Corriher BoxBlade looses tooth! Need ToothFairy!

Rus · Sep 1, 2003

Re: box blades: push and pull

Well, Guys,

After leveling out some ground around the house today, noticed my box blade (5' Rankin) listing to the right. The A frame was fine, but my right side lower link was bent pretty good. I was running into some good-sized roots while pushing with the blade, and after reading these posts I'm certain that's what did it. Certainly makes sense that a part designed for tension can fail under compression. From now on, I'm gonna pull the hard (or unknown) stuff, and push the easy stuff!

Rus

JerryG · Sep 1, 2003

( I am not meaning to defend the operator or deflaim the box blade. I find this interesting as I did not see the mechanics of how the forces on the box blade affect the top structure until this morning. I let my assumptions get in the way... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif )

 Neither am I, but I have a cheap Atlas box that I have put I would guess about 70-80 hours or more on. I have messed up the lower arm pins but never did any damage to the upper frame. I think that nearly all of the box damage that shows up on here is caused by new, inexperienced operators that think they have a small bull dozer. This statement is made in general and was not directed at any one person.

normde2001 · Sep 1, 2003

Those appear to be extremely flimsey braces on that boxblade. My el cheapo 5' heavy duty A.T.L.A.S. blade, ($224), has braces 2-3 times as heavy as that.

GRUB · Sep 2, 2003

The damage happened while pulling forward. This is the direction that puts the A-frame in compression that made it collapse inward. Backing into tree puts the A-frame in tension and somewhat straightens it back out. Yeah, the dent in the back probablly makes you think I was ramming into something that would'nt move repeatedly at high speed, but I can assure you that is not the case. I will completly admit that I am an inexperiencenced new tractor owner with alot to learn. I recieved shippment of my new tractor with a Woods RB72 rear blade rated upto 40 HP. Tractor is 41 Hp and 4WD. I didnt even know at the time implements were rated for certain horsepower tractors and I promptly went out and abused it. It did'nt stand a chance. Totally my fault. I learned from that and I also learned from the bending of this box. You know what I learned from this box? I learned that next time I see construction of an A-frame like this unit: "my tractor will destroy that in a heartbeat" rated to 50 HP or not. It seems that some dealers are programmed to assume abuse and dont take an honest, I mean honest, look at the construction to determine if there is a design flaw. I purchased this unit and no one forced it on me but that dioes not take away that the construction of this box does not warrent a 50 HP rating.

HayDR · Sep 2, 2003

Get you a Midwest boxblade and be done with the hitch problems.

GRUB · Sep 2, 2003

The people on this site and all the threads have convinced me that Midwest is the way to go. It is the one boxblade that I wanted. I am just not willing to pay shipping when someone else can walk in and pay that much less because they live closer. I think Midwest has gotten a good name on this site and I think it hurts thier sales to not broaden thier distribution. Also, this site is so popular I would think manufactures would keep an eye on it to get a feel how thier products stand in the consumers eyes.

JerryG · Sep 2, 2003

the dent in the back probablly makes you think I was ramming into something that would'nt move repeatedly at high speed, but I can assure you that is not the case. 
As I said this was not direct at any one, but the vast majority of damage is done from abuse. I stand behind saying that I don't know how it was done. I can see the bending, just not in the pretzel way that it is. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif And yes the bars look to be sub-standard.

rozett · Sep 2, 2003

Re: Corriher BoxBlade looses tooth! Need ToothFair

Broadening their distribution will not solve the problem. The fact remains that it is cheaper to ship a box blade from Midwest to Chicago than it is to ship it to LA. Granted, a distributor can buy larger quantities and get a better shipping rate, but it still costs more to ship it further.

Henro · Sep 4, 2003

Grub,

Out of curiosity...

Your bent framework...what size are the bent pieces?

I checked my KK box blade yesterday. The upright pieces that the top link pin goes through are made from 1/2x3" stock. The braces that angle from the back are 3/8x2".

Hard to tell from your photo, but yours look pretty flimsly. Are they the same as the KK, or something less?