BigMike
Bronze Member
I made the mistake of getting the rear blade instead of the box blade...now I will soon be owning both. I too, would like to know more about hydraulic top links....
My first time use and the Box Blade
- Thread starter JimR
- Start date
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NIXON
Veteran Member
Big Mike . I went for the rear blade as opposed to the box blade because I knew I'd need it to remove snow . I did get the side plates for it to move dirt . It does a decent job , but it's not in the same league as a Box blade . It doesn't weigh near as much , and lacks Scarifiers to do the tough job of breaking into soil . A box blade is on my "next to get " list .
As for TNT .... My tractor is going in to have it fitted on Monday . I'll post my opinions of it when I get it back .
But , just the idea of getting off the tractor to adjust blade angle and tilt seems fairly stone age compared to being able to do it with a lever . While it isn't exactly inexpensive , I'm sure the added convenience ,and speed will be worth it .
John
As for TNT .... My tractor is going in to have it fitted on Monday . I'll post my opinions of it when I get it back .
But , just the idea of getting off the tractor to adjust blade angle and tilt seems fairly stone age compared to being able to do it with a lever . While it isn't exactly inexpensive , I'm sure the added convenience ,and speed will be worth it .
John
jinman
Rest in Peace
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2001
- Messages
- 21,059
- Location
- Texas - Wise County - Sunset
- Tractor
- NHTC45D, NH LB75B, Ford Jubilee
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I too, would like to know more about hydraulic top links.... )</font>
Mike, here is a picture of my TnT setup I just finished on my tractor. I originally bought my tractor over three years ago with a single rear remote hydraulic hookup and have had the hydraulic toplink installed for most of that time. I just installed two more remotes and purchased a sidelink from my New Holland dealer to complete my installation of both top and tilt cylinders.
I have mixed emotions about my toplink because it's a category II hookup and is probably 2" too long. I can't tilt my boxblade as far forward as I would like. I can extend the cylinder and rotate the blade so far back that it will rotate under and actually hit my rear wheels. That's generally not a problem because I just never go that far with the blade. I'm planning an adapter that will allow me to tilt the blade forward more. You can see some of the outside rubber on my hoses is beginning to crack (they are two-wire and still handle the pressure just fine). I bought them at tractor supply and I think I'll replace them soon with some from my NH dealer. You don't need hoses that big because adjusting TnT is something you do slowly rather than fast like FEL operation.
The sidelink came advertised as a category I hookup, but was not set up so I could attach it to my tractor. My tractor uses ball links for the upper sidelink attachment, and I had to have the installed link removed and my ball link welded on. Also the side link was much too long on the fork end where it attaches to the lift arm, so I cut off the extra fork material and drilled a hole. In my picture you can see a temporary 1/2 in bolt holding the works together. I had a 1/2" drill bit and a 3/4" drill bit, but needed a 5/8 " to match the proper pin size. I still have to get that bit and finish my job.
Notice the adjustable sidelink was moved to the left side of the tractor. This is really important. You want to adjust your sidelink so that the boxblade is level in the middle of the cylinder's travel. By using the adjustable sidelink on the left, that's a simple operation. Another important thing (in my book) is to keep the hoses as short as possible. Because I added two additional remote valves, I only needed a short 3' section of hose.
Oh yes, I guess I better mention cost. With hoses, my toplink was about $165 and my sidelink about $220. That's pretty cheap for this setup in my opinion. Of course I used my tractor's remote valves, and if you add that cost, that's another $420.
I have brass restrictor orifaces in-line in one of the hoses on each cylinder. A piloted checkvalve would also be nice on each cylinder to keep any bleedoff of the cylinders from occurring. Currently, with these big cylinders, that's not a problem for me, but if your remote valves aren't tight, you could get some postional drift. Several of the dealers who advertise and post on TBN have cylinders with piloted checkvalves for very good prices.
In use, with crowning a road and dressing up two terraces, my boxblade is so useful it's like having a little dozer on the back of the tractor. When you can adjust the angles on your boxblade from the driver's seat, jobs that took hours take only minutes. I crowned my 400' drive in 10 minutes. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
If you can afford it and want the best of both worlds, a FEL on the front and the TnT setup with a boxblade on the rear is a sudden surge in productivity. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
Mike, here is a picture of my TnT setup I just finished on my tractor. I originally bought my tractor over three years ago with a single rear remote hydraulic hookup and have had the hydraulic toplink installed for most of that time. I just installed two more remotes and purchased a sidelink from my New Holland dealer to complete my installation of both top and tilt cylinders.
I have mixed emotions about my toplink because it's a category II hookup and is probably 2" too long. I can't tilt my boxblade as far forward as I would like. I can extend the cylinder and rotate the blade so far back that it will rotate under and actually hit my rear wheels. That's generally not a problem because I just never go that far with the blade. I'm planning an adapter that will allow me to tilt the blade forward more. You can see some of the outside rubber on my hoses is beginning to crack (they are two-wire and still handle the pressure just fine). I bought them at tractor supply and I think I'll replace them soon with some from my NH dealer. You don't need hoses that big because adjusting TnT is something you do slowly rather than fast like FEL operation.
The sidelink came advertised as a category I hookup, but was not set up so I could attach it to my tractor. My tractor uses ball links for the upper sidelink attachment, and I had to have the installed link removed and my ball link welded on. Also the side link was much too long on the fork end where it attaches to the lift arm, so I cut off the extra fork material and drilled a hole. In my picture you can see a temporary 1/2 in bolt holding the works together. I had a 1/2" drill bit and a 3/4" drill bit, but needed a 5/8 " to match the proper pin size. I still have to get that bit and finish my job.
Notice the adjustable sidelink was moved to the left side of the tractor. This is really important. You want to adjust your sidelink so that the boxblade is level in the middle of the cylinder's travel. By using the adjustable sidelink on the left, that's a simple operation. Another important thing (in my book) is to keep the hoses as short as possible. Because I added two additional remote valves, I only needed a short 3' section of hose.
Oh yes, I guess I better mention cost. With hoses, my toplink was about $165 and my sidelink about $220. That's pretty cheap for this setup in my opinion. Of course I used my tractor's remote valves, and if you add that cost, that's another $420.
I have brass restrictor orifaces in-line in one of the hoses on each cylinder. A piloted checkvalve would also be nice on each cylinder to keep any bleedoff of the cylinders from occurring. Currently, with these big cylinders, that's not a problem for me, but if your remote valves aren't tight, you could get some postional drift. Several of the dealers who advertise and post on TBN have cylinders with piloted checkvalves for very good prices.
In use, with crowning a road and dressing up two terraces, my boxblade is so useful it's like having a little dozer on the back of the tractor. When you can adjust the angles on your boxblade from the driver's seat, jobs that took hours take only minutes. I crowned my 400' drive in 10 minutes. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
If you can afford it and want the best of both worlds, a FEL on the front and the TnT setup with a boxblade on the rear is a sudden surge in productivity. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
Attachments
shadled
New member
Well today I broke down and bought myself a 6' box blade. And I have one word for it "WoW", its like nite and day compaired to my woods back blade. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
OP
JimR
Elite Member
)</font>Mike, here is a picture of my TnT setup I just finished on my tractor. I originally bought my tractor over three years ago with a single rear remote hydraulic hookup and have had the hydraulic toplink installed for most of that time. I just installed two more remotes and purchased a sidelink from my New Holland dealer to complete my installation of both top and tilt cylinders.
)</font>
Thanks for the picture Jinman. I was wondering what these looked like also. How did you hook in the hydraulic valve for it? Where did you put the lever?
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Thanks for the picture Jinman. I was wondering what these looked like also. How did you hook in the hydraulic valve for it? Where did you put the lever?
