Box Blade or Grader Blade

[oosik]

My first tractor - Ford 1700 4WD - was somewhat small and definitely light. My current tractor - Kubota M6040 - is bigger and absolutely heavier @ 10,050#. I've had/used the same roll over box blade - Bush Hog RO 720 - with both tractors. The ROBB is 72" wide and 710#.

The box blade would dig in with either tractor. The lighter Ford did not have the weight/traction to gather up/pull thru a load. All four wheels would simply spin and we went nowhere. I could take a 1" or, maybe, 1 1/2" cut and if conditions were right - fill the box.

With the Kubota I can easily take a 3" or 4" cut and go like smoke and oakum.

It becomes a simple matter of time and ease of operation.

The hydraulic top link is a real God sent attachment when it comes to my box blade operations. With the hydraulic lever I can adjust the depth of cut - on the fly. Some folks have a consistent type of soil everywhere on their property. They can twist the manual top link to an acceptable setting and never have to worry about further adjustments. Not so - on my property. The hydraulic top link lets me dig deeper where the soil type is easy & come shallow where the going gets tough. I will never go back to a manual top link.

 

[jeff9366]

Thanks for advice. I have considered getting a bigger tractor, maybe l39 series. I have seen the grapple buckets and wanting one badly but not going to put it on this tractor as I think it would be a waste. Much rather put it on a L series heavy tractor. I may hire out or rent a mini excavator.

I only know your conditions from what the information you have given us.

But from what you have described, I doubt your respondents will recommend stepping up from a 1,700 pound landscaping tractor to a 2,700 pound landscaping tractor. You would notice "some" capability increase but remain too light for the heavy duty tasks you have posted. The next two heavier increments in Kubota are the 3,300 pound L4701 and the 3,700 pound MX series. The MX has larger wheels/tires, which complement a grapple and a heavier Three Point Hitch, relative to the L4701, exemplary attributes for the ground engagement tasks ahead of you. An MX and an L4701 will pass under an 84" garage header.

Transitioning from 26-horsepower to a 39-horspower will do almost nothing for you attacking the mess on your hunting property. You need tractor mass.

 

[Egon]

Learn how to use your bucket as it will do most of the tasks listed. Use a back blade with gauge wheels to level all things out.

Don't worry about your tractor size. It will do everything you want but may take a little longer. Adding chains will greatly increase your traction and is not that expensive.

Kubota B7100HST digging a ditch.

 

[thunder86]

Hard to tell in the photos but I've been able to build up this small section about 6 inches higher over 4 days of work using my loader. It floods bad in the lower spots. The water is coming in off the neighbors hill and down my hill meeting up and running across. I picked up a box blade today used for 500 and will see if I can move more dirt with it. Still have a lot of mounds of rocky dirt I can push out. My idea is to make the entire thing level then dig a small crevice with my loader/box blade along my hill to divert run off to a nearby creek. Later I'll rent a mini excavator, buy a culvert and dig a deep trench at the end of the crevice I dig with tractor.
The dirt seems to pack well and stays dry just need to move more of it and get a ditch at the bottom of the hill to run it all off.
Is this too much water to fix with drain tile? Picture of the box blade I picked up today too.