Box blade or grader blade

[keegs]

... BTW,frost line in Tx is somewhere around 8,000 to 10,000 feet,,,,,,altitude . :airplane:

Ha!!!

 

[keegs]

A grader blade is good at leveling loose material, but not so much for what you want to do. I brought a blade home for that same purpose, but it wouldn't even scratch the surface of the sod. I agree that your driveway looks pretty good but can understand why you don't want the grass.

Thanks Jstpssng... it's a lot to cut and I do it with a walk behind. The BB seems more versatile. I can use it to move/spread new material if needed. And the garage is filling up with attachments so versatility is big. I'm in no hurry so I'll keep an eye out on FB Marketplace, Uncle Henry's and CL. Should be able to come up with something at a reasonable price. Been looking at a video that points out what to look for in a good box blade.

 

[jeff9366]

The BB seems more versatile. I can use it to move/spread new material if needed. And the garage is filling up with attachments so versatility is big. Been looking at a video that points out what to look for in a good box blade.

In order for a Box Blade to cut well it requires at least 100 pounds of implement weight per foot of width. M5640 can manage a Box Blade with 175 pounds per foot of width. Weight is your friend in Box Blades.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

The first thing I bought after I picked up my tractor was a used 6ft Ford blade, I painted it back to the original Ford blue color. I gave $125 for it I think.

I used it on my gravel driveway to shave down the hump like what you have, I put 100lbs of chicken feed on top of the blade so it would dig better.

I rutted my pasture over the first winter when it was stupid muddy outside, in the spring I tried to grade it a bit with weight on the blade and it didn’t really do well, the dirt was too compacted, it was better than before but far from smooth.

Every winter so far I have been able to get away with just the rear grader blade. I wouldn’t sell my blade, it’s worth having it vs what I would get out of it.

Almost two years after buying my tractor I had some money, I got it in me that I wanted a box blade so I searched CL, I was shocked how much people wanted for them used, most were in the $500-600 range, so I started shopping for a new blade, hand wrote out basically an excel file with 28 different brands of BB’s I believe. For the money it was down to Woods, EA and King Kutter pro line.



I chose the Everything Attachments XTreme 78in and had them paint it green. 100% made in USA, I had to wait a little over 5 weeks to get it, but it’s a very well made blade. Gave over $900 for it, can’t remember exactly, was under $1000.

I would suggest getting both the BB and rear blade, each does better at different jobs.

If you have the funds, a land leveler is a good choice for grading and leveling driveways but a box blade is a bit more versatile than a land leveler.

If I only were to get one it would prob be the rear blade because they are cheap, they grade ok, move dirt ok, but do a pretty good job moving snow.

 

[keegs]

In order for a Box Blade to cut well it requires at least 100 pounds of implement weight per foot of width. M5640 can manage a Box Blade with 175 pounds per foot of width. Weight is your friend in Box Blades.

The 6' BBs seem to be coming in around 500 lbs. I'll keep this in mind. By cut well I assume you mean depth... can I use the top link to adjust the box blade cut depth?

 

[keegs]

View attachment 559888

The first thing I bought after I picked up my tractor was a used 6ft Ford blade, I painted it back to the original Ford blue color. I gave $125 for it I think.

I used it on my gravel driveway to shave down the hump like what you have, I put 100lbs of chicken feed on top of the blade so it would dig better.

I rutted my pasture over the first winter when it was stupid muddy outside, in the spring I tried to grade it a bit with weight on the blade and it didn’t really do well, the dirt was too compacted, it was better than before but far from smooth.

Every winter so far I have been able to get away with just the rear grader blade. I wouldn’t sell my blade, it’s worth having it vs what I would get out of it.

Almost two years after buying my tractor I had some money, I got it in me that I wanted a box blade so I searched CL, I was shocked how much people wanted for them used, most were in the $500-600 range, so I started shopping for a new blade, hand wrote out basically an excel file with 28 different brands of BB’s I believe. For the money it was down to Woods, EA and King Kutter pro line.

View attachment 559889View attachment 559890

I chose the Everything Attachments XTreme 78in and had them paint it green. 100% made in USA, I had to wait a little over 5 weeks to get it, but it’s a very well made blade. Gave over $900 for it, can’t remember exactly, was under $1000.

I would suggest getting both the BB and rear blade, each does better at different jobs.

If you have the funds, a land leveler is a good choice for grading and leveling driveways but a box blade is a bit more versatile than a land leveler.

If I only were to get one it would prob be the rear blade because they are cheap, they grade ok, move dirt ok, but do a pretty good job moving snow.

Thanks BFJ. I have to justify these purchases to the Mrs. Both may not be an option That looks like a solid attachment.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Thanks BFJ. I have to justify these purchases to the Mrs. Both may not be an option That looks like a solid attachment.

Used rear blade and some bags of sand and you will do most of what you need ok, that won’t be as good as the job a BB or land leveler will do on some jobs, but over all a grader blade is more versatile. EA has fancy ones that offset and tilt, would be great for ditches.

I think they make one that has wings that fold in to move material like a BB, haven’t looked into them much yet.

Another trick to grader blades is they smooth better by being drug backwards, they don’t dig that way, they don’t pick material up but just smooths the surface. You can get rear blades all day long for $100-$150 used in good shape, the old Ford blades are solid little suckers, I was gonna paint JD decals on my blade and paint it green, it’s worth more as a Ford blade so it was painted blue lol.

 

[keegs]

Used rear blade and some bags of sand and you will do most of what you need ok, that won’t be as good as the job a BB or land leveler will do on some jobs, but over all a grader blade is more versatile. EA has fancy ones that offset and tilt, would be great for ditches.

I think they make one that has wings that fold in to move material like a BB, haven’t looked into them much yet.

Another trick to grader blades is they smooth better by being drug backwards, they don’t dig that way, they don’t pick material up but just smooths the surface. You can get rear blades all day long for $100-$150 used in good shape, the old Ford blades are solid little suckers, I was gonna paint JD decals on my blade and paint it green, it’s worth more as a Ford blade so it was painted blue lol.

I saw some combo rake/blades as well. I definitely could put one to use. And they're all over FB and CL ...usually in the 200-300 range for a 6'r as I recall.

 

[MitchellB]

I got this light duty 6ft blade new from Tractor Supply about 18 years or so ago when we first got our 49 8N tractor. I wore the adjusting pin hole out a after about 10 years. When I repaired it, I made a little frame to hold some concrete blocks to add a little more weight to it. I never owned a box blade until about 4 years ago as the rear grader blade was able to do most of the chores I needed to do, but the box blade is much stouter and does things the grader blade can't, and visa versa.

 

[keegs]

View attachment 560012
I got this light duty 6ft blade new from Tractor Supply about 18 years or so ago when we first got our 49 8N tractor. I wore the adjusting pin hole out a after about 10 years. When I repaired it, I made a little frame to hold some concrete blocks to add a little more weight to it. I never owned a box blade until about 4 years ago as the rear grader blade was able to do most of the chores I needed to do, but the box blade is much stouter and does things the grader blade can't, and visa versa.

Thanks MitchellB. I found an outfit that gets $61/day for a 6' box blade. I'm going for later this week.