Buying Advice Box blade or rear blade?

[deezler]

One of the many things you may learn after yrs of working with a scrape blade, is what to do with undesirable material that you cut up.. example, grass, roots etc.
Before I start a project I overview the area.
Then decide if when I cut the undesirable material if I can roll it to the center of the road and bury it.
If the road is already crowned that would be a no.
In this case I was cutting a new short drive and it was easy.. in the pic I knocked that short drive out in about an hour after working night shift.. buried the grass in the middle and cut and rolled fresh clean dirt from the ditches up and over it. Still needed a little more finish at that point but it was good enough to leave it for later.

Glad that worked out for you, the profile of the surface does look nice. But I would have to weigh in here and recommend that no one else does this. The organic material that you just put smack dab in the middle of your road is exactly the kind of material you do not want in a driveway base. You want compacted clay or sand, not decaying organic material. It will hold moisture and just moosh around forever, and always try to steal whatever stone you lay on top. IE not stable. If you're drainage and climate are forgiving, you might get away with it, but generally not a good idea. Just roll that garbage to the outside of your road area, not in to the center.

 

[MF243RedTop]

I'm in the south... Things are different.. that drive is completely covered with Bermuda grass.. it holds fine.

 

[deezler]

Oh, well if its a grass driveway, then by all means! Haha. But still, nice crown. My gravel drive had a nice crown last fall... totally flat now after this squishy spring thaw. Ugh.

 

[MF243RedTop]

Sometimes I just can't understand how you guys deal with those conditions.... Them thaws have to be tremendous on dirt/gravel roads...
Yeah here in the deep South we get plenty of "slow rain" in winter.... But it can also be 60-80 degrees just a few days later to dry and harden back up a road bed

 

[kthompson]

I'm in the south... Things are different.. that drive is completely covered with Bermuda grass.. it holds fine.

You know that is truer than most people realize. It is not a North/South or East/West issue only. The soil, climate and soil types can vary greatly in very short distances sometimes, especially here the soil. We can have sandy land you will never see water standing on next to a swamp or river. I think I am right decent with a rear blade but don't ask me on moving snow or getting rocks out the ground or grading such ground as the op has. That is one reason our location needs to be in our info. As to grass drive ways, you often see a grass private plane run way here.

 

[oosik]

Hydraulic top link. For thirty years and two tractors - up/down hundreds & hundreds of times to adjust the top link. Then one day as I was making one of many trips up/down - I stepped on a rock that twisted underfoot. Twisted ankle/broken ankle bones.

That was the final straw. I got my hydraulic top link from Fit Rite. Not only does it save these many trips - it allows for infinite adjustment on-the-go and the absolute best implement positioning.

 

[MF243RedTop]

As to grass drive ways, you often see a grass private plane run way here.

They're several within just a short drive of where I live. Most are crop dusters, but ones just a private plane runway.

 

[Bullwinkle123]

Well, after all the forums threads I've read and the replies here, I've decided I'm going to go for a blade for my first driveway maintenance tool. I have not figured out if I'll get hydraulics, hopefully gonna visit the dealer tomorrow and look at some different blade options if they have them on the lot. Will shoot for heavy, and see what the extra remotes and hydraulics will run me.

Thanks for all the anecdotes and advice.

 

[oosik]

Bullwinkle123- some last thoughts. A heavy rear blade is 100 to 125 pounds per foot of width. If you will be using the rear blade for snow - when you angle the blade, you effectively loose width. My 96" blade will only cut a 75" path when angled.

My thoughts on implements - any implement with moving parts - chipper, bush hog, grapple - should be kept/stored under shelter. All the others, without moving parts, can be stored outside and on a pallet or blocks. It's best to not cover implements either - moisture forms under tarps.

Have fun - don't drool. Oosik

 

[rScotty]

Well, after all the forums threads I've read and the replies here, I've decided I'm going to go for a blade for my first driveway maintenance tool. I have not figured out if I'll get hydraulics, hopefully gonna visit the dealer tomorrow and look at some different blade options if they have them on the lot. Will shoot for heavy, and see what the extra remotes and hydraulics will run me.

Thanks for all the anecdotes and advice.

For our 30 hp tractor I bought a nice manual "Land Pride" six foot wide blade that was heavily built and made all the pivoting motions that I wanted. Plus removeable end caps. It does offset, angle, & tilt.

It cost more than I expected.... but is very nice. The end caps turn it into an angling box blade, too.

It came as a manual type, but can be upgraded at any time with hydraulic cylinders for any of the motions because this brand comes with hydraulic cylinder attachment points already welded on. If I get rear remotes (someday) I can just order cylinders and hoses from a surplus hydraulics shop online.
rScotty