Box Scraper Box Blade use question..

[PHPaul]

Longer Top Link = more bite from Box Blade, thicker peel.

Shorter Top Link = less bite because blade will be more vertical/scraping rather than peeling. You want shorter Top Link to smooth as you approach job completion.

Are you sure about that?

In my experience that's exactly backwards.

I have a hydraulic toplink on mine, and when I shorten it (tipping the blade forward) it cuts deeper, when I lengthen it (tipping the blade backwards) it goes from digging to dragging/smoothing.

I have a 5 footer behind a JD750 (18 hp) with no ballast/weights/loaded tires. While I CAN stop it if I get too aggressive with the forward tilt, it's easily overcome by either lifting a bit or reducing the cut angle a bit.

My major use for it is maintaining a gravel driveway. As long as it has rained in the previous week or so, I can drop the scarifiers all the way down, tilt the box forward enough to get it to start cutting and with 2 or 3 passes (in 1st or 2nd and 4WD) tear 4-6 inches off the top with eliminates most of the potholes. Then I lift the scarifiers, tilt the box back to grade mode and drag everything out nice and smooth.

 

[blueriver]

Box blading is an art .. The more of it you do the better u get ... You do not have too much blade for your tractor as stated lift up if needed

 

[Wa11banger]

I have draft control but am having trouble understanding how to use it.. It is another contol lever right next to and exactly like my 3ph control lever. But what is confusing is its use.. It seems when I have the draft control set roughly 3/4 to all the way up I can control the implement (raise/lower)

If I have it 3/4 or less it seems I can no longer raise or lower the implement.. really puzzling me right now

 

[jemclimber]

In my experience that's exactly backwards.

That's my experience as well.

 

[jeff9366]

Thanks for the tip about filled tires, I do not yet but will soon. I have a FEL installed so hopefully that helps some as well.

I do have rigid style pin adjust links like you show in your pics but they are on the outside instead of the inside and the go back to the axle mounts on each side.

If you are going to be doing any garden or crop work, think twice before loading your tires. Soil compaction is something to always consider and avoid. Stay as light as possible while getting your job done.

Before four wheel drive became common in the mid-1960's, loading tires improved traction on two wheel drive tractors, which were mostly in the 3,000-4,000 pound weight range. Today, with four wheel drive, I would rather wait for very-good to perfect soil moisture for traction rather than always having loaded tires.

I do not have loaded tires on my 1,900 pound Kubota B3300SU and I pull a 560 pound Rollover Box Blade without difficulty, through rock free, sandy-loam.

With you rigid stabilizers supporting the Lower Links you can push SOME, LOOSE dirt, gingerly. You cannot compensate for the fact that tractors are fundamentally designed to PULL.

LINK:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/owning-operating/258630-soil-compaction.html

 

[Wa11banger]

Jeff thanks for the link to the soil compaction thread, I think I will keep the tires how they are with that info. Good read and yes once the area is clear, AG will be the primary use of the tractor. I will have trees, roots, and the like to clear first then level and prep for growing vegetable with only a few row crop needs.. Copy that what you all have said about going backwards.. I am pretty sure I am just going to leave that part alone. I just thought it was odd to have a blade there if it couldn't.. So best advise for me would be don't

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

Rick, what I use the back edge of the box blade for is just leveling loose piles of dirt. For example, if I dig up a cedar tree, I'll have piles of dirt laying around. I'll use the box blade to fill that dirt back into the hole. Sometimes it's convenient to back up to a small pile of dirt and push it backwards into the hole. Doing that won't damage anything.

Just dont try to do any digging or heavy duty dirt moving when pushing with the back side of the box blade, and you'll be ok.

 

[blueriver]

If you are going to be doing any garden or crop work, think twice before loading your tires. Soil compaction is something to always be considered and avoided. Stay as light as possible while getting your job done. Before four wheel drive became common in the mid-1960's, loading tires improved traction on two wheel drive tractors, which were mostly in the 3,000-4,000 pound weight range. Today, with four wheel drive, I would rather wait for very-good to perfect soil moisture for traction rather than always having loaded tires. I do not have loaded tires on my 1,900 pound Kubota B3300SU and I pull a 560 pound Rollover Box Blade without difficulty, through rock free, sandy-loam. With you rigid stabilizers supporting the Lower Links you can push SOME, LOOSE dirt, gingerly. You cannot compensate for the fact that tractors are fundamentally designed to PULL. LINK: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/owning-operating/258630-soil-compaction.html

Personally I wouldn't have a tractor with out loaded rears .. But that's me ... You add ballast every time u hook up your 560 lb blade

 

[Looking4new]

I had one with out loaded tires and it was a useless as t!ts on a bull. The one I have now has them loaded, but I don't do any crop work either.

 

[jimainiac]

Rick, I've been reading your box blade discussion with interest because after years of using a rear blade, I just got a box blade. You haven't mentioned whether your box blade has a hinged rear blade or not. There was some advice given on how to angle the box for deeper or shallower cutting, and others took exception to it. I wonder if the difference has to do with whether the rear blade is hinged or not. Seems like that might affect the action of the blade. There must be some enhanced benefit to the hinged rear blade, because the more basic models tend to have a fixed rear blade, while the hinged blade is an option, or available with a heavier blade.
One thing I've noticed, when pushing dirt going backwards, is that to keep the blade from catching and digging in, it can be a good idea to keep the blade raised up a little bit instead of leaving it in "float" with the lever all the way down.
On the issue of whether to fill your rear tires or not, that's everyone's personal decision, and I suppose that soil compaction when farming is a consideration. In that case, adding removable wheel weights is an option. For just about every other purose, filling the rear tires for ballast is a good idea. When doing front end loader work you need a counter ballast of some kind, and filled tires help in addition to a heavy attachment on the rear. Filled tires or wheel weights also help for stability on side slopes, by lowering the tractor's center of gravity.