Box Blade Width??

[Squadleader]

I've got a NH TV-145 Bi-directional Tractor coming in 2 weeks and have gotten most of the attachments into the dealership already but need to pick the Box Blade. Not a lot of experiance with tractors and need your help.

The tractor tires are 99" outside to outside. Really need Box Blade and am wondering if 96" Box Blade will be Ok or not. I've heard wider than tractor is better.

Is that just so tire tracks won't show on graded area and/or does it help being able to get blade close to something without hitting it with the tractor. Wanted to know if you guys in your experiance would think something this close is good or bad.

So far have not been able to find 120' box blade that mounts on hitch and has a blade on both sides. Just 120" scrapers that hitch to draw bar and can't be driven backwards. I think going backwards is the big advantage with a box blade as opposed to towed scraper. Box Blade has hydraulic scarifier. Scraper does not. But Scraper does have 2 tires that trail and has hydraulic tilt which will allow it to put a crown on a road which Box Blade does not. Towed rig is going to be hard to turn around in tight area. Because of turning and not being able to go backwards I would like to stay with Box Blade.

Wanted to know if you guys in your experiance would think something this close is good or bad. Has anyone run a Box Blade the same or less width than the wheels.

Do you think I should go with the 96" which is 3" short of tire width or keep looking for 120" Box Blade.

I know this tractor is bigger than this forum is designed for but I'm sure alot of you have experiance on larger tractors, plus if there are problems with this setup it would probably also show up in smaller applications.

Thanks in advance for all the good advice I see here.

 

[ScottAR]

Having the blade wider than the tractor is mostly for getting up next to things and for staying inside the "cut" if blading out a narrow area. You could probably get by with the 96" one by shifting your 3pt. over the 3-4 inches needed on one side or the other.

3-4inches is really all ya need depending on how fast your going and how tight your pucker string is. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[jinman]

I don't think you'll find a boxblade bigger than 96" to hang onto a 3PH. Even industrial loader-boxblade tractors with hydraulic scarifiers aren't any wider than that.

I use a 5' boxblade behind my tractor which is 6' wide. It's the blade I had when I bought the tractor, so it's pretty small, but I don't have any problem with it. Of course, I'd rather have a 6-footer, but other things have priority. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Squadleader]

Guys,
Thanks for your input. It sounds like 96" will be Ok then.

Darn thing cost $2500 bucks and I'm going to have to live with it for the duration. Just didn't want to make a mistake.

It's made by Gannon (part of Woods) and weighs a little over 1700 pounds. I'm thinking the weight is going to be real good thing to have.

Thanks again for your time and advice.