3-Point Hitch L3560 Box Blade, Rototiller, and Finish Mower

[Smokeydog]

A little strengthening to box blade sure helps. Welding the 3pt frame, extra bars from scarifier box back to the main blade, hitch tab gussets, and top of hitch to back blade. Adding a receiver hitch is handy too. Doesn’t cost much and lots easier than fixing a mangled mess. The extra weight helps too.

 

[jeff9366]

Consider a "HydrauLink" Top Link.

A large adjustable shock absorber.

Between a tractor and a Roto-tiller, absorbs tiller vibration.

Between a tractor and a Box Blade minimizes manual adjustment almost to zero.


VIDEO: HydrauLink Category 2 Cylinder - For 4 - 1 HP Tractors, Model# HL-12 - YouTube

 

[Baby Grand]

For a box blade I use a Cammond 66" and it's a perfect match for the L3240 with R1s - about 62" track, sidewall to sidewall. About 700 lbs and very rugged build. When your wallet has caught it's breath, consider getting top & tilt - it made using the box blade (and almost all my other 3pt attachments) much easier and productive.

 

[jjp8182]

Can't speak to rototillers as I recently went the plow/disk route - which likely isn't cheaper, but I figured the disk would do less long-term damage to the soil. Also have a spike harrow which has worked well for both busting up clods of grass, manure, dirt as well as working in broadcast seed.

As for a finish mower I bought a Land Pride FDR2572 (Land Pride | Farm, Turf, Dirtworking and Landscape Implements) when I bought my tractor .... it's worked well for both my yard and pasture (as long as I keep the pasture at a reasonable height). If I was going to let the pasture routinely grow above 6 to 10-ish inches tall I think I'd prefer using a rotary cutter even though the finish mower/tractor can handle it if I go slower and use less than the full cutting width.

When it comes to box blades, I went with EA's 72" Severe XTreme Box Blade Category I & II V2.0 box blade and have frequently wished I'd gone with a deeper/heavier box blade (same width) for clearing & dirt work (as well when using it as a ballast).

While I'm happy with the quality of EA box blade, it's been slightly frustrating at times to have the box blade full/overflowing and the tractor acting like there's nothing back there. On the other hand when using it to clear a lot of weeds (that had gotten to 5-7ft tall) it was semi-amusing to see the box blade being lifted clear of the ground by a rolling bundle of torn out green vegetation. So when it comes to box blades I'd say it depends on the intended usage as heavier/deeper/track-covering is better for ground engagement while even wider/deeper/lighter ones can be very useful for moving/accumulating loose material (e.g. clearing manure/litter from a concrete floored animal barn, spreading loose gravel).

For the sake of clarity I have the LA805 loader and with the rear R4 tires set as they are the overall width of my L3560 is just over 70 inches. I'd echo what Jeff said in that the EA website is handy catalog for starting to look for implements, and would add that the Land Pride website is equally useful since both companies make a wide variety of implements. Granted looking at both may also lead to finding implements you never realized you "needed" before..... :laughing:

Just my :2cents:

 

[tycoonbob]

Thanks everyone for the replies and info. I am watching this thread, but with the holidays and whatnot I haven't had a chance to do much.

I was doing some looking on EA's site, and as suggested my Smokeydog, I'm looking at their Land Plane:
Land Leveler Land Plane Utility Grader with Scarifier Shanks

But, I'm having trouble understanding really what the difference is between a Land Plane and a Box Blade, and which one I really need. I expect to use either one as a ballast, but more important it will be used to level and maintain a driveway and leveling ground as I do projects on the property. For example, I am having a 40x48 building built, and I've been backfill a lot of top soil and trying to level it out with the FEL bucket. Doing pretty decent, but obviously either a Box Blade or a Land Plane would be the appropriate tool. Which would be better for tasks like that as well as a driveway? Not just leveling graveling, but cutting the driveway and leveling the dirt and then spreading gravel on top?


That aside, I'm still undecided on what to do about the rototiller. It won't get used a lot, and I'm having a hard time paying a premium for a Land Pride over a Tarter/CountryLine. And mower, I still haven't done much research as I won't need one until Spring, but I think a 84" finish mower is what I want to get.

 

[fried1765]

Thanks everyone for the replies and info. I am watching this thread, but with the holidays and whatnot I haven't had a chance to do much.

I was doing some looking on EA's site, and as suggested my Smokeydog, I'm looking at their Land Plane:
Land Leveler Land Plane Utility Grader with Scarifier Shanks

But, I'm having trouble understanding really what the difference is between a Land Plane and a Box Blade, and which one I really need. I expect to use either one as a ballast, but more important it will be used to level and maintain a driveway and leveling ground as I do projects on the property. For example, I am having a 40x48 building built, and I've been backfill a lot of top soil and trying to level it out with the FEL bucket. Doing pretty decent, but obviously either a Box Blade or a Land Plane would be the appropriate tool. Which would be better for tasks like that as well as a driveway? Not just leveling graveling, but cutting the driveway and leveling the dirt and then spreading gravel on top?


That aside, I'm still undecided on what to do about the rototiller. It won't get used a lot, and I'm having a hard time paying a premium for a Land Pride over a Tarter/CountryLine. And mower, I still haven't done much research as I won't need one until Spring, but I think a 84" finish mower is what I want to get.

I think EA may make their Deluxe 6 way rear blade with bolt on end extensions.
If so,...... that would be the tool to get.
Since you have a 37HP tractor I would suggest the EA 84" 6 way blade, but you will need the blade wing end extensions.

 

[AllByteNoBark]

I had a land plane and just got a box blade. The box blade works way better for leveling, or at least for me. I use my grapple to drive forward and loosen the soil in high spots and then the box blade in reverse to smooth and level. It seems to work much better than the land plane in dirt. I can also move dirt with the box blade which you really cannot do with the land plane. Now for the drive the land plane is awesome and really easy to use. Even makes me look like I know what I am doing and I am far from an expert on any of this.

Also just got a TSC tiller used when I picked up the land plane. The previous owner had lost the front half of the PTO shaft and I have another one coming so have not tried it out yet. I kind of wanted a tiller but could not really justify it even to myself. (So basically did not need one just wanted it) Got a good enough deal that I didn't want to pass it up. Once I try it out I will post my impression of it. It has surface rust but has not been used much.

 

[jjp8182]

Had another thought (based on my own tentatively planned projects): Would the rototiller really need to cover the fully width of the tractor for your application? Personally I've considered getting a 36"-48" rototiller to use after the plow for putting in narrow beds (for berry bushes & other more permanent crops) as it wouldn't make sense to work the ground in-between rows where the tire lanes will exist.

Just for consideration Land Pride does offer an 84" mower in their FDR 25 series of mowers.

As to land planes vs box blades. Land planes are generally better at leveling/redistributing material across the width of the implement without dragging a lot of the material (relatively speaking) along the path of travel. On the other hand box blades are far better at dragging material along the path of travel, and pretty much need to have a rolling pile of material to fill in low spots across the implement's width as they don't angle at all relative to the path of travel.

The third option (which hasn't been mentioned yet) would be a rear blade which can angle and may (depending on manufacturer) have optional side panels which allow it to act a bit like a box blade, as well as a grading blade. However, rear blades generally don't come with scarifier/rippers. So unless they are really heavy per foot of working width (e.g. well in excess of 100lbs/ft, or leveraging the weight of the vehicle to generate downforce) -- or are attached to a dedicated scarifier bar (e.g. Land Shark Compact Tractor 3 point Scarifier Bar Ripper) they probably won't do well with breaking into turf/unbroken ground, but they are hard to beat when it comes to leveling large areas & moving/clearing loose material (like snow, sand, gravel, etc).

All three implements overlap in what they do, but each is also specialized for slightly different things ..... and unfortunately your described uses cross into all the different areas where each implement really shines.

When it comes to driveway maintenance the land plane would be the hands down winner, but for spreading material across/along in a defined area (building pad & driveway) the rear blade would be the preferred choice, and cutting a new driveway combined with moving bulk material would point to the box blade.

Personally given the uses I think I'd start with the box blade, and in time if there was still need/desire for either of the other two they could be added later. Now if I was having to deal with snow removal then the rear blade would be second, or perhaps even first in which case I'd rent something to initially cut the driveway ....possibly even a box blade (in which case I'd also reconsider if I was going to have future need of the box blade).

Again just my :2cents:

 

[Fallon]

I have a heavy Gannon box, a Land Pride LPGS & a small back blade.

The box blade get the most use. Its 74" wide, 2" wider than my machine, really heavy & properly sized. I can kind of dig with it. It can move material. With TnT, a little patience & lot of tweaking it can smooth & level.

My LPGS is a 5' behind a 6' tractor (but I got it cheap). I haven't seen a cheap 6' yet to upgrade, but am not in a big hurry. Its great at smoothing & leveling with little skill & no TnT. It will move a very little bit of material a short distance. It's kind of a 1 trick pony for driveway maintenance (I have little need for field/dirt smoothing). But it does that 1 trick really well.

My back blade I havent used yet. It's to small & not QH compatible, but I got it in exchange for a mowing job. My only real plan for it is putting a crown on a road as the 2 other impliments cant move material sideways (you have to do a slow ugly herringbone pattern down the driveway then smooth out the piles). A big heavy back blade could do most of the box blade work to a degree. But it wont ever be as strong as a box, also a properly sized blade when angled is probably to wide for the machine when straight. The lack of scarfiers is also an issue, although you can fix that with another impliment. I have a SSQA snow plow so no need for a 3pt snow plow at this time.