Purchased a 4520 Open Station

Honey Dealer · Apr 9, 2012

jenkinsph said:
Sounds like a real nice package to me.:thumbsup:

I do think you should have ordered six rear wheel weights rather than the four you listed. You will need them for the boxblade work.

Do 3 weights on each side protrude much? Since I have a wider box blade than you, am I going to have serious traction issues?

Martian · Apr 9, 2012

Honey Dealer said:
Do 3 weights on each side protrude much? Since I have a wider box blade than you, am I going to have serious traction issues?

Steve has the same box blade as I now do and should be the same size as yours, assuming they are going by the usual numbering and yours is a 84 inch width. I do believe it is a newer model that you are looking at, though. Shouldn't have any problems lugging it around with 2 per side, but I do think the 3 looks very nice from his pics. If you want to keep it narrower you might consider getting some Rim Guard in the tires.

Zebrafive · Apr 9, 2012

Honey Dealer said:
The only thing I am questioning is whether I should have got the Frontier AV20E root grapple rather than the AV20H. The E has two "thumbs" rather than the one of the H.

I have two "grapples" on my root rake grapple. Real nice for "lopsided" loads.
What is the weight difference between the two? If the weight will not take away too much capacity I would go for two grapples. Since the "E" is also for 400 & 500 series loaders, not just 300 & 400 series.

I also find it easier to see where the grapples are when lining up on something, vs a single grapple in the center.

Zebrafive · Apr 9, 2012

Honey Dealer said:
Do 3 weights on each side protrude much? Since I have a wider box blade than you, am I going to have serious traction issues?

Not sure on this model, but sometimes you can mount one weight inboard on the wheel.

I would also check the owners manual for maximum number of weights, my 6415 states 3 max. per side.

jenkinsph · Apr 10, 2012

Honey Dealer said:
Do 3 weights on each side protrude much? Since I have a wider box blade than you, am I going to have serious traction issues?

As Martian mentioned these boxblades are very similar, the new model is IMatch ready which is a nice improvement. The older model is 50lbs heavier and weighs in at 1250lbs.

My tractor weighs in about 5500 lbs, it needs all of that when you sink the rippers down.

Here is a picture from the rear of the 4520 and 8'landplane I built, last two pictures are of the BB1284 as you can see very similar to yours. Very satisfied with these and topntilt makes it that much better.

TCowner · Apr 10, 2012

I'm telling you Steve, You need to quit your day job and start building land planes for a living. The 8' model on your 4520 and the 4' on your X749 look like they could take care of every rough driveway, road and uneven lawn that is out there.

I have the AV20H grapple on my 3720 and it is the most useful tool in the fleet. With my pine thinning project I couldn't survive without a grapple. I loose some of the smaller material through the tines but overall its a good product and its light enough where it doesn't consume all of the loader's lifting capacity just to move the grapple itself.

jenkinsph · Apr 10, 2012

TCowner said:
I'm telling you Steve, You need to quit your day job and start building land planes for a living. The 8' model on your 4520 and the 4' on your X749 look like they could take care of every rough driveway, road and uneven lawn that is out there.

I have the AV20H grapple on my 3720 and it is the most useful tool in the fleet. With my pine thinning project I couldn't survive without a grapple. I loose some of the smaller material through the tines but overall its a good product and its light enough where it doesn't consume all of the loader's lifting capacity just to move the grapple itself.

Thanks for the compliment, for cleanup after the grapple I would use a landscape rake and/or a pine straw rake. The pine straw rake doesn't leave anything to pick up afterwards. One of the handiest tools I own. Incidentally today we are going to work over this lawn area in the picture for one of my customers, till, smooth and rake it out. Will plant Fescue and roll the seeds in.

Honey Dealer · Apr 10, 2012

jenkinsph said:
As Martian mentioned these boxblades are very similar, the new model is IMatch ready which is a nice improvement. The older model is 50lbs heavier and weighs in at 1250lbs.

My tractor weighs in about 5500 lbs, it needs all of that when you sink the rippers down.

Here is a picture from the rear of the 4520 and 8'landplane I built, last two pictures are of the BB1284 as you can see very similar to yours. Very satisfied with these and topntilt makes it that much better.

Do you find the land plane essential when finishing a new lawn or does your box blade do a fair job?

jenkinsph · Apr 10, 2012

Honey Dealer said:
Do you find the land plane essential when finishing a new lawn or does your box blade do a fair job?

I can do it with the boxblade but it would take me alot longer. The boxblade is better for jobs like cut and fill. The landplane is better for smoothing and as the name implies making it flat and or planar.

I added the picture of the landplane above as it was the only good profile shot I had of the rear wheel weights.