Grading Anyone ever use a blade as a bulldozer?

[JYD]

Hi all,

I have JD 4320 and 80 acres of land in Wisconsin that was recently clear cut.

I want to clear and pile up the slash to burn. I have a grapple that works great but very time consuming.

Thinking of getting a rear blade and using it as a bulldozer in reverse.

Is this a good idea??

Thanks

 

[shvl73]

For light duty in loose material, sure. I've used my boxblade to push and spread some fill. For anything more, you run the risk of damage to the blade and the 3pt hitch.

 

[kennyd]

The 3PH is not really designed for this, it's designed for pulling not pushing.

 

[brettliddicoat]

i worked on a farm that took out a lot of tree lines and that the largest problem we had with pushing piles together with the dozer is that there would be a large amount of dirt pushed into the pile and it would not burn that great

if you want to burn it in a day and not keep relighting it you may want to stick with the graple and keep the dirt out it will burn better and quicker

if you have any more questions let me know

also where in wi do you live i also live in wi

 

[radman1]

There has been several instances on TBN or people bending lift arms pushing in reverse and a few who have broken the attachment/housing where the lift arms attach. I do push snow backwards with rear blade and do some light grading in reverse. Haven't had a problem. Pushing at an angle, with load off to one side of blade or hitting a solid object usually causes the breakage. If you catch a stump or rock going backwards at 4-5 mph, you may be in for a surprise. It sounds as though you will do a lot of pushing and could be asking for trouble. It is your $ and risk. If you do it, I would only push in 2 wheel drive.

 

[garth466]

You will burn more material at a faster rate if you use that grapple to keep putting those branches on top. I use my loader to bury what is left of a fire when I want to save that heat for another time. I might come back to it in a few weeks, dig into it and start throwing more material on top of it. No need to light usually.

As far as using the blade in reverse, it was something I wondered too. I now know not to do it or be very careful.

 

[jcmseven]

You could invest in a front blade that hooks on to your loader arms. It would do the trick also. It is marginally more expensive but you can also do light duty grading with it. I would not buy a rear blade for this purpose.

John M

 

[JYD]

THANKS FOR THE ADVICE!! I will continue to use the Grapple to pile up the slash. Most of it is aspen/ birch so I just want to clear a road wide enough for the Tractor and some small food plots. The rest should decompose in 2-3 years.

JYD