Is a 6' box blade too much for a compact?

[Root Cause]

I am clearing land with a 2638 Mahindra. I would like a 6' box blade to further reduce the cost of having someone do the finish work.
Next year, I am thinking a smaller compact will maintain the drive and clear a tree on occasion. IF that puts 5-10k back in my pocket, then I will do so.
(if the economy holds, I am guessing I can pretty easily trade down with someone unhappy with a compact)

So, the question is, can a compact handle the 6' or should I temporarily live with a 5' blade.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[LD1]

Depends on how much smaller of a compact.

If you are talking something Kubota b or bx, or Deere 1000-2000 series, I don't think I'd want a 6.

But you can get a 6 now....and trade that down later too if it don't work with the smaller machine. But without knowing when....or even if you are gonna trade down on tractors (things come up and plans always change)...I'd get the 6 now

 

[jeff9366]

As tractors do not have down pressure on the TPH, the weight per unit of width is the key metric for how well a Box Blade will cut moist soil. Therefore most buy heavy for effectiveness.

A replacement, lighter tractor will likely stall out.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Yes, "compact" gives you a lot of room to move around in size and weight of tractor. Technically my tractor is a "compact", but it's also really heavy for it's class size. Bare chassis weight is 4200 lbs and with FEL + bucket + box blade + filled rear tires it weighs 7100 lbs.

I have no problem pulling a 6' box blade full of dirt or gravel even with the rippers down all the way. Now if I was working with a "compact" tractor at half my weight, then I don't think I would be able to pull a fully loaded 6' box.

 

[Hughman]

Works for me. I'm running a New Holland TC33DA with a bush hog brand 72" box scraper.

 

[Snowlan]

My Bobcat CT2025 is 2600lb bare, over 4000lb with loaded tires and FEL. I’ve only used the 6’ box blade briefly, but could pull it up about 8-10 degree slope on my roughed in driveway that is packed clay and gravel base. I only lost traction when I caught a larger rock imbedded in the clay.

 

[WVH1977]

If you are used to the size tractor you have now, trading down might disappoint down the road. I contemplated doing this a couple of years ago but did not. I test drove the smaller tractors and realized the loss of hp and strength would not suit me in the long run. Just something to consider.

 

[skipperbrown]

I worked on reclaiming an old gravel driveway with a heavy 6' box blade behind my Kubota 2650 last week. I got the job done, but it was really too much for the weight and HP of the B. I also pull a 7' rake behind the same tractor and it does a remarkable job. When I have the rake canted to a windrow position, it really reduces the width.

 

[not2old]

I bought a 6' blade for my GC2610 because it was a bargain. While it will rip my drive, it stalls out if the material in the box becomes 1/2 full. I'd gladly trade someone for a 5 footer and may someday get around to cutting it down, but it does the job I need it to.

 

[npalen]

I bought a 6' blade for my GC2610 because it was a bargain. While it will rip my drive, it stalls out if the material in the box becomes 1/2 full. I'd gladly trade someone for a 5 footer and may someday get around to cutting it down, but it does the job I need it to.

I have a 5' Land Pride that I would trade for your 6' box blade. I'm in Kansas so just bring it along next time you're down this way.

 

[IndyJay]

I bought a 6' blade for my GC2610 because it was a bargain. While it will rip my drive, it stalls out if the material in the box becomes 1/2 full. I'd gladly trade someone for a 5 footer and may someday get around to cutting it down, but it does the job I need it to.

I have a 5' Land Pride that I would trade for your 6' box blade. I'm in Kansas so just bring it along next time you're down this way.

I have a 5' blade I will trade for 6' as well and I'm only half as far as @npalen...

 

[SmallChange]

Forgive my ignorance, but those who are talking about "stalling out", what do you mean? Stalling the engine? Isn't that remedied by choosing a lower gear? Or do you mean losing traction?

 

[somanytractors]

You can always add wheel weights if traction becomes a problem with the smaller tractor, as long as you don't start over working the motor and transmission.

I use a 600 ford for my driveway. It's done in crushed concrete which gets pretty hard. For me, I use a scraper for moving materials, and then the box blade for finishing work. The box blade doesn't really do well with the crushed concrete alone.

 

[marhar]

Yes, "compact" gives you a lot of room to move around in size and weight of tractor. Technically my tractor is a "compact", but it's also really heavy for it's class size. Bare chassis weight is 4200 lbs and with FEL + bucket + box blade + filled rear tires it weighs 7100 lbs.

I have no problem pulling a 6' box blade full of dirt or gravel even with the rippers down all the way. Now if I was working with a "compact" tractor at half my weight, then I don't think I would be able to pull a fully loaded 6' box.

I agree, I have a 50hp Farm Trac 60 and use a light duty 7ft scrap blade. To clean up a gravel road or level a dirt pile

 

[DonE0929]

I run a 1526 HST mahindra with a 6ft box blade... heavy one at 600 pounds... handles it fine even with a full load in the box. If I have a full load of wet dirt I need to run low gear where I normally run in middle gear.

 

[TractorTYMe]

I've got a 6' boxblade on my TYM T474 (48.3Hp), it is 4600# and I do not have juice in the tires.

 

[OhioCowboy]

I am clearing land with a 2638 Mahindra. I would like a 6' box blade to further reduce the cost of having someone do the finish work.
Next year, I am thinking a smaller compact will maintain the drive and clear a tree on occasion. IF that puts 5-10k back in my pocket, then I will do so.
(if the economy holds, I am guessing I can pretty easily trade down with someone unhappy with a compact)

So, the question is, can a compact handle the 6' or should I temporarily live with a 5' blade.

Thanks for any advice.

I've been using a 5 foot box blade with my TC33D 4WD, 33 HP, with nothing in the rear tires and that is about all I would want to pull. It'll pull it but a lot of my time would be watching the box to see how full it is cuz I know if it gets too full I'll start spinning or just bog down and stop. I've been using it for gravel & soil for 20 years maintaining driveway, horse trails, landscaping, contouring grassed waterways etc. Depending on your projects, a 6 ft land plane would work ok vs a 6 ft landscape box. Good luck.

 

[Snowlan]

I just spent a day with my 6’ box blade on Bobcat CT2025 (25hp) reshaping my roughed in driveway - dragging highs into the settled lows. It was built with free fill, but I was lucky in that a lot of it was from a parking lot so a good mix of gravel and clay.

I have to break it out in low gear only because I know there are a lot of buried large rocks and I’m going slow to ensure I don’t break anything when I come up solid. Once I have piles of dirt to work with I have no problem moving full boxes around in medium range going both up hill and down.

The Bobcat is about 1000lb heavier than LX2610 and JD 2025R and I have the larger rear wheels filled so if you’re trading down it will depend a great deal on which brand/model you go with. Even though the engine hp of these 3 models is about equal, the Bobcat has a detuned 35hp engine with about 30% more displacement so I assume it has a better torque curve as it has 2.5 - 4hp more rated PTO output (JD is very low in this department at 18).

I was a bit worried about the 6’ box blade because of many things posted on the topic, until yesterday when I worked on this project and I’m very happy with the size choice.

 

[Torvy]

I have a 5' blade I will trade for 6' as well and I'm only half as far as @npalen...

Maybe I missed something, but British Columbia is closer to Kansas than Indiana.

 

[IndyJay]

Maybe I missed something, but British Columbia is closer to Kansas than Indiana.

My bad, for some reason I was thinking BC was in N.E. Canada.
Learn something new everyday.