Your decision to get a box blade first is a good one.
The following is generic suggestions for all tractors:
Remember that you have a system, and $12,000 to $25,000 for a tractor and $250 for a box blade may not be well matched. An $800 really god box blade can be much more productive. The first one I used weighed about 300 pounds and was a waste of time and money.
I have an
M6800 and spent $2000 for an 1100 pound Gannon box blade. Have never regretted it. For moving dirt about 300' or less mine is far faster and much higher capacity than a FEL. Most of the time now I leave the FEL bucket off. The Gannon can move almost a cubic yard in 55 seconds per cycle. So far it has moved about 700 yards of dirt.
My suggestions for box blade are as follows:
1. Weight: Read your tractor owners manual specifications for box blade capacity. This will help you determine the best weight and width. Get one the same weight as your manual specifications. Weight is very, perhaps most, important.
2. Four wheel drive tractor and is better and gets much more work done.
3. You should have the width wider than your rear tire track and wider than the overall width of your tractor so you can scrape next to, for example, a building foundation. Remember that in the future you may want to set your tires wider for increased stability. Look at tire width options before you determine box size. My box is 76" and will cover the tire tracks, but if I change to the next wider tire spacing the box might bee just a little too narrow. Wish I had bought the Kubota recomended 84" width.
4. A hydraulic top link is very very helpful. If you have any hydraulic remote then get or make a hydraulic top link. These should be standard equipment on tractors.
5. A used really god brand will perform better than a light weight brrand new box. Box blades are a good item to buy used because there are no mechanized parts and they are easy to inspect. Don't buy a used one that is not the right weight and size, however.
6. The scarrifiers can be manually adjusted or hydraulic. Manual is OK if you have a hydraulic top link. Hydraulic is better but with a top link also it requires two remotes. If you have one remote use it for the top link instead of hydraulic scarrifiers. The scarrifier bars can be flame cut, flame cut and heat treated, or forged and heat treated. The latter is best and with enough horsepower they can rip asphalt. A friend has flame cut bars and his
M6800 can bend them like pretzels when a rock is encountered.
7. A hinged back blade can let you push dirt backwards and can push things like a bull dozer.
8. For performance, paint is the very lowest priority specification. The metal is pretty thick and these things generally don't rust out. Of course orange will not make mine work better. They get very scrathed up after a few hours so finish quality is not as critical as your tractor engine hood. Put red reflective DOT tape on the back so it can be seen at night.
Kubota, Gannon, or Land Pride's better box blade are the best if you can afford them. (Ebay sometimes have kubota.) It will be well matched and top quality. Once you have experienced a good box blade you won't ever want to use a TSC special again.
Hope this helps and is not too too critical of emphasis on paint jobs. I guess it's all about an individuals priorities. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
