BENT BOXBLADE SCARIFIERS

[3RRL]

Hi Bird,
Interesting that you caught that since I am really a newbie too. I raise them when turning but this is interesting.

First, as Highbeam suggested, I busted one off just straight pulling. There were times the tractor stopped in it's tracks so I didn't give it any thought (about bending or breaking them). Then another time, I guess only one was behind a big rock and the tractor pulled out and that one bent while going straght. Another one just "snapped off" while pulling straight.

The other 2 broken ones was where I hitched up a come along and tried to straighten it out and busted it. The other one was I took one out and tried to beat it straight with a sledge hammer and busted it....NOT TOO GOOD SO FAR.

OK, the other bent ones...
You know I've been cutting gutters with the box blade and it works real good by tilting the heck out of it...(see picture...see the gutters and how nice the road looks with boxblade..no leveling wheels yet)
In doing so, I noticed that the down side (cutting side) appeared to be farther back fron the tractor than the up side. So the boxblade was not only tilted, but angled slightly too. Well, cutting those gutters in represented no match for the tractor so I toodled along nicely.
To my surprise, the 2 scarifiers I had down on the cutting side had both bent towards the edge of the box. So "Yes" they were cutting at an angle and bent because of that.

Of course I hadn't read your post before this, and not thinking anything of it at the time, I went ahead and tilted the boxblade the OTHER way so I cut cut the other side of the road. Hence the nicely, equally bent (mirrored) scarifiers.

 

[3RRL]

Daryl,
That one on the right was my Dad's. He was a Tool and Die Maker. I kept it after he passed in '88.
As far as turning up the tractor...sure is nice to have the power to do that! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
I'll look into heat treat...anyone know what kind of metal they are or what the treatment should be?

Also, thanks everyone for the input and the links to the scarifiers. I thought I'd put one more pic in of the road to show the gutters and also that using the boxblade correctly, you can get a pretty darn smooth, beautiful road. At least my lovely wife and dog think so. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
Thanks,

 

[Highbeam]

It's shaping up real well there. Those roads look great.

Just buy a half dozen more and maybe take it easy on the teeth. That's my new solution after reading the linked site.

Do you think that if you had heated the teeth more that they would have bent more before snapping under the sledge? I'll heat and straighten my currently bent one since it has worked before, maybe it'll snap this time.

 

[5030]

Rob:

I'd bet that the shanks are HR Plate cutout, probably low carbon and I'd be willing to bet that the shanks aren't stress relieved after burning so the atoms aren't real happy.

 

[3RRL]

Highbeam,
Thanks, roads do look good now...
Yes, heat them up first and straighten them. After heating, let them cool. They'll end up a little more maluable(is that a word?)... softer than before. You could try to quench them in oil after they've cooled back down to about 500° and I think that won't make them too brittle. Not sure how mild steel reacts to that, though? Ask 5030.
I just ordered 7 of those scarifiers on that website..cheaper and less frustration for me..HA! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I ordered the ones with the holes in them and try to hold them in my boxblade with a pin instead of those slots. If that doesn't work, I'll mill some slots only where I use them and weld the holes shut.