box b. leveling

[OKnewguy]

Hi everyone, first let me say that I have gained a wealth of information from you all. I bought a jinma 224 recently and have started some small projects to get my feet wet. One of the first was some ground leveling with my box blade. I had moved a large pile of dirt/old compost and proceeded to then level out all the rutts with the box blade. My problem is, I keep getting clumps and the ruts are not smoothing out like I had hoped. Is this a wetness thing? Or am I doing something wrong with the operation here? Thanks for all your help.
Dave /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[KiotiJohn]

If the soil is too wet, you'll get clumps. Slightly damp is not usually a big problem. If you have a FEL you may break up the clumps somewhat my using the bucket to press down on them and drag them some.
As for the ruts, you have to practice changing the top link to angle the boxblade, and adjust the position control so that you pull the higher dirt into the ruts. If you can adjust the box so that you can put the 3pt all the way down and "float" the dirt, you should have an easier time of it.
One common problem is if the front of the tractor goes into a low spot, the boxblade is pulled up off the ground. You may have to adjust where your link arms attach so that you can get the box to float (not all 3pts will float in the totally down position) to avoid the box rising up with tractor level changes. You can also, at times, just pull the larger clumps out of the way by slightly raising the box, getting a grip on the larger clumps and pulling from there. Build up a pile of the clumps and break them with the FEL bucket so you can spread them out. It takes a good bit of experimentation to get it right, but you can. John

 

[OKnewguy]

Thanks for the reply. I tried different methods for 3 or 4 hours and had mediocore succes. I will probably try again when the soil is a little dryer. Has any one ever made a roller or something simular to smooth out dirt. I have some old pressure tanks that I could fill with ballast and pull behind the tractor. Am I barking up the wrong tree here?
Thanks, Dave

 

[btolle]

Ditto what KiotiJohn said.

I have found that it just takes trying different angles on the box blade to get used to where you want it. Practice and more practice. Don't be afraid to adjust the front of the BB up as high as you can get it (don't let the bottom corners hit the tires!) and try lowering it a little at a time.

One other thing I sometimes do is to set the BB at a given height so it just hits the high spots and then ride back and forth or around and around, lowering it just a little once in a while. That seems to knock the high spots down and not drag dirt out of the low spots.

Can't wait until I get my Top N Tilt from CCM, hopefully in the next week or 10 days 'cause I also have a lot of leveling to do

Bill Tolle

 

[KiotiJohn]

I think the biggest problem is the amount of moisture. You just can't work soil too well when it's wet.
After it dries out, try ripping the soil first near your worst ruts. Break it up good and then spread it, should be a lot better. Dragging my FEL bucket over the clumps has been very successful, but make sure it's drier stuff. John

 

[OKnewguy]

Thanks guys, I am having a ball with this thing. It is really amazing what these little machines can do. I guess I am being impatient and am imediatelly questioning things. It sounds like dryness and practice are the way to go. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
Thanks, Dave