Rear Blade Broken box blade - worth fixing? and if not what to get?

[lipancreek]

I have used this box blade that came with my IH 574 for about 9 years. The 3-point system on the blade was already deformed 9 years ago. It's gotten worse over time. Today 3 welds failed in sequence while pulling up small stumps. See photos. The whole 3-point system looks like it's shot... between the deformity and the broken welds. It looks partially homemade to me in the first place. My welding skills are terrible. What do y'all think about whether this looks worth repairing? If it's not worth it, what would be a good very heavy duty replacement six foot box blade that I could buy once and forget?

 

[bcp]

The rest of your blade looks OK. Get a new hitch made. Look at online photos and pick a strong looking, simple one. Print a photo, take it to a welding shop, and get an estimate.

Bruce

 

[aczlan]

I would probbaly replace the pieces that go up to the toplink and re-weld (or possibly replace) the angle that connects to the bottom links. I would weld it on all 4 sides though not just the 2 sides that ripped off.

Aaron Z

 

[tcreeley]

Take it to a welder, wouldn't be much trouble for him to fix. He'd probably cut the bent pieces off and weld on new. Or sell it for cheap and buy a new one.

 

[/pine]

Pulling even small stumps is not (really) the intended purpose of a box blade...that said...you may be lucky that that it was the welds on the bb that failed and not part of your 3ph...
From the pictures it looks plenty fixable to me...
Good Luck...

 

[lipancreek]

Thanks for all the responses! I'll haul it to a welder.

 

[k0ua]

I believe that one is within the realm of a backyard welder like me. It should be no problem for a pro to repair at all. I am in the lets fix it camp.

 

[2458n]

In the distant past you would be able to go to a farmer and check out his abused equipment pile. You could cut the top off a three bottom plow and weld it onto your box blade. China was getting the scrap as soon as the farmer unhooked it from the tractor. Now that scrap metal is down alittle in price maybe more of it will get reworked here. Fix it and make it heavier.

 

[yelbike]

Totally fixable. Disassemble the hitch and straighten the pieces out. Pound it straight with sledge hammer, add heat if you have a source. Than weld it back up.

That's a perfect welding project to learn on. If your welds break you get more practice cause you need it. Eventually you'll get the welding right. Better practicing the welding skills on a box blade than say a trailer hitch. Good luck.

Post your welds in the welding section, apparently the boys there are great at clarifying your issues.

 

[wsc9tt]

[[ You guys are totally missing the real request here. This guy is wanting a blessing. ]]

Yup, I agree. This is totally a pile of scrap metal now. You have used it long enough and deserve a new box blade.
For $1400 from EA you can get a really nice new heavy duty box blade.

Tongue in cheek, but the EA xtreme box blade IS really nice.