Bent up my Box Blade!

[emcvay]

Seems I must have been working a little too enthusiastically with my box blade this last week. I was unloading it to put on the mower when I noticed the tabs (?) for the 3 point hitch (bottom arms) were bent. One was bent fairly severely and the other the pin was bent and loose.

Not sure when it happened but suspect it was when I was trying to grade up my driveway which is mostly just rocks upon rocks (granite primarily)....the blade seemed to be skipping over them a lot and I finally lifted it and moved on deciding to tackle it later.

Earlier in the day I'd done a bunch of work for a neighbor raising one side of his driveway which was pretty severely graded crossways. I added about 18" of rock backfill and then an addition 4 or 5 inches of soil above that to bring it up level and smoothed out....was my first attempt at doing something like that and it went pretty well I think.

Anyway, if is it common to bend the 3-point mounts on a box blade in rocky ground? Or did I do something wrong (most likely I'm guessing)?

 

[MF1652]

Box blades do well moving loose material. I have used mine several times to break up hard packed areas and caught large buried rocks in the process. This caused me to bend the ripper teeth and mangle the attachment frame. I would guess some are built better to handle the grading tasks, but not mine. I have the Tractor Supply box blade. If it wasn't so cheap to purchase I would have been a little upset at bending it like I did. The way I look at it, I bought a $500 grading implement and is works like a $500 grading implement.

 

[DavesTractor]

Box blades come in many flavors. One of the hallmarks of the heavier duty versions is that the use a clevis style bracket on the box with a pin that slides through the outer hole, through your three-point lower arm and then through the inner hole. Much stronger. The 5010 is marginal for the lighter duty box I think as it is strong enough to bend the fixed pins. The good news is that it is real easy for a guy with a welder to convert your box from a fixed pin to what I call a clevis style.

 

[emcvay]

[video]http://s998.photobucket.com/albums/af102/emcvay/?action=view&current=Roadwork_0001.mp4[/video]
Here is a video my wife and friend did for our grandsons (they love tractors).

Anyway, you're probably right on the quality of the box blade and the uses for it. I think mine was $650 but I'd have to check...chances are I'll just heat it up and beat it back into place (or take it to my welder neighbor to fix) and remember to use it for dirt not rock!

 

[Pitch1]

I graded and landscaped about 2 acres using a king cutter box blade. Hard clay with the occaisional erratic that would stop the tractor dead on the spot and I never bent anything. I was only using an 8n though. I would think that bending would more than likely occur while backing. I think that if you bent yours , I would take a good look at your 3 pt to make sure that it isn't damaged as well. Allthough we all push with our 3pt's they are engineered to be a pulling point.

 

[emcvay]

I graded and landscaped about 2 acres using a king cutter box blade. Hard clay with the occaisional erratic that would stop the tractor dead on the spot and I never bent anything. I was only using an 8n though. I would think that bending would more than likely occur while backing. I think that if you bent yours , I would take a good look at your 3 pt to make sure that it isn't damaged as well. Allthough we all push with our 3pt's they are engineered to be a pulling point.

I was wondering about that -- but it came off just fine and went onto the mower fine and seems to be working correctly. I mowed a few acres of brush and grass on the property with it (took a few hours) and had no problems.

I think Dave's point may be the key: the 5010 has a lot of power! I'm loving it frankly but have no doubt the box gave way before the tractor did.

 

[emcvay]

Box blades come in many flavors. One of the hallmarks of the heavier duty versions is that the use a clevis style bracket on the box with a pin that slides through the outer hole, through your three-point lower arm and then through the inner hole. Much stronger. The 5010 is marginal for the lighter duty box I think as it is strong enough to bend the fixed pins. The good news is that it is real easy for a guy with a welder to convert your box from a fixed pin to what I call a clevis style.

This something I'll have to get my neighbor to do for me -- he's actually a metal fab guys (lawmanonline.com) more then a welder but it's easier to call him a welder sometimes

Makes nice firepits with his plasma cutter too! (sorry for the plug but he's a heck of a nice guy and I can't help it really)....anyway...

I'll have to load up the box next trip and get him to fix it for me.

 

[skipmarcy]

Box blades come in many flavors. One of the hallmarks of the heavier duty versions is that the use a clevis style bracket on the box with a pin that slides through the outer hole, through your three-point lower arm and then through the inner hole. Much stronger. The 5010 is marginal for the lighter duty box I think as it is strong enough to bend the fixed pins. The good news is that it is real easy for a guy with a welder to convert your box from a fixed pin to what I call a clevis style.

My old, lightweight Atlas boxblade has the plain drawpins and they are a great "safety valve" for my aggressive use. My 4110 of course will bend them very easily when pushed hard. I can usually bend them straight again with a 10 lb. sledge for a time or two before having to replace them - maybe $4 apiece and a few minutes' work. I keep spares on the tractor at all times along with shear bolts for my cutter. Had my boxblade had the captured type pins my 3 pt linkages would have been destroyed years ago at great cost ....

 

[Lebneh]

I've got the normal duty king cutter from TSC and I've bent the 3pt link pin you're asking about. TSC sells replacements for a couple of bucks.

I've also broken the end off a tooth. They sell replacements for that as well but those aren't so cheap.

 

[cartod]

I have a Tractor Supply box blade and work it hard. But, if you are pushing with it you are going to bend something. I don't think the 3 pt. is made for pushing much more than loose dirt. If you do, you are gonna break something.