Box Blade Width Recommendation

[coolnature]

I am ready to pull the trigger on a Woods / Gannon BB with hydraulic rippers. The tractor is 98 HP MFWD and weighs in at 8000#. I initially had settled on an 88" wide unit with replaceable end plate wear bits since my present rear wheel width is approx. 82" and I would still be able to widen the rears another 6" with the BB still covering the tire tracks. My farm road is roughly 96" wide for the most part and I am considering going to a 96" BB for this reason. The catch is Woods does not mfg. a 96" wide unit with the replaceable end plate wear bits, the widest they mfg. is 92". I like the idea of the replaceable wear bits even though I may never use the BB enough to warrant their replacement. The 96" unit only weighs 30# more than the 88" with the replaceable end bits, so that's a wash. I am in need of some good expert advice since this will be my first and hopefully last BB. Thanks in advance.

 

[jeff9366]

Do you have hydraulic Top & Tilt for your Box Blade? Those big guys can be a bear to adjust manually.

Do you need to install and maintain a crown on your road? The 88" unit would be preferable for this task.

 

[coolnature]

Do you have hydraulic Top & Tilt for your Box Blade? Those big guys can be a bear to adjust manually.

Do you need to install and maintain a crown on your road? The 88" unit would be preferable for this task.

Once I nail down the deal on the BB, I will order the T&T. The main problem I have now with the farm road is a tall crown, 6"-8" in places, that I want to eliminate. Thanks Jeff.

 

[xring100]

Do you have hydraulic Top & Tilt for your Box Blade? Those big guys can be a bear to adjust manually.

That's an understatement. I really need to pony up the cash for another valve and have Brian build me a side link. Luckily i dont need to adjust the tilt very often but when i do its a severalminute ordeal Going up and down with the 3 pt moving the side link 1/4" at a time.

 

[oosik]

I agree with Jeff - an 88" or even an 82" would make keeping a crown easier than trying to do it with a 96". My rear wheel width is 80" - outside to outside and I use a Bush Hog roll over box blade that is 72" wide. The ROBB or box blade does not have to be wider than the rear tires to do a good job.

I have a mile long gravel driveway and the most useful implement for summer maintenance is my Land Pride grading scraper - GS2584.

I do use the ROBB to move large amounts of gravel to fill larger pot holes or swales. But the final leveling, crowning & smoothing is with the grading scraper.

BTW - I do have the hydraulic top cylinder and it is unbelievably nice. You just putt along and keep jigging that hydraulic lever until the implement is at the absolutely perfect angle. Prior to having the top hydraulic I would give up after 6-8 up/down adjustments and just go with it as it was. The top cylinder really allows my implements perform to their max.

 

[jeff9366]

Once I nail down the deal on the BB, I will order the T&T. The main problem I have now with the farm road is a tall crown, 6"-8" in places, that I want to eliminate. Thanks Jeff.

Everything I read on T-B-N regarding gravel roads says some crown is essential. How much road experience do you have?

LINK: https://www.google.com/search?clien...tractorbynet.com&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&gws_rd=ssl

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Unless you plan on using this implement a lot, I wouldn't worry about the side wear plates. Besides you can add them yourself if you end up needing them. I think that I would stay with the 88" unit anyway, but that may just be me. Not sure you want to go down a 96" road with a 96" implement. :confused3: If you don't have one, probably should think about at least a hydraulic top link to you can make better use of the implement.

Good luck with your choice.

 

[coolnature]

Everything I read on T-B-N regarding gravel roads says some crown is essential. How much road experience do you have?

LINK: https://www.google.com/search?clien...tractorbynet.com&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&gws_rd=ssl

Exactly 0. I have a lot to learn.

 

[coolnature]

Unless you plan on using this implement a lot, I wouldn't worry about the side wear plates. Besides you can add them yourself if you end up needing them. I think that I would stay with the 88" unit anyway, but that may just be me. Not sure you want to go down a 96" road with a 96" implement. :confused3: If you don't have one, probably should think about at least a hydraulic top link to you can make better use of the implement.

Good luck with your choice.

Once I get the BB on order, I will contact you for a quote for the T&T. I do have (3) rear remotes - all have float function.

 

[jenkinsph]

Which width to choose would depend on your uses imo. I would prefer the wider box blade if you have plans to smooth and grade land. The narrow road would be easier to work with a much smaller box blade but you can knock down the crown a little with either one. Road maintenance is easier to do with a lpgs.

 

[schmism]

if one of your main activities you plan to do is road maintenance, a box blade is perhaps the last item i would choose to do this with.

A rear blade is much prefered over a box blade to do road maintenance. Being able to roll the material to mix fines and larger material is key in maintenance as well as being able to reclaim material from the edge of the road and windrow it in the center for mixing and spreading.

you can not windrow material with a box blade, you can only recover short sections of material before the BB fills up then you have to "dump" a hump of material somewhere which then has to be spread back out.... its really an extremely poor tool to choose when trying to maintain roads.

as for maintaining roads, i really like this PDF. http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/upload/2003_07_24_NPS_gravelroads_gravelroads.pdf

 

[coolnature]

I am aware that the BB is not the ideal implement for road maintenance. But it will be used for other purposes besides maintaining the road. Presently I do not have an implement for moving material, grading and shaping. The BB will be the starting point and later on I may acquire an LPGS. Thanks for the input.