Buying Advice Box blade or rear blade?

[Bullwinkle123]

Well I'm late for this discussion but you are heading in the right direction.
The rear blade is the tool that you will need for your driveway.
I will also add get a wider one with at least the ability to add the hydraulic controls as you will find that they are needed.
Definitely get a rear hydraulic on your tractor preferably more then one.
You are going to find that you will be cleaning out your ditches every year,
doing so you will be tilting angling and many times offsetting your blade, the tilt will be needing to be varied as you are moving along.
Also you will find that your ditches fill up with organic material (leaves and grass and brush) that will need to be removed,
the blade can pull it up and onto the driveway leaving it in a windrow to be picked up in the loader bucket.
Then you can pull material into and crown your driveway with the blade, then reverse the blade and pulling it backwards slightly spread the material and pack it a bit with the weight of the blade. It is difficult to buy to heavy of a blade if your tractor can lift it it's not to heavy.
A six way blade can be run with one rear remote if you add a pair of diverter valves to the blade. And then one for a hydraulic top link.
If you try and work your driveway with a manual adjusted blade it will not be adjusted right 90% of the time.

Also I do not like a york rake for driveway maintenance I do use mine for cleaning the ditches and shoulders of the driveway,
in our area they do not work well for maintaining a driveway as they separate the materials leaving the fines and rowing the stones.

Well, I just pulled the trigger on the huge purchase, and the blade is going to be Landpride RB3784. This is relatively heavy duty and adjustable. It's only 7' which is a concern, but the dealer seemed to think 8' was asking for trouble with my MX5400 (pull too agressively). The MX5400 has a limit of three rear SCV's for hydraulics, is my understanding, and doing those, plus cylinder kits and such, adds another $3k to the deal, so I opted to pass for now. I'm under the impression I can add hydraulics to the tractor and RB3784 later if I change my mind, when I've recovered from the financial tsunami I just started today. Hope it wasn't a mistake. So many other things to consider I'm sure I messed up some decisions.

 

[oosik]

I've found no real need for hydraulics( tilt, angle, offset ) on my Rhino rear blade. Hydraulic top link - YES, definitely. Plowing snow takes no tilt and one offset, one angle. When cleaning out the driveway ditches - add one tilt to the offset & angle and go like smoke & oakum.

 

[Citydude]

Well, I just pulled the trigger on the huge purchase, and the blade is going to be Landpride RB3784. This is relatively heavy duty and adjustable. It's only 7' which is a concern, but the dealer seemed to think 8' was asking for trouble with my MX5400 (pull too agressively). The MX5400 has a limit of three rear SCV's for hydraulics, is my understanding, and doing those, plus cylinder kits and such, adds another $3k to the deal, so I opted to pass for now. I'm under the impression I can add hydraulics to the tractor and RB3784 later if I change my mind, when I've recovered from the financial tsunami I just started today. Hope it wasn't a mistake. So many other things to consider I'm sure I messed up some decisions.

If the blade works for your situation you bought the right one. I have a 6’ blade that I bought to do heavy work cutting rock infested ditches and crown my 2 track road into my property. A 6’ blade is the best tool for that. I’m not carrying material more than 5’ foot to the center of the road. For my needs a 7’ blade was overkill.

 

[Bullwinkle123]

If the blade works for your situation you bought the right one. I have a 6’ blade that I bought to do heavy work cutting rock infested ditches and crown my 2 track road into my property. A 6’ blade is the best tool for that. I’m not carrying material more than 5’ foot to the center of the road. For my needs a 7’ blade was overkill.

The RB3784 can be offset as well as the usual tilts, so hopefully that'll help me with ditches as well. We'll find out how well it works this year, time to go order some gravel! Of course now that mud season has started, nobody can deliver anything heavy to my house, so I'll be waiting some weeks.

 

[ovrszd]

Well, I just pulled the trigger on the huge purchase, and the blade is going to be Landpride RB3784. This is relatively heavy duty and adjustable. It's only 7' which is a concern, but the dealer seemed to think 8' was asking for trouble with my MX5400 (pull too agressively). The MX5400 has a limit of three rear SCV's for hydraulics, is my understanding, and doing those, plus cylinder kits and such, adds another $3k to the deal, so I opted to pass for now. I'm under the impression I can add hydraulics to the tractor and RB3784 later if I change my mind, when I've recovered from the financial tsunami I just started today. Hope it wasn't a mistake. So many other things to consider I'm sure I messed up some decisions.

Congrats on the blade purchase!!!

I use an 8' on my 47hp Ford. I don't think I'd like anything smaller. But each person's usage is different.

 

[ovrszd]

I've found no real need for hydraulics( tilt, angle, offset ) on my Rhino rear blade. Hydraulic top link - YES, definitely. Plowing snow takes no tilt and one offset, one angle. When cleaning out the driveway ditches - add one tilt to the offset & angle and go like smoke & oakum.

I use a hydraulic top link, hydraulic angle, hydraulic tilt, manual offset. I have two older manual blades. I'll end up selling them or giving them to my Sons.

 

[Citydude]

The RB3784 can be offset as well as the usual tilts, so hopefully that'll help me with ditches as well. We'll find out how well it works this year, time to go order some gravel! Of course now that mud season has started, nobody can deliver anything heavy to my house, so I'll be waiting some weeks.

Mine offsets and tilts. Your going to appreciate that.

 

[fried1765]

Yep, often ignored. I maintain 50 miles of gravel roads covering 36 square miles. All of them aren't ready for maintenance at the same time. Too much variation in soil type and drainage.

As Deezler said, here we never, ever bury organic material in a roadbed. If building a road I cut all the organic material and a few inches of the topsoil off an windrow it out of the way. Then build the road base with whatever subsoil is available at the site. Sometimes pushing it quite a distance to access better soil. Then the organic material is spread onto the borrow area if possible.

In late Summer I cut loose the organic material that has grown on the shoulders thru the Summer. Windrow it on the shoulder and let it decay. Then carry it back and forth across the roadbed until all that's left is the heavier roots, etc. Leave that laying on the shoulder and it gets knocked off with the first snow removal.

In any discussion about a topic that could be affected region it's very important to know the location of the poster. There are some here on TBN that refuse to divulge even their State. I simply put no credence to their offerings because I know nothing about where it comes from.

"I simply put no credence to their offerings because I know nothing about where it comes from"
EXACTLY CORRECT !

 

[rScotty]

Well, I just pulled the trigger on the huge purchase, and the blade is going to be Landpride RB3784. This is relatively heavy duty and adjustable. It's only 7' which is a concern, but the dealer seemed to think 8' was asking for trouble with my MX5400 (pull too agressively). The MX5400 has a limit of three rear SCV's for hydraulics, is my understanding, and doing those, plus cylinder kits and such, adds another $3k to the deal, so I opted to pass for now. I'm under the impression I can add hydraulics to the tractor and RB3784 later if I change my mind, when I've recovered from the financial tsunami I just started today. Hope it wasn't a mistake. So many other things to consider I'm sure I messed up some decisions.

Sounds like an excellent choice to me. I have a Land Pride RB3572 - older model 6 foot blade but much the same. It's a keeper. Very versatile. If I was doing it again I might have chosen the 7 footer. I chose the shorter one because we have some narrow trails, and besides - the offset feature means that it can reach off to the side even more than an 8 footer.

The RB is a world apart from a regular lightweight landscaping blade that only angles.

We also have an old 8 foot vintage Big Rhino back blade - which is the even heavier built blade and 3 pt with complete adjustability and end caps. To my eye it seems that the Land Pride RB series was modeled on those old style Big Rhino blades but the RB is slightly lighter construction. Frankly the 8 foot big Rhino is a bit heavy for most tractors. You can use it with 50 hp, but it really wants 75hp or more.

Maybe someday I will make both of them hydraulic rather than manual, but that will just be for convenience. They work very nicely as manual blades.
rScotty