Box Scraper First box blade

[Dave Pee]

Fired up the Land Pride 5" box blade for the first time. Watching the videos, it looks so easy to clean up driveways, fill low spots, etc. I can see that practice will pay off - it anit easy to get it right!

I filled some holes the the stump man left behind - simple, right? Started in reverse, with that blade, to fill the worst spots, which I could then drive forward over, with out falling/tipping into the hole.

Getting the hole mostly filled is easy, but getting really smooth is not! Lots of bacck and forth.
\
And my old neck does not like to be twisted around so far - I am sitting inside now with a cold beer, hoping the pain will subside. Anybody have solutions for working rear implements without straining your neck?

I am wondering if a simple front blade would do most of what I want, without breaking my poor neck.

 

[TripleR]

I use rear view mirrors on mine, I have a cab, but some mount mirrors on an open station. Your best friend using a box scraper is a hydraulic top-link.

 

[/pine]

Fired up the Land Pride 5" box blade for the first time. Watching the videos, it looks so easy to clean up driveways, fill low spots, etc. I can see that practice will pay off - it anit easy to get it right!

I filled some holes the the stump man left behind - simple, right? Started in reverse, with that blade, to fill the worst spots, which I could then drive forward over, with out falling/tipping into the hole.

Getting the hole mostly filled is easy, but getting really smooth is not! Lots of bacck and forth.
\
And my old neck does not like to be twisted around so far - I am sitting inside now with a cold beer, hoping the pain will subside. Anybody have solutions for working rear implements without straining your neck?

I am wondering if a simple front blade would do most of what I want, without breaking my poor neck.

Do you have a hydraulic top link ?

 

[oosik]

Man Oh man - - Dave, get a hydraulic top link. Fantastic assist for ANY ground engagement implement. Especially helpful for box blade and rear blade. Allows you to easily get that "perfect set" and then your job is half done.

 

[Fallon]

Man Oh man - - Dave, get a hydraulic top link. Fantastic assist for ANY ground engagement implement. Especially helpful for box blade and rear blade. Allows you to easily get that "perfect set" and then your job is half done.

I'll 2nd or 3rd that. A hydraulic toplink is FAR more effective at smoothly filling or emptying the box blade than the 3pt lift is. Changing the angle of attack of the blade is much more effective than lifting it.

 

[Thomas]

You nail it on the head when you said " practice",once you get use to it the neck pain no longer...like learning to ride a bike.

 

[Dave Pee]

No hydraulic top link yet - but I will look into it. Thanks!

 

[DieselBound]

As someone whose neck it currently totaled, I can state that mostly the damage comes from going fast in reverse over uneven ground while having one's head turned.. And in this measure I could probably say I could best just about everyone in doing this (my neck can attest to it). Most of this damage/activity is, however, from mowing, using my B7800: this tractor changes direction so fast as to also contribute to whiplash!

I've been doing a lot of boxblading the last couple of years with my Kioti and, even with a rear camera and mirrors I still like to turn my head around to look. The difference, however, is that the ride is less jarring and I'm tending to go pretty slow (when you're pushing around a 1,200 lb implement you're going to be a bit more on the cautious side- when things go bad they can really go bad).

Hydraulic top link is a MUST. Wish that it weren't such a hassle to get one set up on my B7800 otherwise I'd be all over doing so on that tractor: I still have a good 5 years w/o using an hydraulic top link, meaning that one can still get work done, though less efficiently (great for one's exercise needs, jumping on and off the tractor!)

 

[Mainahs70]

Don't have much experience with my BB but can't wait to have my TnT installed thursday. Will make it more efficient and less back and forth- less neck strain.

 

[/pine]

Hate to burst any bubbles...but taking advantage of having hydraulic top and tilt only compounds the need to watch what's happening back there as adjustments are being made on the fly.
It does not take long to get used to blindly using the controls and getting the top and side links to do what you want but it takes an eyeballs on confirmation they are doing exactly what you want...

I often use visual aides placed when I'm looking over a section of road I'm working...I use fiberglass rods (electric fence rods) set off to the side (out of the way) to mark start or stop lines where I want to go from a light cutting angle that loads the box to a smoothing unloading setting (extend the top link)...i.e., cutting and filling etc...

 

[TripleR]

No burst bubbles here, been using TnT on cab and open station for years and love it still; nothing says you can't incorporate markers etc.

 

[shooterdon]

I was all set to buy a BB (Box Blade) until I learned that a hydraulic top link is almost a necessity to accomplish what I need to do. And my JD dealer will not install one on my JD855 as "factory parts are no longer available". So that means I need to plumb it up myself. And I think /pine is right about having to eyeball what is going on or it is not going to work very well. I may require neck surgery as is (will know in a few weeks), and that puts another nail in the BB coffin for me.

Others here have advised getting a land plane. Much easier to use and does not require a hydraulic top link. But it will not move material like a BB and it is about twice the price of an economy BB for the model without scarifiers...nearly three times the price of a BB for a LP with the scarifiers.

Another option is to add extensions to the BB to turn it into something more like a LP. There was a post here about a guy who was going to try doing that. It is the option I currently like the best...if it would work. If I knew someone with a BB, I would borrow it, clamp on some 2x8 lumber and try it out.

 

[/pine]

To clarify...the material and general condition of a road/lane/drive etc. has a lot to do with how much and how often adjustments are necessary to use a BB effectively...

Box blades have been successfully used on tractors without 3PH hydraulics for a long time...some conditions require almost constant adjustments others very few...

an off the wall analogy for using a box blade w/wo a HTL...is like watching TV without a remote control...