Horse arena finish with just a rear blade?

[Too many Kubotas]

Thanks. but it was easy enough to make one.

It wasn't until after having converted a box blade along the same lines that I found out they're available already made. Well, at least the box blade version is.

One problem with my box blade setup is that it's missing the tilt function, so whatever angle the tires are at is what it'll keep creating. Not an issue if the surface is already somewhat smooth, or at least the "starting line" is.

Anyway, what I quickly found out is that setting the axle height is only the beginning. After that the blade height can be really fine tuned with the 3-point.
Just for kicks I once moved a pebble, maybe 1/2" in diameter, across the arena without disturbing a grain of sand.

 

[BackRoad]

No, no, no...you can't get away with showing only 2 photos of that rig!!!

It's like being given a Christmas present and not being able to open it or sniffing the Thanksgiving turkey and not getting a bite of it...

More photos (pleeeease!)

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Alright, alright, I'll post more, but not until Wednesday at the earliest.

I'll be spending some 800 miles on the road tomorrow picking up a commercially built 10' box blade with wheels from a nice forum member.

Which I can hopefully improve on by making the wheels independently adjustable and lengthening the tongue.

 

[jyoutz]

I’m still wondering if the OP is over complicating this. A good heavy rear blade with the moldboard turned 180 degrees and the 3ph in float will do a great job of smoothing.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

That weight can work against you, I've noticed. Or I'd just pull my XHD170 (or whatever it's called) blade turned 180.

Then again, what's smooth to some may not be to others.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

No, no, no...you can't get away with showing only 2 photos of that rig!!!

It's like being given a Christmas present and not being able to open it or sniffing the Thanksgiving turkey and not getting a bite of it...

More photos (pleeeease!)

Okay, better late than never, right? First one is what made this blade become fixed in the first place. The surface area taking the forces and letting it angle was way too small, so it bent.

The fix was to increase and strengthen the area, and that ended up coming in handy later when attaching the section with the axle.

Another overall view.

Used a front axle from a Jeep DJ (2WD Postal) and originally made it able to tilt the wheels like on the front of a grader, but that turned out to be unnecessary. It takes a lot to make it start crabbing, so I may turn the axle 90 degrees and make it steerable instead.

How the bolted on hinged axle section is attached.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Playing it safe and not making the post too long.

Here's where the reinforcement for the pivot came in handy. Allowed me to weld a plate to bolt the rear section to.

And lastly, the pinned on tongue. Since I put receiver tubing on most of my towables, this tongue is easily extended, but so far it's been used as is, with just a tow ring.

Maybe even better than how well this Frankenblade works is that except for the extension hoses everything came out of the scrap pile.

 

[BackRoad]

Oh man! That's great fabrication...and beautiful, beautiful welds.

Brilliant, and imagine the extra weight makes it that much more useful.

The blade distance behind the tractor, plus the distance behind the blade to the back wheels likely makes it easy to get a smooth, no washboard grade.

So with a single hitch point, does it crab when the blade is angled and under load? I have to think about that some more on how the forces might play out...

Impressive (and in awe of the design and execution)!

TJ

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Thanks, BackRoad. My welds can indeed come out good at times, but normally the wind picks up as soon as I roll the welder out.

Only once have the Frankenblade crabbed on me, and that was when testing how much it could deal with. At that point some dirt was going over the blade anyway, so it wasn't leaving a smooth surface behind.

I suspect that the good lateral traction of the Super Swampers help a lot. There's no need for any kind of traction on the box blade version, just flotation, so it has regular left-over trailer tires.

Oh, and to help my practically non-existent grading skills, not only do I need things like the Frankenblade, but if you look closely at the third photo in post #26 you can see the backside of a large bubble level mounted to the blade.

It helps me maintain the 1-2 degree slope I tend to shoot for to get the irrigation water to go where it should. There's also a small level on the inside of the tractor's windshield, since I need all the help I can get to tell if, and in what direction, things are sloped.

 

[NoTrespassing]

Correct and I apologize for the misleading title. I don't have a horse arena or a horse. Just trying to get the look that was easy with my box blade. The photos above were in the Fall when the ground wasn't baked dry by the summer sun. I'm certain I can get a good grade with my blade by adding the shoes and maybe the side panels.

I have about 4 hours of rear blade experience at this point so I have a lot to learn. I am amazed how much this blade will cut and size of the rocks that it has extracted so far.

Just my experience, if I want to move dirt or stone, I tilt the top of the blade back, away from the tractor so it digs in. If I want to smooth it out, I tilt the top of the blade forward, toward the tractor.