Agreed, but that's not how Gary phrased it. I recon if you bash anything WITH anything hard enough, it will break.
The way I phrased it is correct. You don't push with a box blade using a CUT. The lift arms are too fragile and will bend or break as the current post with the JD lift arm shows. The problem is not that you cant use the back of the blade to spread loose dirt and rocks but hitting an immovable object while going in reverse puts severe strain on the lift arms. Most of them on CUT wont stand that strain. The box blade, even the super light duty ones, are stronger that a CUT lift arms so they are the weak link.
PUSH WITH IT IF YOU LIKE, AND AS YOU READ MY POST, PHRASE THEM HOWEVER YOU WANT. You likely wont get too many people to agree with you. If you have a FEL on your tractor, there is no need to ever push backward with the back blade.
While on the subject, back dragging or even going forward with the FEL bucket is not suppose to be done with the bucket blade curled down at much more than 10 degrees for the same reason, hitting something like a stump might bend the bucket or break the hydraulic cylinders if they are fully extended.
NOW do I do any of these things, heck yes but I don't recommend them to others due to the potential for mishap. I have a slight bow in the LS 7010 FEL bucket blade due to doing just what I have said not to do. Back dragging with the bucket tilted more than 10 degrees (more like 45) and hit a small stump that I didn't know was there and going too fast when I did it. A lot of my advise that I share is because I have been there, done that and paid for the consequences. Some times I get lucky when breaking the rules and don't damage the equipment but that doesn't mean that I would recommend to others to do it. Before I got my backhoe, I used the FEL to dig up huge rocks and point loaded the bucket heavily which should never be done and I would never recommend to others to do it. Sometimes we have to do with what we have, weigh the consequences of our actions with our ability to pay for them and then either proceed or decline. That is why we have free choices in life.
Many times I may post advice as to not do some particular thing, all the while doing this myself, but I have years and year of tractor operation experience and pretty much know what "I" can do but not necessarily what a NOOB can do and not hurt either himself or his equipment. For example, I use my tractor with FEL to punch up a burning brush pile, pushing well into the flames to bunch the wood together, but I don't recommend this to others for reasons of safety. I guess you can say I am like the old preacher who was caught fooling around with one of the wifes, "Don't do as I DUZ, do as I say DUZ."
Both times I drained as much water as I could and rode it home. Once home I change the oil and the oil filter three times, air filter once, axle fluids twice and the radiator fluid was purged. Still going strong and its a 2004 (bought in 2003)-trust it with my life. Doesnt burn oil and transmission (has a torque converter like a car) isnt slipping at all even under load, plowing snow.
