Is it unwise to buy a BB narrower than your tractor??

[Spiveyman]

FINALLY!!! The deal is done. I'm the proud owner of a new FEL and Box Blade after a very looooong night - we had to take a bull in to slaughter, about 1,600 lbs, over 6 foot horns. He couldn't get his rack through the chute at the slaughter house, so he dipped his head and picked up a gate made of sched 40 steel, probably 150 lb deal that we use at the slaughter house to squeeze them in. They had the gate just setting on pins, but didn't "mushroom" the pins so when he lifted his head up the squeeze gate came with it. We got REALLY lucky that we had a tie down strap on the thing and the bull didn't push the issue. I grabbed his tail twisted and bent it over his spine as hard as I could and thankfully he decided to go on in. Then we got back to my partner's ranch where we pulled the bull to find one of our cows in with the neighbor's horses. She's been doing this every night for a week and we have spent probably 10 hours fixing that fence. She just doesn't seem to care. We "herded" her back over the fence with a shotgun and put her on the list to follow that bull at the next slaughter. Then I drove the hour and a half to my farm trying to beat a monster storm.

The dealer finished moving the wheels in and dropped it out there this afternoon. I got there about 15 min before the storm hit and snapped this shot so you could see what I have been talking about before running her to the barn. The steel on the box is thicker than what Woods or Bush Hog use, has captured Cat 2 pins, and a top link section "3RRL worthy." You can also see the extra bracing welded into the corners and there is similar bracing for the beam that holds the scarifers. This thing is a hoss!!! I can't wait to get it dirty. Just wondering if I should go ahead and paint it blue first?

 

[jbrumberg]

Spiveyman:

Congratulations on your new box blade ! Your patience has been rewarded . Nice looking box blade. Use it well and often. Jay

 

[sandman2234]

Wait a week or so before you paint, so you have less yellow paint to strip and will know where an extra coat is required. Plus, if it isn't as strong as your tractor, a weld on yellow paint won't hurt nearly as much as if you have to weld on blue. Here's hoping you won't, but in a week you will know a lot more about what it can and can't do. Your tractor is as strong as my JD2555 and I know it tear up a box blade without missing a beat.
David from jax

 

[Spiveyman]

Wait a week or so before you paint, so you have less yellow paint to strip and will know where an extra coat is required. Plus, if it isn't as strong as your tractor, a weld on yellow paint won't hurt nearly as much as if you have to weld on blue. Here's hoping you won't, but in a week you will know a lot more about what it can and can't do. Your tractor is as strong as my JD2555 and I know it tear up a box blade without missing a beat.

Ha! I'll take her slow at first and see what she can do. Unfortunately I can't really get into any BIG projects until I can get a back hoe. Much of the earth I need to move is currently supporting some pretty decent size trees. Once I get them out with the hoe I'll have plenty of roots here and there to deal with. Of course the sooner I tear it up, the sooner I'll have a real need to learn to weld. Then I'll peruse 3RRL's threads again for ideas!

 

[3RRL]

Beautiful boxblade you got there Tim.
That looks like money well spent to me. Try it out and adjust the top link to get used to cutting and smoothing with it...what gives the desired results. If you snag something, jam in the clutch as fast as you can. You can always tell a good boxblade when a real snag stops the tractor dead in it's tracks and the wheels are still turning...and no damage to your boxblade or tractor hopefully. Of course, try to avoid that at all costs.

Only thing I see is that your scarifiers are probably the same as those used on most other models, and your big tractor could mangle them easily. So use the same precautions when ripping with them. Another thing, be sure to lift the boxblade up when making a turn with the scarifiers down, or they will bend or break off for sure. They don't have the same strength against sideways force as they do going straight ahead.

I used to break and bend them all the time with my 55hp Kama (about 8,000lbs loaded). One of the single best improvements I made on my box was to add 5/8" thick supports behind and to the sides of each one (scarifiers). I have not broken or bent one since I did that.
Here they are tacked on, ready to weld solid.



They really help when the scarifiers are all the way down, adding extra support for them. Also added weight to the box.

 

[HUCKthe1]

3RRL,

What did you use to reinforce the scarifiers? It looks like tube steel to me.

I am in luck for my BB being delivered tomorrow. The good news is my job was canceled so I will be home for a few extra days to play, practice, and learn.

Peter

 

[Spiveyman]

Beautiful boxblade you got there Tim.
That looks like money well spent to me. Try it out and adjust the top link to get used to cutting and smoothing with it...what gives the desired results. If you snag something, jam in the clutch as fast as you can. You can always tell a good boxblade when a real snag stops the tractor dead in it's tracks and the wheels are still turning...and no damage to your boxblade or tractor hopefully. Of course, try to avoid that at all costs.

Only thing I see is that your scarifiers are probably the same as those used on most other models, and your big tractor could mangle them easily. So use the same precautions when ripping with them. Another thing, be sure to lift the boxblade up when making a turn with the scarifiers down, or they will bend or break off for sure. They don't have the same strength against sideways force as they do going straight ahead.

I used to break and bend them all the time with my 55hp Kama (about 8,000lbs loaded). One of the single best improvements I made on my box was to add 5/8" thick supports behind and to the sides of each one (scarifiers). I have not broken or bent one since I did that.
Here they are tacked on, ready to weld solid.

They really help when the scarifiers are all the way down, adding extra support for them. Also added weight to the box.

Thanks for the tips on hitting the clutch when I snag something, and especially on the lift-when-turning deal. That makes sense, but I'm not sure I would have thought to do that. I'll have to get under there to check out how the scarifers are supported. I'm sure they aren't as beefy as yours - very nice job there - so I'll have to take it easy... well... a little easy anyways.

 

[john_bud]

The steel on the box is thicker than what Woods or Bush Hog use, has captured Cat 2 pins, and a top link section "3RRL worthy."

Wow, thicker than Woods! Cool, what is it 3/4 or 1" plate? The thinnest in my Woods is 1/2 plate.


All kidding aside, looks like a good box. The top link area could use some beefing up, IMO. My thin and wimpy Woods uses 3/4" plate in that area -- OOPS! There I go kidding again...

One tip. When you snag a root and it stops the tractor, you have options to get unstuck. Simply lifting the 3pt up all the way may break the root and let you go on your way. OR it may pretzel the lower arm (guess how that was found out?). A small lift, and backing up is probably the way to go in most cases. If you have lots of roots, a middle buster that has been sharpened on the leading edge may be a smart thing to drag around before using the BB. A single edge will break and cut roots where a set of scarifiers won't.


Let's see some "dirty pictures" of that box!


jb

 

[3RRL]

3RRL,

What did you use to reinforce the scarifiers? It looks like tube steel to me.

I am in luck for my BB being delivered tomorrow. The good news is my job was canceled so I will be home for a few extra days to play, practice, and learn.

Peter

Peter, it is not tubing.
I used a scrap 4130 steel plate (5/8" thick and 300 Brinell hardness), formerly on a plastic injection mold. Sawed into pieces and arc welded together to form the back and sides. Then welded them to the bottom of the scarifier carrying bar. In that photo above, they are only tacked onto the carrying bar. I had to make sure the scarifiers would move up and down. There is about 1/8" to 5/32" gap per side and the backs are touching. There is about 1/4" gap for the scarifiers to move forward.

I suppose you could use rectangular thick walled tubing, but I had a thick plate and no tubing. Use what you got, but make sure it is heavy enough to aid the scarifiers. Like I said, they work well since I've had no breaks or bends since putting on over 200 (approx) boxblade hours. I've pulled up some small VW sized boulders too. No kidding (ok...exaggerating a little)
This is what they would do before the reinforcements. My land is rocky, rooty and hard.

 

[SkunkWerX]

Rob,

Your now famous picture of the bent and broken shanks should be framed and should hang in every Box Blade manufacturers headquarters.

Spivey, nice BoxBlade! perhaps I missed it in this thread, but what brand is it??

enjoy.