5' Box Blade manufacturer stand-off

[apriordan]

Having owned a JD 750, I doubt your JD 790 will pull a 60" Box Blade over 500 pounds, from any vender, with very much added weight in NH conditions. I would start without weight, with soil moist.

How long is your driveway? If it is just 100' to 150' it should not take long to rehab.

Moist soil is much easier to cut/peel than dry soil.

1500' +/- driveway, top near house rain/water erosion at sides (on hill), center and of driveway significant uneven surface and end of driveway near street potholes galore.

The 5' box blades I'm seeing are approx 450lbs, I do appreciate the steps recommended i.e. no weight and wet.

My only interest/concern is the # of scarrifiers, does 4 - 6 really make a big deal?

 

[Fallon]

Hydraulic top link, interesting. Are you recommending to soak the driveway or wait till a rainstorm?

Time of year, usually spring or fall. It needs to be slightly moist but not wet & muddy. A hose isn't going to come close to getting enough moisture into the soil. It takes a while to get the ground moist down a little bit.

At least with soil conditions around here. Yours may be different. Rock hard when compacted & dried around here.

 

[Creamer]

My BB has 6 scarifiers. I would not want any less in hard ground.

 

[jeff9366]

My interest/concern is the # of scarrifiers, does 4 - 6 really make a big difference?

Tough question.

I am uncertain if you will have the traction to pull six scarifiers through NH "soil". I pulled six with my Kubota B3300SU/33-hp/4-WD in HST/LOW, full throttle, but in moist Florida sandy-loam; perfect conditions. Another day, in less than perfect conditions, my tractor stalled. (60" Rollover Box Blade/630 pounds)

In some instances six scarifiers may give more "float", reducing penetration relative to four scarifiers. ( Penetration mostly a factor of implement weight bearing on each scarifier. )
Scarifier "points" are press mounted on shanks as a intentional fail point, to protect Box Blade frame.

I would rather have four STURDY scarifiers than six SPINDLY scarifiers.

Scarifiers are adjustable in increments for depth and usually reasonably easily removed.

Most (all?) scarifiers are imports, varying in steel quality. Some made from low quality steel with potential to deform.

 

[Creamer]

If you have six and can't pull them they are easy to take out but if you have four and need six they are definitely more difficult to add.

How many you can pull is dependent on how deep you set them.

 

[Sysop]

A couple points I failed to see mentioned, the most common boxblade damage occurs to the three point mount, and generally happens from backing into things or trying to bulldoze with it in reverse. For the sizes of machines they're used on, there really is no structural benefit to thicker sides. The benefits of thicker sides are that the front/leading edges of the sides will not wear as fast (some companies add extra steel at the front to reduce wear) and the additional weight the thicker steel provides.

If you can get a good weight for cheap, as long as the three point mounting is built well, go for it. Locally there is a small place that sells lesser-known branded implements. The box blades they carried were slightly heavier than other local brands, but were the same sort of prices you see online (before shipping fees). I picked up a 6' LMC branded box blade that was at least 35lbs heavier than anything else local and paid right on $600 for it.

 

[jenkinsph]

When I was shopping for a small box blade I picked Cammond brand after looking at several others. I have not used it a bunch yet but will be using it this week to finish up a lawn project. It is quick hitch compatible so using it this week I can quickly switch between my 4' land plane and the box blade.

Here are some pictures of the box blade.

 

[brown40]

A couple points I failed to see mentioned, the most common boxblade damage occurs to the three point mount, and generally happens from backing into things or trying to bulldoze with it in reverse. For the sizes of machines they're used on, there really is no structural benefit to thicker sides. The benefits of thicker sides are that the front/leading edges of the sides will not wear as fast (some companies add extra steel at the front to reduce wear) and the additional weight the thicker steel provides.

If you can get a good weight for cheap, as long as the three point mounting is built well, go for it. Locally there is a small place that sells lesser-known branded implements. The box blades they carried were slightly heavier than other local brands, but were the same sort of prices you see online (before shipping fees). I picked up a 6' LMC branded box blade that was at least 35lbs heavier than anything else local and paid right on $600 for it.

Good point on increased wear resistance for thicker side plates. I have added 2' x 3/8" strips on mine to get back to level side plates. I also added ~ 300# between an old iron wagon axle and the childhood weight set to help it bite. Prior to that it would skip over.
Mast construction varies quite a bit between manufacturers. Thin strips of steel in a pyramid handle pulling forces won't stretch, but push on them and they buckle. The box is made to pull, but inevitably gets a little contact backing up, rushing, being inattentive. If the masts are made of plate rather than bar they tend to resist deformation better.
I'd pay attention to weight, but where the weights at is more important. Bracing for corners, double pin capture on the 3pt, robust mast, and thick central square stock for the scarifiers. Most use 4", but wall thickness varies. Some use larger.
If you use scarifiers frequently the style of capture and pinning can be a huge PITA. Mine flip over, install from the bottom and have a single pin for each (6 on 6'). Only one I've owned, but it is bad.
I have seen set-ups where the scarifiers fold down or retract up all at once--those seem like a big upgrade.

 

[Wsmitty]

Having owned a JD 750, I doubt your JD 790 will pull a 60" Box Blade over 500 pounds, from any vender, with very much added weight in NH conditions. I would start without weight, with soil moist.

How long is your driveway? If it is just 100' to 150' it should not take long to rehab.

Moist soil is much easier to cut/peel than dry soil.

I have a JD 790 and pull a 60" Everything Attachments BB (455#) here in rocky SW Virginia with no issues. I have a couple of spots that I can lose traction going uphill grading my drive with a full box of gravel and the scarifiers down. Usually I can keep from spinning by going as slow as possible and locking the differential. Worse case I will have to lift the box a small amount to keep moving. My driveway is 1/4 mile long on a mountain with about 200 ft of elevation change.

 

[boggen]

there are some different styles of box blades.

front cutting edge
--some are straight sheet of metal. (cut out of a piece of plywood with a cutting edge grinded on to it for example)
--some of the cutting edges are ) "curved", to help bring cutting edge to a better angle of attack of what ever you are scrapping up

rear blade
--some have no rear blade (more so the curve cutting edges)
--some have the straight sheet of metal and/or using straight sheet of metal for both front/backwards (same blade)
--some have a 2nd cutting edge on the back for going in reverse
--some have more of a "tailgate" style 2nd cutting edge on back. were 2nd cutting edge hinges up and out of the way when going forward. and then drops down when going in reverse.

sides
--some have just a thicker metal for sides straight to riding on the ground.
--others have more of a "ski" or "sled" per say on each side. so the sides ride on the surface, while allowing just the cutting edge and/or scraficers to dig in.
--others might have additional re-enforcement between "ski" and sides. and possibly a bit more "metal" on the front corners to help reduce wear and tear.

weight
--the cheap units, for say a riding lawn mower, ATV, UTV, or like. tend to offer some sort of "concrete block" box to toss concrete blocks on unit. to help bring up total weight of unit up.
--some box blades might offer better spot to say toss a chunk of a large tree branch on, or concrete bags, or sand bags, or some 5 gallon buckets on top, to help bring up weight.
--box blades rely specifically on there own weight to dig in. and not the tractors weight.

gauge wheels
--some units offer "gauge wheels" behind the box blade. normally seen on units that are not 3PH, but rather tow/pull behind units. primary used to lift the box blade up/down.
--some units offer "gauge wheels" not for primary lifting it up and down. but rather using box blade more like a "motor grader" and help read some high/low spots, without constantly being on the lever to raise/lower the box blade.

3 point hitch connection of box blade
--pending on size, some may offer cat 1 and cat 2 3pt hitch connections (for smaller and larger tractors)
--some might be stated to fit some quick hitch setup. ((make sure to always measure first))
--some of the units might offer some extra holes at the top link connect and/or lower lift arm connections to unit. (beyond the cat 1 to cat 2 connection setup)

3 point hitch and bracing
--some units have more of a triangle approach between top link to rear of unit
--some units have additional bracing between front (just below lower lift arm connections) to rear of unit.
--some have a combination of above.
--bracing might effect how you add weight if you need to add weight to unit.

scraficier teeth.
--have seen some units before were the bolt holding the teeth on is more of a "sheer bolt" and will break and allow scraficer to swing up and out of the way.
--have seen some units were tooth fits in between to L shape tabs, or in a rectangle pipe. with a bolt. and more likely scraficier tooth will bend / warp / be destroyed if it gets hung up on something nasty.
--some teeth might be soft metal inside, with a hard coating on the outside. so once hard coating gets worn away, the inside just goes away quickly after that.

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different styles....
--roll over box blade
--some 3PH rear blades you can get wings for them,
--some 3PH rear blades, you can get scraficer teeth for as well.

tossing in "land plain / grader scraper" = if you are talking about gravel driveways.

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make sure you have your check chains, and sway bar/chains for 3pt hitch.
--3ph are great pulling forward, but as soon as you turn, you can destroy the 3pt hitch linkages. the check chains and sway bar/chains can help reduce some possible damage but not all of it.

going in reverse
3ph are again great pulling forward, but when you begin to reverse, you can also destroy the 3ph linkages.

generally it is always advisable to always lift any ground engaging equipment up and out of the ground before you make any turns.

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WET and DRY
--dry dirt = concrete
--to wet = making ruts and causing additional issues
--having the soil/rock having just the right amount of wetness per say, can make things easier to work with, vs having cutting edge hip hop over the ground/rock, and/or getting the scraficer teeth to bite in.