Cheap generic gauge wheel source? And Boxblade advice

[Piston]

Found it...
I used a large piece of angle Iron, I believe it was 4"x4" and quite thick, then I welded two brackets to the angle iron.


I was going to drill two holes in the back of my box blade, and through the angle iron to secure it. You can see how the lip of the angle iron rests on the top of the box blade. I was going to use grade 8 bolts to secure it so I could remove it if I wanted to.

Then, I welded two brackets to the quick hitch frame, and would use bolts to secure it to the other brackets....

 

[Fallon]

I'd not use rake wheels on a box blade, the weight differences are fairly tremendous. I'd say if you have a 3pt finish mower, "borrow" the wheels from it.

The laminated wheel off my 5' Land Pride rotary cutter might fit that bill. Will check out the sleeve it fits into to see how easy that will be to fab & where the bearings are. Pretty sure it weighs more than the box blade too.

 

[Fallon]

Before you go to Gauge Wheels, consider a Hyraulink to replace OEM Top Link. This is an easily adjusted for length, like a OEM Top Link, but also acts as a powerful shock absorber, reducing the hobby-horse effect. I found the Hydraulink substantially improved my results with my heavy Rollover Box Blade shortly after I replaced the factory Top Link with the Hydraulink.

The reason I'm broke at the moment is the fact I'm waiting delivery of my order from FitRite. Have a high quality valve with float on the top & side links commuting. I think float combined with restrictions in the lines might get me the same effect.

 

[jeff9366]

In that case I would put a "hold" on gauge wheels project unit the Fit Rite is installed and checked out.

Brian, AKA MtnViewRanch, is well regarded here.

 

[jenkinsph]

Fallon,
I have been working and researching the caster wheels to put on my Gannon boxblade for the past month or so. I can build the caster assemblies easy enough so I am looking for the wheels and tires. Will be using this with the Topcon laser and auto machine control. Will follow your thread and post if I find something "just right".

 

[jenkinsph]

You just reminded me to update the thread I have on building a hydraulic gauge wheel: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/293042-advice-building-hydraulic-gauge-wheel.html

I used a company called High Grade Manufacturing and highly recommend them. I'm not sure how "cheap" they'll be compared to some of the other, really cheap wheels out there, so if cost is your only concern then it may not be the best place to go, but I figured I'd let you know about it just in case.

Here is a link to the High Grade site.
Tail Wheel Assemblies

Some good offerings that might work.

 

[Piston]

Here is a link to the High Grade site.
Tail Wheel Assemblies

Some good offerings that might work.

Steve,
As I mentioned earlier, I'm really happy that I ordered from them, and was very happy with how helpful they were when I emailed with questions. I chose the wider 5" X 15" wheel because I wanted the most ground contact patch I could get since I'll be using this in soft soil with a 1,000lb rear blade. It will only have one tail wheel so I was a bit worried about it sinking in but I don't think that will be a problem. I imagine the box blade you are building will be considerably heavier but also have at least 2 wheels.

 

[jenkinsph]

I found some 20" x10 on 10 inch wheels with smooth pnuematic tires. These are used on commercial mowers for golf as I understand. Rated for 1100 pounds each and reasonably priced with tire and wheel for $80+shipping. I can build the caster assembly and the hubs myself. So far this is the best match for my needs.

Piston,
I am using two independent tail wheels with each having it's own receiver and hydraulic circuit. Just guessing the complete boxblade will weigh in about 1600 lbs. With a single 5" wide wheel you may have issues with a 1000# weight on it. Rolling afterwards should take care of it though.

 

[Piston]

Piston,
I am using two independent tail wheels with each having it's own receiver and hydraulic circuit. Just guessing the complete boxblade will weigh in about 1600 lbs. With a single 5" wide wheel you may have issues with a 1000# weight on it. Rolling afterwards should take care of it though.

Although the blade weighs 1k lbs, half of it will be supported by the 3 point hitch, so probably somewhere around 500 lbs on the roller. That's what I was afraid of Steve, is the wheel not being wide enough to support all the weight without digging in, but I'm gonna try it and see how it works. 5" was the widest I found unless I went to a 21" wheel, or went with a pneumatic tire, which I don't want to do.

 

[JoeL4330]

While I have a hyd tailwheel on my backblade, my boxblade-equivalent (roadrunner) has the hydraulically actuated roller option that does double duty: adds "wheelbase" length to smooth out ups and downs, and also will pack down nicely when fully extended with all the weight of the "boxblade" on it, in addition to its own ...you can see the option here Roller Option

Actually, if you look at the picture, you may find it easier to retrofit than a tail-wheel/gauge wheels ...and to an earlier question, I don't think castering is absolutely necessary ...you're not making tight turns nor are you backing up with the box down (are you?)

I have posted previously about use of a "swinging" toplink adapter, that also smooths the geometry.

That said, might you have better luck taking a lot of passes with a little nibble on each, with your current setup?