Rear Blade Box scraper vs. rear blade.

[tom38]

I am considering either a box scraper or rear blade and am getting varing advise on which will work better for me. The primary intended use is to level and grade for a yard and paths through wooded areas. Soil is sandy. My tractor is small by most of your standards (John Deere X485) and has a cat 1 hitch. I'm thinking a 4' box or 5' blade. What are advantages and anyone's advise? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[MadDog]

I'm not knowledgeable enough to hand out any advice, but I can tell you my own experience and conclusions. I bought both a boxblade and a rearblade with my B7800 and the rear blade is the ONLY attachment that I have regretted buying and may sell. I get lots of use out of the boxblade, but I have yet to use the rearblade for anything. I suppose that it would be useful for snow clearing, but I plan to use a pto-snowblower for that, plus the FEL for compacted EOD piles.

If you decide to buy a rearablade, I'd be glad to sell you mine at a pretty good price..... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Zoomie]

I tend to use my grader blade alot more than my box, but then I usually first till anything I intend to level.

For your stated purpose, the box blade will likely serve you better as it's increased weight and scarifiers will dig in better on the woods trails.

 

[Jackrabbit_Slim]

Of course, if I had that nifty TNT system that MadDog has, I don't think my box scraper would ever be off the tractor. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I've run both, and see each implement as being job specific. Having said that, I'd go box scraper hands down. It' almost like the "Swiss Army Knife" of 3pt implements. Imagine what that guy with spray on hair that sells those little rotisserie ovens could do with an info-mercial for box scrapers. The mind boggles. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Cheers,

Slim

 

[Henro]

<font color="blue"> I'm thinking a 4' box or 5' blade. What are advantages and anyone's advise? </font>

I doubt you want a 5' box blade behind your X485 tractor. I am not familiar with the JD but I can tell you a 5' is all my B2910 (30 HP, 22 PTO HP) Kubota could handle, at least when working it hard. I think a 4' or 42" would be a better fit for your tractor. It is nice to have one that is wider than the rear tires though.

I like my back blade for snow...otherwise, I use the box all the time...but I only have a cheap KK back blade (box is KK also)...maybe if I had a real heavy duty one I might think differently... /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Things might be different for you though, since you have a lot of sand and I have a lot of clay...which gets quite hard when dry...

 

[_RaT_]

This is a post that is hard to answer without some understanding about just what the tractor is doing. Realize that when the front wheels of your tractor go down, any attachment on back goes up by quite and exaggerated amount due to the tractors length. Nothing but an attentive operator can clean up a washboard landscape. If your land was flat, a blade would work fine. The advantage a box has is the reservoir of material it can build up. One problem is that we often start our grading with an empty reservoir. Getting any landscape flat is a challenge to even experienced operators. The box blade will help you some, but in the end, your experience may well determine your results more then what you choose. A rear blade has times where it is far more advantageous then a boxblade such as when salvaging gravel on a roadway. After that, the boxblade tends to have more productive results. Rat...

 

[caddison]

I just traded my rear 5' blade for a 5' box scraper.....then I traded tractors while I was there /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif!! A box blade has a lot more versatility and can do some serious leveling. Rhino and Monroe Tuffline make a very heavy blade that you can add box ends to. This would be the next option I would consider. The scarifiers are the icing to the cake with a box scraper. I plan on mounting my dozer blade to a quick attach plate on the loader and using my box blade to push snow this winter....really like to have a cozy cab too /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif!

 

[KiotiJohn]

I have to say boxblade as well. Much more versatile and appropriate for your work. If you set up the boxblade right, you can do a great job with it. I'm not familiar with the smaller JD, so I don't know what type of hitch control it has, but position control will pretty much be a big help in using it right. Does your 3pt have a float position as most larger tractors? If so, and set up right, you can really avoid a lot of washboarding. Still takes some skill to get it good and level, but that comes with time and use. John
EDIT: I forgot to say that 5' is just too much most likely. Get a 42" if you can as it will be hard to get a full box and still move with a 5' and that's a lot of ground area to grab with so large a box on so small a tractor. John

 

[snmhanson]

I can't tell you what to get between the two, however, if you get a box blade I agree with Henro and and KiotiJohn about the size. I have a B7800 (poor man's B2910 but the same mechanically) with a 65" box blade and it is a handful when there is a decent amount of moisture in the soil. I would have gone with a 60" but there weren't any in stock when I needed mine. Kubota recommends 54" as the largest for my tractor. Your manual probably says what the largest recommended box blade for your tractor is. You can probably go up one size from that based on my limited experience and from what I've seen in everyone's profiles on TBN, but that is just my opinion. Maybe someone will second that. If you're worried about overworking your tractor stick with what the folks at John Deere recommend.

Matt