Grader blade or rake

[jeff9366]

Would my JD 2305 be able to handle a blade of proper weight or would it not have enough power to fully use it ?

What is the bare tractor weight of a Deere 2305?

What tires? Tires with air or tires with liquid? What tire width?

2-WD or 4-WD?

What kind of soil do you have?

 

[Fallon]

Power is never the problem, you can always gear down & go slower. Weight means traction, & that is the limiting factor.

 

[Fallon]

As far as box vs blade, assuming weight is about equal I prefer the box. If you drop the teeth or angle it forward you can put all the weight on the teeth & loosen up almost anything. The box contains dirt a bit better than a blade & prevents spillage. That let's you move material more efficiently & smooth more efficiently. Tweaking the toplink (I have TnT) just a hair makes it easy to go from filling the box a hair to emptying it a hair. A lot of that has to do with it riding on the front or rear blade.

I'm planning on a land plane grade scraper at some point, but my box blade works for now & is more versatile. It my go to digging impliment when doing light excavation, not my loader.

 

[Dcf1999]

What is the bare tractor weight of a Deere 2305?

What tires? Tires with air or tires with liquid? What tire width?

2-WD or 4-WD?

What kind of soil do you have?

Weight ~2000 lbs
Turf saver tires (Going to upgrade to the AG tires soon) Air filled
4WD

Where I live now, the dirt is a nice top soil (don't know if there is a specific name for that) for the first foot, then clay below that. At the cabin (where driveway will be graded) is all sand and driveway is road gravel.

Now... I'm sure if i have a heavy blade, i can (as someone else stated) just go slow and not move as much material. I'm actually surprised by what that little machine can do. I just dug a 4" wide x 20" deep x 90' long ditch with it using a home made ripper shank and "trench maker" (cultivator sweep angled to dig out and move dirt along trench).

I'm sure it will handle a heavier blade just well. I'll have to do some shopping around (craigslist and local dealers) for more quality ones. I've always been the type to spend more for better anyways.

 

[Dcf1999]

Here is another thing (and this may be for another thread) but i'm doing research on implements (rear blades, tillers, and rakes) from Frontier, Countryline, King Kutter, Tarter, and Behlen. They all look to be the same... at least from studying the pictures. The way I've been reading, Frontier and Countryline source their stuff from other companies (like what Craftsman does) but KK, Tater and Behlen are all manufactures.

So I'm looking at the Frontier rakes (LR50L for example) and it looks exactly like one TSC (countryline) has which looks exactly like the ones made by both Tarter and Behlen. I think the one at TSC is made by either Tarter or Behlen. I'm sure the TSC one is a lot cheaper though. I've learned there must be gold flake in anything painted green

Same with tillers... I've been reading that TSC's countryline is made by either Tarter or Behlen. Then I look up Tarter and Behlen, study the pictures, and they look exactly the same (Even the labels are the same) I mean I can't tell one difference between them. It seems like one company makes these and all these other companies relabel them. Unless the parts each company uses comes from one company so it makes it look the same (i.e. gear box is made by XXX but is used by all the companies making tillers). I guess there could be slight differences that aren't noticeable, not that many ways to make them different, or they just copy each other as closely as possible.

If you look at the Everything Attachment or Wood's rake, they are definitely different and bare no resemblance to any of the above mentioned brands or each other, so the argument that "there isn't that many ways to make certain implements" can't be true. I don't know... just something I noticed.

 

[paulfun9]

Yes you will find many look alike products. My take on it is if you can get the same thing at TSC with a different color paint then your still in the very light duty blades and need to search a little deeper.

 

[Dcf1999]

Yes you will find many look alike products. My take on it is if you can get the same thing at TSC with a different color paint then your still in the very light duty blades and need to search a little deeper.

Yea I figure the same.

 

[Egon]

Weight; it can be added. Anything that will stay on the blade works. Also you can change blade tilt to what is required for the task at hand. ( watch a grader operator angle & tilt his blade to cut or carry or spread.)

Blade weight and width must definetly be matched to tractor size.

to work properly a blade require's guage wheels.

 

[paulfun9]

Weight; it can be added. Anything that will stay on the blade works. Also you can change blade tilt to what is required for the task at hand. ( watch a grader operator angle & tilt his blade to cut or carry or spread.)

Blade weight and width must definetly be matched to tractor size.

to work properly a blade require's guage wheels.

I have seen many of the light weight blades and box blades come apart, bend and simply break when people tried adding weight, heck I have seen many come apart just under their own weight! Be carefull of the design before you go adding too much weight to one of the cheaper blades. My best advice would be to pay a little more at the start and forget about needing to do anything but use it.

 

[jeff9366]

Frontier, Countryline, King Kutter, Tarter, and Behlen, all look the same... at least from studying the pictures. The way I've been reading, Frontier and Countryline source their stuff from other companies (like what Craftsman does) but KK, Tarter and Behlen are all manufactures.

From looking at pictures, you could reach this conclusion. Look at implement weight after admiring the pictures. As someone who owns numerous implements, and sold of one set for another when upgrading from a Kubota B3300SU to a much heavier L3650, there is a great difference in performance with heavier implements. Unfortunately, heavier implements cost more than light implements in real terms. Usually not too much more if you compare price per pound, although there are worthwhile exceptions here too, Monroe Tufline among brands who make ag implements for CUTS. (Monroe Tufline paints some of their Disc Harrows for Deere Frontier.)

I concur that ETA make fine implements for the dollar. I have four, just took delivery of an ETA Subsoiler, which I am looking forward to trying on old stump roots.

I am much more in agreement with PAULFUN9 in Post #39 than esteemed EGON IN Post #38.