Aggressiveness of a BoxBlade

MarkV · Aug 23, 2009

texasjohn said:
Certainly, properly used, a box blade is a dandy tool.

The OP wondered if it was OK to bulldoze backwards with a box blade.

I say push backwards to smooth loose material = OK.

I say bulldoze backwards into hard clay with rippers down and pointing backwards with rear blade cutting in = very high problem probability. Has anybody done this, for hours, successfully?

I agree and many of us use the box blade in reverse in some situations. There are also those on the forum that say they use their box blade as a reverse dozer on a regular bases, even prefer using it that way without problem. Then there have been a number of reports, also on the forum, from those how have bent their lift arms doing the reverse dozer thing. I look at it as the 3pt hitch was designed to pull not push so I do it with loose material and don't try to remove solid objects that way.

MarkV

Steve C · Aug 23, 2009

I worked as a mechanical designer for 35+ years. Based on my experience I would have to say that the lower link arms on most small tractors are not designed for compressive loads such as you will get while pushing compacted dirt with them. They are not stiff enough due to the slender profile and under heavy compression they will probably bend and deform. This would be especially true if you try to raise the 3 point while under load, the lifting point on most of them is near the center of the lower link arms and will try to deflect the center upward while the link itself is being compressed, adding a significant amount of bending force. Pushing loose material, loose dirt, snow, and cleaning barns shouldn't cause any problems. If they were designed for compression they would be hollow and tubular in cross section with as large a diameter as possible, such as the steel columns in the basement that hold up your house. They are hollow and relatively lightweight yet stiff. Designed as they are, tractor 3 point lower arms are very strong while under tension, but relatively weak when under compression. Kind of like a steel cable, you can pull a lot with it but it doesn't push very well. I hope this helps.