Chris2520 said:
Woods does make the frontier box blades. all of them. just go to the woods sight and look at the woods blades thay are almost the same. except the frontier is a little more beefier than the woods. because thay were built to JD Specs. at least this is what my dealer say..
Chris....
No, that's not correct. For a time, Woods was making many of the Frontier box blades - I don't think it was ever all of them, at least at the super heavy duty end - but now, Woods is making few if any of the Frontier boxes. For instance, Woods used to make the medium duty boxes, but as of a year or two ago they are now made by Worksaver.
The easy way to tell who made a Frontier product is to ask the dealer to see the owner's manual. The warranty page in the owner's manual will state who made the product - in fact, the warranty is from the product manufacturer, not JD or Frontier.
The other way to tell is to look at the construction methods. Woods uses scarifier teeth that are notched in front, while most other brands including Worksaver use teeth with holes in the middle for the height adjustment; Woods also uses very good welding in a very specific pattern, though this almost requires seeing both products side by side.
Any Frontier product will be at least decent quality, but there is significant variation depending on who made it. For me, even though my tractor is JD, I can't care less what color the implements are, and I only buy Frontier if it looks like the best deal - which it rarely seems to be. In some cases, the Frontier branded product may be better than the product marketed by the same manufacturer - e.g. Worksaver produces fairly heavy duty stuff for Frontier, but doesn't produce the same duty level under their own name. However, Woods stuff is very good with the dark yellow paint, and while Woods/Frontier may be as good, I doubt it would be any better.
I know it sounds like I'm going on a tirade here, but my personal experience with Frontier is that I paid $900 for a medium duty rear blade (angle blade) made by some Mexican company I've never heard of, while I could have bought a slightly heavier duty Woods blade for $1100. My Frontier/Mexican blade has proven to be weak and not all that well made, even though it is rated for a 60hp MFWD tractor and I am using it on a 50hp MFWD tractor. I have looked at all the implement brands I can find at dealers and at my local AG Expo and from what I see, Woods and Unverferth make the best stuff that is suitable for a tractor below 80hp.
