Boxblade Usefulness Survey

[TresCrows]

You may not be confused but I am, first you ask a question and then you make an assertion--are boxblades generally useful was the question-- then that was followed by an assertion--boxblades are useless! Okkkkkkkk, if you say so.
I don't have top and tilt, I will stick buy my assertion that the box should match the tractor in both weight and width and even moldboard height to be truely useful.
Actually the boxblade is very easy to use and rather self explanatory, it's functions becoming apparent as one gains experience with the box.
Your assumption though not stated, forgive me, is that I do not know what I am talking about and that may well be but I do have a boxblade and have become quite efficient at using it which puts me one up on you /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif . Actually I am not shocked, I just like that little bug eyed smiley face /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif . Just messing with you. J

 

[GlueGuy]

<font color=blue>They are near-Satanic devices</font color=blue>

only until experiance is gained. Their use and operation to the uninitiated looks deceivingly simple. When you first start using one, the mystery begins. If you think about what's happening when it does one if weirdnesses, then you begin to learn. I've learned a lot on my admittedly small amount of seat time. I think I'm getting better with it. In fact, I KNOW I've gotten better with it. I can now plan what I intend to do, and get results to match. That ain't bad. And the compliments that I get from friends and neighbors with the results area testament to the fact that I can learn new tricks. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[GlueGuy]

<font color=blue>These things are also had to operate, and are also of dubious utility (especially tilt). It is easier to grade my driveway by backdragging my bucket and using a hand rake than to go through all that boxblade pain. Speaking of FELs, my FEL considers it an insult to be compared to a boxblade. No one is confused about the utility of, or how to use, a FEL</font color=blue>

Oh, and one more thing (well maybe two or three)...

Dubious utility. Pushaw! I (for one) consider my boxblade right up there, as equal to, if not greater than the FEL. Certainly, they can't be good at the same things, so the comparison is dubious, not the usefulness. As an old saying goes, "if the only tool you have is a hammer, all your problems begin to look like nails". It is NOT easier to grade a driveway by backdragging a FEL versus a baxblade. I have 4300' of driveway to prove it. Especially the tilt. There is NO WAY that I could do the kind of job I do back dragging a FEL that I do with the boxblade. Just no way.

Conversely. There is no way that I could move stuff around with a boxblade that I do with the FEL. No way. They are different tools, to be used with different goals.

Sure, you can pound nails with a crescent wrench. It gets the job done. But a hammer tends to do a much better job.

 

[nicktime]

John,

Sorry, didn't mean to be misleading as to the boxblade being heavy duty. I also purchased the GB72 and agree with you. Even though it is one of Woods' lighter models, it is much heavier and beefier than a lot of the others out there.

I will probably break down and put in the hydraulics for top-n-tilt by the spring time. After getting on and off to make adjustments, I think it will pay for itself in the finished product.

Rich

 

[TresCrows]

Dittos and while on the subject neither top'n tilt or position control is needed--they are helpful and useful but an amateur who is not working a tractor for pay/hire does not need them and can get buy very nicely without--very nicely.
Back dragging the FEL better than compared to the boxblade--my Boxblade is insulted!!!!!!!! No way. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif . J

 

[Bird]

Glennmac, I probably wouldn't need a box blade either, if I stayed bogged down in a swamp all the time./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif However, since I do know just a tiny bit about how to use one, I guess it's the most used implement I have after the FEL./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif And yep, top 'n tilt is expensive, but if you use a blade much, it'll soon pay for itself. And you're right about Howse being kind of low end, but darned if it doesn't do everything I need to do, and I haven't been able to bend or break it so far. So how smart would it have been for me to buy a heavier one that costs twice as much?/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

 

[GrantMO]

Bird,
I have a KingKutter 72inch boxblade and it seems to work fine. It weighs more than the 25 series Landpride,which looked very well constructed, but was alot cheaper. I'll beat the heck out of it, can leave it outside without worrying about it and if it falls apart in the future I can get a heavier one. So far I think it's going to last a number of years. The utility of it is amazing and I compare it to the FEL in this regard. It's also similar that they both have definite learning curves to operate well.

 

[cowboydoc]

Glueguy,
I completely agree with you on the usefulness of the boxblade. There is absolutely not one bit of comparison to the usefulness of a boxblade and a front end loader or a regular blade.

The last two days have been a perfect example.
1. My road to my barn had alot of humps from pouring rock and driving on it and it settling down more in some places than other. With my front end loader I can't even touch this rock as it's now too hard. I put the box blade on set the scarifers down and in less then an hour I've got my road smooth again.

2. Entrance coming into my barn. From all the trucks and such coming in they got a dropoff going in and the entrance is a mess. Using the boxblade I widen out the entrance. I pull dirt and rock from the main road to make the transition from the road to the barn road smooth again. No way I could do this with the front end loader. Go out on a main gravel road and try and rip it down with a front end loader. Not going to happen.

3. The gateway between two pastures has a severe drop off. I can't budge the ground with the front end loader as it's too hard. Use the boxblade and the job is done in 5 minutes.

4. I finally got my sand for the new barn. The bottom is rock hard hard. They dump the sand in the middle of the barn. With the FEL I have to keep loading backing up and spreading. With the boxblade I back up to the pile grab a load with the boxblade and go. With the FEL it's difficult to see just how level I'm getting it. With the boxblade I look back and feather the control up and down and get it perfect. Now that I've got the sand out I need to soften up the rock hard dirt underneath. No problem set the scarifers down and run through it this way. I can reach back and keep setting three point arm to get more or less of drag with the blade or scarifing effect. When I've got the ground worked under the sand I can now set it back and level it all out again. Impossible to do that with the FEL.

5. I have an area outside that needs leveled and worked up. Set the scarifers down and get it down in about a 1/2 hour. In this time I've worked up the ground with the scarifers. Moved dirt from one spot to another with the boxblade and I've now got a nice mesa built up that will drain, is flat and ready to go.

One I couldn't have done half this work with the FEL alone and two the work I could have done would have taken three or four times as long.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Please educate me. What is the difference between a regular box blade and a rollover boxblade?

 

[MikePA]

doc,

Do you have the hydraulic Tip and Tilt?