Boxblade Usefulness Survey

[glennmac]

On some backblades, Landpride being one, you can also mount an adjustable scarifier in front of the blade. You can also add a gaugewheel (even hydraulic) behind the better blades. This combo would give scarifying, blade scraping, and dirt pulling capability like a boxblade--all with angling, tilt, offset, and gaugewheel capability that boxblades do not have, plus superior snow removal ability. And for all that, you never have to adjust your top link! (Happy toplinking, all you boxbladers.)

Another approach is a good rake. You can add a flipdown blade with endcaps, dual gauge wheels and, with Landpride, the scarifier. You would lose the tilt and offset feature of the straight blade, however -- except for Landpride, again, which lets you mount the rake on the tiltable blade frame.

York also has a scarifier for their rakes. Woods does not seem to have scarifiers for their rakes or blades.

Glenn

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by glennmac on 10/15/00 09:00 AM.</FONT></P>

 

[gordon]

Glenn you bring up some very good points in your post. I didn't realize that Landpride made a scarifier that would mount onto the front of the blade. I'm going to look into the price of one, but Landpride stuff is very pricey when new. But that sure would be a nice addition to my rearblade!! I think that once I find out the price my wallet won't allow it, but it never hurts to ask.

Now lets get down to the real world. Even with the blade set up you will find that you still will be adjusting the top link or the gauge wheel ratchet arm or both. The reason I say this is the aggressiveness of the cut and adjusting it to more or less. I have the endplates and gauge wheel for my series 35 blade and it's great for somethings but my box is great for other tasks.

If I just had the rearblade setup and then bought the box would I be happy with the box---you bet. There are things that they both excell at and some of them entertwine but they both have their strong and weak points so to speak.

As for the flip down blade on the rake I've got a series 15 rake, gauge wheels, flip down blade and the blade is light duty to say the least. I bent mine up in no time. Not the fault of the product the fault of the operator. A stump got the better of it. Tractor disc brakes at it's best. Live goes on.
Gordon

 

[jyoutz]

A rear straight blade, which I tilted as needed.

 

[jyoutz]

No, I certainly don't think that a scoop can do more than a FEL. Really what they are good for is to just move material-not spread. What I have to do is to move material and dump in piles, then spread with a rear blade.

 

[jyoutz]

Harv, personally I would not buy a scoop if I had a FEL. They really are just a cheap tool to move material for us poor boys without a FEL. In regards to scooping dirt out of the ditch-I was using a rear grader blade, not a box blade.

 

[bsauter]

I have a King Kutter rear scoop that I have not used in a long time if anyone on this board is interested. They are great if you don't have a FEL. Since I do have a FEL I just don't need mine and was going to put it on EBay. Email me and I can send a picture and info. I used it on my old B2150 before I got a loader for it.

Brad, Kubota L3010HST, loader, R4 tires
Pictures at http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=179207&a=9183978

 

[Anonymous Poster]

With over 100,000 posts... we have loads of useful information no matter when it was discussed... it can be mind-boggling to try to digest all this...

But maybe a little bit at a time.../w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Thought, I'd resurrect this thread and if memory serves me correctly, Harv has a hinged box blade... maybe that's why he wanted to go "backwards" versus forward for more control of leveling... (using Harv's term of "bulldozing")

If Harv "fixed" his hinged back either via being welded or using a couple bolts, I think it would better serve Harv's purposes... both forward and backwards...

Also from the different talk, it seems no one actually knows when you would use a hinged versus stationary back. This excerpt is from a LandPride "Hinged" Box blade manual as to the purpose of the hinged back...

Rear Blade Setting
The rear gate of the box scraper is hinged; when left unbolted
it will allow for more penetration of the front cutting
blade or; when bolted (with 1/2” x 1 1/2” long bolt supplied
by customer) at both ends, front and blade can be used for
finishing or fine grading...

It would appear, mostly higher drawbar horsepower tractors are used in the majority of cases with a hinged box blade… as the more aggressive you get with penetration… the more horses you would need to complete the task at hand…

 

[MChalkley]

I haven't spent a whole lot of time examining box blades, but Harv's mention that his hinged back box blade did not have the ability to be fixed in place was the first I'd ever heard of one like that. I've seen hinged rear blades, but they always included a provision for locking them. I think if I had one like Harv's, I'd have to figure out some way to lock it down. I can think of times it would be handy to have the hinged blade, but, most of the time, I think I'd want it rigid.

 

[Harv]

Okay, Mark & John -

We have to pin this down once and for all, so I sent an email to Howse through their website to see if they can shed some light on the non-lockable rear hinged blade on <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/forumfiles/5-36333-BoxBlade.jpg>my box scraper</A>. Their "Ordering Information" page wasn't working for me, so I also asked about getting an owner's manual for the thing.

I already have the sinking feeling that they won't have a good answer, either. Then what do I do?

 

[TresCrows]

My Kubota boxblade has a swinging rear blades that does not have a lock.
To the other, bah humbug, I'll be keeping my boxblade, next to the FEL and MMM I cannot imagine not having it. It works wonders in clay, sand, rocks and whathaveyou. It pushes and levels gravel and stone and is indespensible.
J