Grading Box Blade How-To?

[Bird]

All good advice, and as others have said, you get better with practice. If you want to cut into the ground and pull dirt along, then tilt the blade forward (shorten the top link) and with it tilted very slightly forward, you can smooth it better running in reverse. If you're just trying to cut down high spots, try it with the blade level or tilted very slightly back. And of course, it's much, much easier if you have a hydraulic top link so you can change the front to rear tilt on the fly. I eventually got to where I could really work pretty fast with the hydraulic top link and the box blade by tilting it back, run forward, tilt it forward and run backwards, and by going back and forth that way, it's amazing how quickly you can get it smooth.

 

[normde2001]

You got to kind of look at it as icing a cake with a really big knife,.......you are the artist, the tractor/blade is the brush, the dirt is the paint/canvas,.... results are more important than speed,....Michelangelo didn't.....etc, etc. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Hi,

I might be wrong here, but if you have a lighter weight box blade it might actually be easier to learn to use than a heavyweight.

Before buying mine [wanted a woods but ended up with a KingKutter...] I read MANY posts about using the box blade. Either I learned something by reading, or a lighter weight box is easier to use, because I did not have anywhere near the difficulty using the box blade as I expected to from reading the threads here on TBN.

I don't mean to say I am great at using it, just that not having a top and tilt did not seem to be a big deal...PROBABLY because the box was not able to become too aggressive since it did not weigh as much as the better units.

 

[bartman]

Henro
I'll let you know how my place in MD turns out. I just got back from Florida all the snow melted and I have about 6" of water in the back yard/ jungle................
I think Iam going to go with the cheaper box blade cause I just picked up a JD 2 row Corn Planter.......
I have a buddy up in Pa that says he can make a weight box to hang on to the box blade and add 200-300 lbs <font color="blue"> </font> </font><font color="blue" class="small">( )</font>

Anyhow once it dries up LOOK OUT

Bartman </font><font color="blue" class="small">( )</font>

 

[grandad]

"you are the artist, etc."

Now we know how to identify the real box blade experts... they're the ones wearing berets as they drive! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[CTyler]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( you can smooth it better running in reverse )</font>

I'm relatively to this and learned something about reverse and box blading. After dragging up a pile of dirt to fill in a hole I went to smooth it out a little in reverse. The blade dug in and proceeded to lift the rear of the tractor about 6-8" before stopping. Something to consider if you have 4wd. I didn't realize this would happen /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif.

 

[chrisjbell]

Umm, yeah, that'll happen if you have your toplink set too far out (too long). You're biasing the back blade to tilt "up" (forward?) so you aren't scraping as much as you could be going forwards and are snagging too much bite going backwards.

On the other hand, this may be what you want in certain situations. Must be cautious with that 4WD stuff, eh? Usually a good thing but every now and then will do something nasty...

 

[mikim]

<font color="blue"> how to use that thing? </font>
As said -- practice, practice, practice - everybody does it a little differently - sorta gotta find your own "feel" for it. Practice and trying lots of different tilt angles - jus' a little difference in tilt can make a big difference in performance.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

<font color="blue"> As said -- practice, practice, practice - everybody does it a little differently - sorta gotta find your own "feel" for it. Practice and trying lots of different tilt angles - jus' a little difference in tilt can make a big difference in performance.
</font>

Mike, if I did not know better I would think you were the instructor in the community college welding class that I am taking...

After reading your words I just realized that boxblading and welding have a lot in common: Practice, practice, practice...

Amazing...guess that a lot of things in life are like that!