Box Scraper Box Scraper / BoxBlade Choices?

[fried1765]

I've got a 5' KK BB that I use on my little JD2210. It wouldn't be considered a "heavy duty" BB. But it certainly is on that tractor. Every pass I am producing 100% results of the tractor's capability.

You can always lift the 3pt a touch if the tractor can't handle it. But hard to force a light BB to make that needed cut.

I have a Ford 1920 4x4 and a 60" KK box blade.
I really don't think my little 32HP Ford could hurt the 60" KK BB.
I use the BB for rearranging gravel on my 2000' driveway.
Have not tried to pull boulders out of the ground with it.
I use my 47HP Ford TLB for anything like that.

 

[Turbys_1700]

Get wider than your track. I purchased a used Taylor Way 7' rear box to go behind both my Workmaster 50 and 4610 SU. The Workmaster rear tread width is 72". The 4610 SU is wider. I flipped the tires from 4" offset to 10" offset. It put them out a foot wider overall and I think they are right at 84".

The options you have listed are good choices. If you want to save some coin look for a used unit on Craigslist. If you want to buy new you pretty much have it covered.

Keep in mind that a fixed rear box blade will not pull quite as much dirt as a floating blade and tends to weigh less in the same configuration. I sold my Woods 5' rear box blade that weighed in at 540 or so pounds and it had a floating rear blade. My 7' Taylor Way weighs around 660# with a fixed rear blade. I would consider it a medium unit. The Woods would load up really fast if you didn't know how to float the rear three point. The Taylor Way is much more user friendly and does not take as much bite but still loads up nicely with the scarifiers in place.

 

[ovrszd]

I have a Ford 1920 4x4 and a 60" KK box blade.
I really don't think my little 32HP Ford could hurt the 60" KK BB.
I use the BB for rearranging gravel on my 2000' driveway.
Have not tried to pull boulders out of the ground with it.
I use my 47HP Ford TLB for anything like that.

Yeah, it would be near impossible for me to tear up my KK BB on my 22HP JD. But I like the heaviness of it on that tractor.

I also like the heaviness of my 7' Gannon on my Ford.

In either scenario the tractors will give up before the BB does. That's not the case if too light BB is purchased. I like the implement to handle the tractor without failure.

 

[jenkinsph]

Yeah, it would be near impossible for me to tear up my KK BB on my 22HP JD. But I like the heaviness of it on that tractor.

I also like the heaviness of my 7' Gannon on my Ford.

In either scenario the tractors will give up before the BB does. That's not the case if too light BB is purchased. I like the implement to handle the tractor without failure.

I agree, better to have an implement that can handle the tractor without failure. Failures like this are wasted money for replacement.

 

[mljenkins]

This is a great thread as I am currently kicking around getting a new box blade. Let me start with some pictures that may help others. I have a New Holland Workmaster 55 (55 HP engine, ~45 PTO) that is about 7' wide on the back tires. I have a King Kutter 72" standard duty blade I purchased used about 5-6 years ago for use on my last tractor which was 39 HP with a cat 1 hitch. It was fine on the smaller tractor, although the smaller tractor didn't have enough weight when the blade really dug in. It has been great on my WM tractor for grading a mile of gravel road 2-3 times a year, now maintaining my 1100' driveway, and general purpose grading. However, here's where the problem comes in.

The first time I was pushing snow backwards backed close to the edge of a small ditch where the bottom of the blade caught. It severely bent/snapped the metal going to the hitch pin. I had it rewelded and things were fine. Now in the past couple weeks I was doing some extensive grading trying to make a slope to allow water to drain away from our home site (we had a modular home set right before winter started in). The blade was holding up well until I forgot to raise it once when I went to back up, and crunch the hitch was destroyed again, worse this time due to the weight of the mud that was in the blade. The side that was welded actually stood up better. I was tired, it was dark, and I was in a hurry, and the mistake was my fault for forgetting to lift the lift arms before letting off the clutch. Here are a couple pictures of the blade, before and after I had to clean all the mud out of it:




So, that's what happens if you have a blade that isn't sturdy enough if you are pushing backwards. Granted, I've been warned you can break more than the implement backing into things like that. So I was probably lucky.

Pulling forward the KK has always been fine. One of the sacrificers is slightly bent at an angle I believe after hitting a rock when having them down about 3 notches a long while ago and digging in hard to grade an area in our horse pasture. Other than that, I have had the sacrificers down 2 notches regrading a mile of gravel road with no other issues with the blade.

I need to get my KK blade repaired, but I am thinking of upgrading to a 7' blade because it does not cover my tire tracks which is really annoying when the ground is soft. So far I have considered:
Kodiak (Paladin) BS7R heavy duty box blade
Paladin Attachments - Heavy-Duty-Box-Scraper

Woods BSM84 medium duty box blade
Product Details

Land Pride BB3584 (from what I am told this is new to the market)
BB35 Series Box Scrapers | Land Pride

Everything Attachments ETA-CATI-II-XDBBV2-84
Category I & II Severe XTreme Duty Tractor Box Blade - Everything Attachments

Everything Attachments ETA-84XDBB-30-70
XTreme Duty Box Blade For Utility Tractors With 30-70 HP - Everything Attachments

Because of my debacle with the KK blade, I am looking to get something with a clevis style hitch, preferably cat 1/2. I'm not sure about the Land Pride, since I'm unfamiliar with the brand the BB35 series I believe is new, so I haven't seen one. The Woods looks attractive as the upper part of the hitch looks sturdy and is bolted on, so it could be more easily replaced if damaged. The only thing I am hesitant on the woods is how the sacrificers are behind the frame instead of through it like most of the blades are built. I'm not sure why they chose that design. The Kodiak seems too lightweight for me, but I did get quoted a great price on it from one local dealer.

Decisions decisions... I primarily wanted to post just to share my experience with the KK blade. I paid $400 for it used and it has stood up well pulling but never pushing. I've always avoided pushing backwards with it intentionally unless I was pushing something extremely loose.

Good luck to the initial poster with their decision. I am right there with you

Matt

 

[Ford850]

Is that second picture showing the frame detached from the box, or is the box completely submerged in mud?

 

[mljenkins]

Is that second picture showing the frame detached from the box, or is the box completely submerged in mud?

The box is completely covered in mud. The bottom right pin where the arm connects bent to the right, and the bottom left pin where the arm connects bent to the left to the point of breaking. The a-frame above is mangled.

The mud froze in it the next day as the temps dropped again, so I had to chisel the mud off to see what I had. I had to wait for the temps to rise, use a post hole digger to make a hole down to the frame, get a chain around the frame, lift it with my FEL, and then hose it (not spray it) until the mud became saturated enough to slosh off the box. I then brought it closer to the house, pressure washed it, and sat it on a rubber mat until I have time to take it to a shop. It was a real pain. I was moving some serious weight with it at the time, and it was doing fine until I reversed with it down.

 

[jenkinsph]

The box is completely covered in mud. The bottom right pin where the arm connects bent to the right, and the bottom left pin where the arm connects bent to the left to the point of breaking. The a-frame above is mangled.

The mud froze in it the next day as the temps dropped again, so I had to chisel the mud off to see what I had. I had to wait for the temps to rise, use a post hole digger to make a hole down to the frame, get a chain around the frame, lift it with my FEL, and then hose it (not spray it) until the mud became saturated enough to slosh off the box. I then brought it closer to the house, pressure washed it, and sat it on a rubber mat until I have time to take it to a shop. It was a real pain. I was moving some serious weight with it at the time, and it was doing fine until I reversed with it down.

Well we all make mistakes if we are doing anything. That said I would suggest taking smaller bites no matter which direction of travel. Work your way up and down the ditch from end to end and then repeat in successive passes.

About the box blade hitch, half the metal bracing is to support the hitch from moving left or right. Since the top link can move freely from left to right that is not effective use of the iron. You need more support perpendicular to the blade, the two rear supports are doing 90% of the work. Not a good design imo.

Gannon and Cammond both use a center mast that is securely fastened to the main cross beam and will transfer the loading of the ripper shanks to the top link. On this box blade you will still need to brace the rear mold board. Most of the implements I have built use a front column that is heavy duty and provide good support to counter the rotation forces about the main cross beam.

 

[Catman8]

I just purchased a Everything Attachment 60" box blade and I personally would not recommend buying this brand, when comparing implement you need to look past the specifications and extra features that they are adding to their implements and factor in the experience behind a company building them. Known brands who have been in business for decades have a ton of engineering experience and patents and testing behind their products, so just don't compare specifications, factor in the support and experience behind the known quality brands like Woods and other well know companies.

The Everything Attachment 60" box blade I purchased was welded so crooked and warped and the blades plow bolts holes were so over drilled that the square shoulders of the plow bolts extended past the back of the blades into the back plates. The blades are not even parallel to one another, when the front blade sits semi flat on the ground the back blade is on an angle to the dirt,and Vice versa. All the extra reinforcing they do to the (v) where the blades mount is overkill and warps the heck out of the (v) resulting in curved blades that are not flat to the ground. I was thinking I could shim the blades to make them straight but after mounting them and setting the box scraper on a flat piece of plywood it appears that will not fix the problem.

I recently went to the World AG Expo and looked at many well known brands of box scraper and they were all straight and parallel. If I could do it over again I would gladly of spent an extra $300 or $400 and bought a Woods and have an implement that would be functional as it was intended.

 

[TripleR]

Because of my debacle with the KK blade, I am looking to get something with a clevis style hitch, preferably cat 1/2. I'm not sure about the Land Pride, since I'm unfamiliar with the brand the BB35 series I believe is new, so I haven't seen one. The Woods looks attractive as the upper part of the hitch looks sturdy and is bolted on, so it could be more easily replaced if damaged. The only thing I am hesitant on the woods is how the sacrificers are behind the frame instead of through it like most of the blades are built. I'm not sure why they chose that design. The Kodiak seems too lightweight for me, but I did get quoted a great price on it from one local dealer.

Decisions decisions... I primarily wanted to post just to share my experience with the KK blade. I paid $400 for it used and it has stood up well pulling but never pushing. I've always avoided pushing backwards with it intentionally unless I was pushing something extremely loose.

Good luck to the initial poster with their decision. I am right there with you

Matt

I am only personally familiar with LP and Woods and of those you mentioned, my pick would be the BB3584. Yes, it is a new model and should be pretty popular as the previously offered 35 Series cost is pretty steep. The BB3584 has clevis type hitch cat 1 and 2.

I have the LP HR3584 and use it on our L5740 as well as M8540 and it has been great though the cost hurt for a minute or two.

http://www.landpride.com/ari/attach/lp/public/features/303-398f.pdf