Box Scraper Box Blade priceing

[casey lb1914]

Looking for either a back blade or a box blade what's the pro's/con's of both and best prices? looking for a 5' for a compact tractor. thanks

 

[jbrumberg]

casey lb1914:

Welcome to TBN ! Please provide more information in your profile and/or post a reply as to what will be your anticipated uses for either attachment. Since you live in upstate NY and snow season is fast approaching a back blade is probably a better choice for snow removal. If you are primarily interested in serious dirt moving and ground leveling I would go with a box blade. The needed size of either attachment is also a function of tractor horsepower, use, and the material to be moved. Remember the membership at TBN is more than willing to help you spend your hard earned money. Jay

 

[roxynoodle]

A box blade has sacrificers and can dig up and level soil easier, IMO. I also find it a handy implement for getting some rear ballast when using my loader as you can put weight on top of it, but it doesn't take up as much room as a rear mower.

A rear blade would be superior for spreading material over a large area, such as gravel for a driveway. I plan to pick one up to aid with snow removal.

On the lower end of the price scales, you might want to look at King Kutter, which TSC and others sell. I recently priced a 5 ft rear blade and it was $228. I think a 5 ft box blade is just under $400 in the KK brand. I have a 4 ft box blade that is made by World Agri-tech, a small Ohio outfit and it was $350, which was the same as the KK 4 ft one. My tractor would have had problems using a 5 ft box blade but I'm thinking that size would be ok in a rear blade, especially since it will be tilted for snow pushing or pulling.

I did see an interesting 6 ft rear blade a couple weeks ago made for the Kubota SCUTS. It was light enough duty that those little tractors could use it. I can't remember the brand but it was just under $300.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

What size tractor do you have, is it large enough to handle a 5' box blade? Soil conditions will help determine what size a tractor is capable of using, for example, in clay soil any tractor 24hp and less should probably stick with a 4' blade, 25hp and up can probably handle a 5' box blade. But if your conditions are Florida sand then you can probably upsize 1' for each tractor. For rear blades, since they generally are used for 'scraping' rather than digging, you can upsize 1' over whatever boxblade you use.

What are the intended uses for the box blade? What are the intended uses for the rear blade. Both blades do different tasks so buying the wrong one may be a costly mistake to you if your tasks are not compatible with the intended uses of the type of blade.

As for pricing you can get them cheap or expensive and you get what you pay for . . . but again, your tasks determine what your needs are so do you need a heavily built blade or will a cheap light duty blade work? If you decide you need a rear blade, do you need it to 'offset' and 'angle' & 'tilt' or just 'angle' or 'offset & angle'? With a boxblade if you want a light duty blade but have heavy conditions then you probably will pay for future repairs or will end up buying a new blade after you knock a light duty blade out of square. But if your conditions are light, then money spend on a heavy duty blade is wasted.

 

[jbrumberg]

I agree with both roxynoodle and Bob Skurka. I believe the general "rule of thumb" for box blades is 1 foot for every ~5 horsepower, but you also have to look at the type of soil you will be moving. In upstate NY there is a lot of rocky clay so a smaller box blade is probably the best bet (I still think you want a box blade slightly wider than your wheel width.). I also agree with the +1' for a rear blade> box blade. You would want the rear blade to still be wider than your wheel width when the rear blade is on angle unless it can be offset. Jay

 

[greg_g]

Looking for either a back blade or a box blade what's the pro's/con's of both and best prices? looking for a 5' for a compact tractor. thanks

To add to what the others have contributed so far, it also depends upon what type tires you have on your CUT. Traction is a bigger factor with a box blade than with a back blade. When you get right down to it, a box blade can do nearly anything a back blade can do - anything that doesn't require indexing - but the reverse can't be said of a back blade.

If snow-removal is high on your list, consider a front blade that mounts in place of your loader bucket.

When shopping for either type blade though, consider price per pound. Heavier is better than cheaper. One last tie-breaker is to simply choose the color that looks best on/behind your tractor.

Oh, and I'm quite sure that word "sacrificers " above, should have been scarifiers.

//greg//

 

[shvl73]

Casey,
I noticed Kioti specs a 48" boxblade for your tractor. While you may be able to use a 5' light duty blade in modest soil, you'd be safer with a 4'.
You might even check to see if some manufacturers make one around 54" if width is important.

 

[casey lb1914]

Theres alot to consider in buying a blade. I have a Kioti Lb 1914, 21 H.P., turf tires, the front bucket is 4', the rear tire width is 5', thats why I wanted to go with the 5' blade, with all thats been said I do want to go with the box blade , moving/leveling dirt is going to be it's job , But now I'm not sure if a 5' will be to much and not enough horse's to do the job.

 

[roxynoodle]

I'd go with a 4' box blade. Your tractor is very similar in size to mine, although wider in the back with the turfs. But, turfs aren't going to get the traction of R4s or R1s either. So, not only horses, but look at the aggressiveness (or lack of) of your tires. I have "rice" tires on my tractor and they are like R1s to the third power. A 5' box blade won't do any good if you aren't able to actually get work out of it. I would probably go with a 5' rear blade though if you are planning to move snow and in looking at your location, I think you are going to be moving snow

 

[jbrumberg]

casey lb1914.

Have you considered "dishing in" your rear tires to decrease width (You would lose some stability.)? You could also weight those tires and add chains to increase traction. Dishing the rears in would also give the rear blade some tire "overlap". Jay