First time using a box blade. I'm impressed!

[Marveltone]

When I bought my used Ford 1010, it came with a 60' rear blade, which I've used for smoothing out my gravel drive way. It's pretty lightweight, but for that use, it did an admirable enough job. Well, a couple of weeks ago, my dad borrowed my tractor to try smoothing out some trails going through the woods behind his house, and the limitations of this little rear blade were really beginning to show themselves. I've been considering buying a 60" box blade to do some of this heavier work (as well as adding some much needed ballast in the rear) and saving the angle blade for lighter tasks such as snow removal.

Today, my cousin just bought a Grizzly 6' box blade for his NorTrac 254, and spent the morning working up his motocross track. He said his tractor handled it just fine, and noting the similar sizes of our tractors, suggested I hook it up and give it a try to give myself a better idea what I might want to buy. I noted his NorTrac had R1's and wheel weights, while my 1510 had turfs and no weights, so I was skeptical, but thought I'd give it a try.

I headed out to my dad's place and made a beeline for the same wooded, rocky trails that bent my angle blade. Boy, was I impressed! I used it to break up sod, level out humps in the trails, dig up roots, and even bowling ball sized rocks. The tractor had plenty of power, and the only time the turfs lost traction was when I snagged the occasional large tree root or large rock. Even then, I could generally rip through the roots after a couple of passes from each direction.

I guess I really misjudged what a little 22hp tractor is capable of doing. I also didn't give the turfs nearly enough credit. They're much better than I've been led to believe. I also think I'll bee pricing out some 72" box blades in the near future, although the Grizzly seemed a bit on the light side, so I'll be looking at the heavier duty options out there.

I love it when my tractor surprises me!

 

[Raspy]

I really like my box scraper too. I'm pulling it with my 29 HP New Holland. It took me a while to get it set up right so it would cut a bit but not just dig in. Mine is a 72" also. I found I can pull it in third gear, mid range and really get something done. Also, using it in a light rain works wonders. My buddy was there one day when I was running it in the rain and couldn't believe I was actually having fun. :laughing: I guess you either get it or you don't.

Seems like the thing it needs now is a hydraulic ram to tilt it. I'm alway trying to get the angle of the road right and getting on and off to set it manually is a pain.

 

[dcyrilc]

Seems like the thing it needs now is a hydraulic ram to tilt it. I'm alway trying to get the angle of the road right and getting on and off to set it manually is a pain.

I'm right there with you on this one. Time to start thinking about a top-n-tilt.

 

[Marveltone]

My only concern is, while it was ripping through the sod like crazy, I only had the chance to fill the box with the sod that was coming up. How much heavier will it get when digging deeper and filling it with dirt? I'd suspect quite a bit. So far, I have no problem with the front end raising when I hang up on stuff, as My FEL adds a good amount of weight, and the turfs break traction before anything gets out of hand, so the tractor feels quite stable and planted to the ground.

I'm just wondering if I should stick with my initial plan of purchasing a 60" BB, or take the chance with the 72" based on my initial test run?

Any advice?

 

[gwdixon]

Given your set-up, I'd recommend the 60" BB. Once a six-footer gets loaded and with turf tires it will act like an anchor.

My 36 HP Kubota L3650 4WD pulled a 72" BB with R1s but it didn't like it when it loaded up.

 

[Raspy]

Marvel,

It's important to not completely fill the box. It just recycles the cut and runs along with a partial fill.

Also, the ripper teeth are a handy option.

It seems important to get one wider than the tractor for the best finish or getting up close to a wall or the edge of a cut. Granted, wider is harder to pull if you are cutting aggressively, but I think you'll hate it if you can't cut right up next to some rocks or a wall, or get the full width of the driveway without running over the plants along theh side. It seems like it needs about 4-6" on each side for this purpose.

 

[Deadman]

My JD 2520 has like 25.5 HP, and I have R4's and a 5 foot Frontier box blade on it. If I put it in sand, I can stall the tractor in low range with ease. If I just use it for general leveling, its awesome and pulls really easy. When you load it, it gets REALLY really heavy, but then you just raise it a bit and you can pull it much easier. It all depends on when you plan to do with it. I would NOT get a 6 footer, especially if you plan on pulling much dirt, or scraping with the box mostly full of dirt.
I would say a 5 footer would be almost a touch big for digging, but work realy well for all around usage.

 

[BigD23]

I've really enjoyed using my boxblade behind my Orange BX23...Mostly dirt/gravel driveway use...Driveway's about 1,000 feet and after quite a few passes and have turned it, I'll put on my landscape rake and put a "finish" to it...Good luck.

Don

 

[Rogator]

I also have a 2520 with r4s and 60" box blade. I can not stall mine even if i snag a root. It will spin out before it stalls. My old 2520 had 380 lbs of fluid in the tires and 210 lbs of front weight and it would not stall.
Are you running at full pto rpms?

 

[Rustyrat]

I recently bought a United HD 72" BB. It arrived a little over a week ago and I LOVE it. I have dragged several areas on my property and it worked great. I angled the box to cut the side of the road that was a little high and it worked great. Probably everyone knows this but I had trouble lengthening the link on my 3pt hitch. I lowered it to the ground and it was easier. Then I put a 2x4 in the center of the BB and lowered it onto the 2x4. I could lengthen and shorten the link with ease.