Next best after FC

[Inspector507]

Jim,
Some of us 'compact' guys can't move up, don't have the room to do so.
Well......on second thought, with a 100hp tractor, and batwing mowers, I could cut my lawn in 20-30 mins. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[JimMc]

Actually, what I meant was to move from basic box blades to more "full featured" units.

 

[JRP]

Jim,

First, I failed to mention good rear blade design and how a hinged rear blade can hinge up and allow the front blade to dig deeper.

Three thoughts come to mind about marketing:

1. Educate buyers to the advantage of weight in a box. TBN is a great media for this. It is relatively inexpensive to use thicker metal. Except for minor increase in saw/cut time, most of the fabrication time for a 400# box and a 800# box should be the same. A simple box that is haevier should therefore be a much better bang for the buck. I think steel can be priced by the pound, so material cost would be double. Not sure, however, what percent of final sale price is material. My guess is 30%.

2. A big increase in expense of a Gannon grade of box is the scarifier mechanism. Perhaps a clever engineer can come up with a better mouse trap.

3. Tim hit the nail head when he pointed out tipping the box forward when using the scarifiers, and tipping it back to smooth. Thanks Tim. If stuck with limited resources a hydraulic top link for $250 and a $500 box may be a much more preactical solution than a $1400 Gannon box. You would robably want the hydraulic top link with the Gannon also.

 

[Inspector507]

Jim,
It would be wonderful to have hydraulic scarifiers on my box blade, but I have no extra hydraulic outlets....yet.
That may be a nice upgrade for me in the future. I'm still trying to get the CFO to squeeze out the money for the FEL. She's not usually this tight with tractor tool(toy) money. I guess the $2500 price tag scared her.

 

[JimMc]

Jim,
Weight is by far the best thing you can utilize in your box blade. Too many times I see a light duty "economy" brand box blade purchased and the new owner add blocks, steel, railroad ties, or worse yet, people, to get that box to cut smoothly.

Your estimate for cost is pretty close for the days prior to the import steel tariff. Our domestic steel suppliers jumped on that 30% margin like ducks on a june bug. Bottom line is not only did import steel go up 30% but US steel companies took an additional 30% margin as well. So the steel as a function of cost of sales is now a little more. Most companies are finding it necessary to adjust their pricing for next year by 5 to 12 percent. Of course, box blades are the loss leaders of the 3 point world, kind of like milk and bread at the grocery store. Manufacturers make less on boxes than any other product, but hope to make it up on the rest of their products. So look for price increases at the upper end of the scale there. Many manufacturers were locked in for the year so haven't published their increases yet. Some took a small increase already in hopes prices would go down. If they don't, look for a another small spring increase. Still others don't plan an increase. I suppose they either feel like they were making too much margin or they don't realize their true cost of sales. Maybe the accounting department doesn't talk to sales. A few companies are moving their processing out of the US, since the import tariffs only apply to raw steel, they hope to avoid the tariff that way.

Oops, got off topic there. At any rate, options aside, always get the heaviest box per foot of width you can handle. Not only will it hold up better, you will find it much easier to control the cut and smoothing.

 

[Dob]

Jim & JR,
Thanks for all of the useful info. I mentioned above cost as a, if not the primary, reason for going with the "less featured" units. That is not wholly true. I am in the market for a bb right now. I have a small spread, at just under 5 acres, with a 1 acre pond in he middle, so relatively little dirt to deal with. I will likely do the majority of "my work" (not that hunt club, friends family, etc won't always be there!) within the first few months of ownership. I simply cannot justify the added expense for an upgraded unit. Same held true with FEL. Gosh who wouldn't love to have one, but after backing off the coolness of it all, I simply could not justify the additonal cost, although it could have been been afforded, and used - but only slightly.

I'm sure you know this too, but, it also helps me to say it out loud too - keeps me from talking myself into things... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Jerry,

Just tell her all the other kids (TBN'ers) have one and you need one, too. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif If that doesn't work, you could try holding your breath till you turn blue. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Inspector507]

Gary,
Didn't work........" and if all the other kids drove their tractor off a cliff or into their pond(tank), would you follow ?
Just teasing she says /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[EdK]

Re: Weight is by far the best thing...

Thanks for confirming my decision on a box blade.

First I learned that a cheesy, lightweight unit would only frustrate me by its failure to dig in and move material - not to mention getting twisted out of shape upon hooking up with a serious iceberg.

Looking to the high-end hydraulic units I liked what I saw but was blown away by the price. I'm not building a business on this stuff. It's for personal use so I can afford to get off and lower/raise scarifiers as needed.

I settled upon a basic unit with manual scarifiers but made with plenty of steel(950#). Sure I lose some efficiency of operation but there's nothing I can't accomplish and it cuts like crazy.