Rear Blade 5' Rankin rear blade on 15 HP Kubota; too much?

AKFord · Aug 31, 2004

5\' Rankin rear blade on 15 HP Kubota; too much?

I am debating on getting a 5' Rankin rear blade but am wondering if it is too much weight for a 15 horse tractor, the Kubota BX 1500. The blade weighs 255 lb which seems like an awful lot, I plan to use it mostly for clearing snow and I wanted to get the 5' instead of a lighter weight 4' so I have more coverage when the blade is angled. If anyone thinks the Rankin blades are decent products and/or think that size blade is too heavy for my tractor please let me know. Thanks for your time, it is appreciated!! 5'

varmint · Aug 31, 2004

Re: 5\' Rankin rear blade on 15 HP Kubota; too much?

I don't know anything about Rankin blades, but I can say that I have a 5' heavy duty (weighs about 300+ lbs) Deere rear blade behind my 19hp B8200, and that works just fine for scraping gravel, clearing snow and whatever. Of course, I have a 500 lb FEL on the other end.

KubotaSteve · Aug 31, 2004

Re: 5\' Rankin rear blade on 15 HP Kubota; too much?

I used a 5' Woods blade on my old B7200 (17HP) and it did fine, but it was a heavier tractor too. As long as you aren't trying to cut with it or take a huge mound of material you should be ok, but the clearance at its fully raised height may get you as well. Good luck.

Bob_Skurka · Aug 31, 2004

Re: 5\' Rankin rear blade on 15 HP Kubota; too much?

You can probably use the 5' for light & loose materials, but I think you will get stuck if you try to grade a ditch or some other work where the blade actually engages the ground and needs to moved undisturbed soil.

SCB · Aug 31, 2004

Re: 5\' Rankin rear blade on 15 HP Kubota; too much?

<font color="red"> If anyone thinks the Rankin blades are decent products </font>

I have a rankin 4' box blade and think it is a quality implement.

DaveInColorado · Aug 31, 2004

Re: 5\' Rankin rear blade on 15 HP Kubota; too much?

I have a 36" Land Pride tiller on my BX1500 right now. It is much heavier than a blade. The BX handles it without any trouble at all.

I also have been using a borrowed 5' landscape rake that is very similar to a rear blade except with spring tines. Your BX1500 can do just about anything you ask of it. The only thing that still bothers me is the more confident I get the more cocky I get. I've almost dumped it over a couple of times in the past month!!!! I gotta slow down.

chim · Sep 1, 2004

Re: 5\' Rankin rear blade on 15 HP Kubota; too much?

I have a 5' blade on a 16HP Ford 1210. Works like a champ for snow removal. I prefer to have a blade that clears a path wider than the tractor when the blade is angled. My 21HP B7500 has a 6' blade and it works fine too.

If you get a great deal on a 5 footer and are unsure about the length, you could trim a few inches off the ends..................chim

AKFord · Sep 2, 2004

Re: 5\' Rankin rear blade on 15 HP Kubota; too much?

Thanks for everyone's excellent input! I decided to go with the 5' Rankin blade with the idea that snow removal would be it's main duty; this is my cheaper alternative to a snow blower which I will save up for. In addtion, I will be able to do the obvious tasks of spreading crushed rock/gravel and do a little bit of grading. Thanks again, due to the input here and from a call to Rankin I decided that was the way to go.