually have swaped implements to save money at times.