Box Blade Use Help

[lemonsp]

I'm a new owner of a BX2230 that I bought last fall. I used it primarily for snow removed on my steep driveway in Alaska. We're now planting a new yard at our house and I need some advice. I'm not an expert operator as this is my first tractor. We're going to spread topsoil to make about a 4" base over raw land. The material is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. Once it's installed we'll seed over the 4" of topsoil. Our yard has some flat and some slope with maybe a 15%-20% of pretty steep stuff. I was going to dump piles with the loader and the spread with the box blade. What's the best way to do this? I've played around enough with the box blade to know a good operator goes a long ways so any help you can give me would be great. A few examples would be how to set up the box blade so it works well, how to use it and how to know what to do when working the flat, gentle slope, steep slope and transitioning between these.

Thanks in advance for the help. Keep the advice coming as I'm swamped at work and will probable only have time to reply tomorrow night.

 

[jeff9366]

What tires do you have?

You will need 4-WD engaged both for traction AND FOR BRAKING on the front wheels. (Tractors do not have front wheel brakes.)

It is easy to roll any tractor working on slopes. It is especially easy to roll a tractor working across a slope. Make sure you have the ROPS up and your seatbelt fastened. Be cautious. (It can be very hard to start a diesel tractor engine after tractor has rolled over.)

Position your topsoil on the upper slope, so you are pulling Box Blade and soil DOWNHILL. When pulling uphill, you will not have power/traction to pull a Box Blade load.

Have you had your soil tested? Soil tests are cheap. Adding fertilizer and lime, not ignoring test recommendations for MICRO-NUTRIENTS, is as important as your topsoil addition. You need to inform the tester of what you will grow to get optimum test results. (Blueberries like low pH soil, potatoes prefer high pH soil; in North Florida our soils are Boron deficient, etc.)

I generally lower the 3ph the whole way and let the box blade do its own thing as I pull it. The 3-Pt. links move as the tractor front moves up and down, but the tractor does not lift the box, and simply pulls it.

If the box blade digs in deep, it is angled too far forward. Lenghten the Top Link to make it dig in less.

Top Link length sets the angle of the box. If the box is too aggressive, when going forward, I lenghten the Top Link. If it is not aggressive enough, I shorten the top link. It takes a little practice to get it right.

Extra weight in the form of concrete blocks on top of the box blade helps when scraping hard soil; the additional weight makes the box cut well at a lesser cutting blade angle...

To spread: When you arrive where you want to deposit Box Blade load, lift BB one inch or a tiny bit more with 3-Pt control, then move forward. Dirt will flow out from under the Box Blade slowly, spreading. Look over your shoulder; the topsoil load should "melt" down. You should be able to spread topsoil in a strip ten to twelve feet long.

 

[Deano]

Shorten top link so that the back of the box blade will be off the ground for your desired thickness. Dump dirt length wise and then use blade to spread. After a few tries, you should be able to make a "row" of dirt with front loader and do long sections at a time!
I second a soil sample to avoid throwing money away!:thumbsup:

 

[ENC]

Adding 4" is going to take a long time with any sizable amount of land. Is that 4 inches settled and packed or loose?

Either way with your loader and box blade both full of dirt it won't make a very long strip before both are empty and you need to get more dirt. If at all possible have the delivery driver drive forward with a partially raised dump through the area you want to overlay. Then you can just spread it out laterally from that line.

I don't want to discourage you in your project, most of us small tractor owners dream of big piles of "stuff" to work with. Just know that it is a project.

 

[lemonsp]

Thanks everyone for the advice. We received the material yesterday and put in about 500 sq ft of gravel drip edge around the base of our house. I'm headed out tonight to start spreading soil. I'm sure I'll have questions once I get some time with it so I'll be back. In the mean time thanks again for your help.

 

[dakotagun]

with my yard project, I was tempted to bail on it and hire it done, but I remembered how long it took for me to create my driveway with my scut and 4-ft bb - at some point you'll feel like there's no hope of getting it done correctly but persevere! it takes some time with this equipment, and even when it looks like you're in too deep, keep at it and sooner or later it'll be just like you wanted. there's some good posts on here detailing the finer points of box blading - I go back to them occasionally and understand more and more - look it up and read every page (many pages, many tips).

 

[Reg]

For THIS project and in view of your inexperience you may be best to dump piles at the top of the slopes, then drive up the slope forward and just back drag with the loader bucket.

Easier, simpler, less skill required, etc.
Only drawback is that you don't get to play with the box blade and develop a new skill (yet) - that could be frustrating (-:

 

[lemonsp]

Thanks again for all the help. I tried to use the box blade last night and just couldn't get it to work in a way that produced a decent base of topsoil. Our lot is final graded but it's far from smooth. Everytime the tractor changed angle and went over a little right it would change the grading on the new topsoil. I kept trying to manually adjust the high of the box but it's way too sensitive to make fine scale adjustments. Anyway, the only way I could figure out how spread the soil was by hand with a rake. In the end I just used the loader to dump piles and then spread it by hand with a rake. Needless to say I was frustrated as it would have been nice to learn how to use a new toy and now it's going to take several days to get it all done rather than a single day with the tractor. If anyone has further ideas or help I'd really appreciate it.

Reg...I did as you suggested as well. This worked out okay so I may experiment with that a bit more tonight. Sure would love to learn to use that box grader but you gotta go with what works.

 

[jeff9366]

Everytime the tractor changed angle and went over a little right it would change the grading on the new topsoil. I kept trying to manually adjust the high of the box but it's way too sensitive to make fine scale adjustments.

Your title did not request other implement options.

Box Blades have a surprisingly long learning curve. Box Blades are 90% fore and aft implements. A Hydraulink helps when scraping, but costs an additional $249.

A Landscape Rake, which moves dirt across the face of the tines when used on an angle, and allows you to filter stones, would better serve your needs. Use without gauge wheels for 70% of your spreading, with gauge wheels for the final 30% of your spreading and smoothing.

I have an ETA Landscape Rake which is 'A' grade. ETA's imported gauge wheels for same are C+ grade, but relatively fair priced at $349.

Landscape Rake | Rock Rake | Root Rake | York Rake For Tractors

HydrauLink

The other high quality Landscape Rakes comes from York:

York Rakes : York Modern

Select ARTICLES, then article at foot of the page.

 

[LostInTheWoods]

lemonsp, after you have moved the soil around and gotten it roughly distributed with the box blade, would pulling a wooden pallet or a couple of logs help?

This is roughly the idea I'm talking about: Leveling Lawn - YouTube