Rear blade decision

[Fallon]

My 1,300lbs or so 76" Gannon box blade wont cut a lot of clay, even when it's not super hard or packed. You need to deploy the rippers a fair bit.

I'd like to be able to replace my box blade with a back blade as the back blade is a bit more flexible. But it ends up being a case of each impliment having their own strengths & weaknesses.

My concern personally that a back blade ends up being worse than the box blade, other than the ability to roll material laterally. Less weight & wider blade for notably lower lbs per foot of cutting power. Add in the lack of rippers & it cuts a lot less. Also the box blades have 2 or 4 connection points between the blade, especially out at the edge. The back blade can be a bit to wide when not angled. Side plates intrinsic to a box blade are uncommon & only optional on some blades. Those side plates really help the amount of material you can carry.

 

[Jchonline]

My 1,300lbs or so 76" Gannon box blade wont cut a lot of clay, even when it's not super hard or packed. You need to deploy the rippers a fair bit.

I'd like to be able to replace my box blade with a back blade as the back blade is a bit more flexible. But it ends up being a case of each impliment having their own strengths & weaknesses.

My concern personally that a back blade ends up being worse than the box blade, other than the ability to roll material laterally. Less weight & wider blade for notably lower lbs per foot of cutting power. Add in the lack of rippers & it cuts a lot less. Also the box blades have 2 or 4 connection points between the blade, especially out at the edge. The back blade can be a bit to wide when not angled. Side plates intrinsic to a box blade are uncommon & only optional on some blades. Those side plates really help the amount of material you can carry.

I kind of came to the same conclusion. I just went the opposite way you did. I started with the rear blade...but will probably need something with scarifier tines to really dig things up. I with LP made a heavy rear blade that you could add scarifiers to it. I notice they have a scarifier/rake combo...maybe that would work as well.

SF25 Series Scarifiers | Land Pride

 

[Fallon]

I kind of came to the same conclusion. I just went the opposite way you did. I started with the rear blade...but will probably need something with scarifier tines to really dig things up. I with LP made a heavy rear blade that you could add scarifiers to it. I notice they have a scarifier/rake combo...maybe that would work as well.

SF25 Series Scarifiers | Land Pride

Land Shark Compact Tractor 3 point Scarifier Bar hitches as well

Both would add rippers to a back blade but make things really long & unwieldy. They both have single ended pins rather than clevises for the 3pt, so not nearly as strong as the heavy box blades that all have clevis type interfaces.

 

[prof fate]

Been using a box blade for a year, a lot on clay. it levels very well. It's nto good at making ditches or moving dirt 'sideways'. The tilt (front to rear) had a big effect on what it does.

Got a back blade a few weeks back. about as low end and cheap as possible - a 6' mahindra low end model, $150, used 3 times and garage kept.

It can slide side to side and tilt (two 1 1/8 nuts to adjust). I got a crank side link for my kioti for easy of adjustment - $75. Have to get off, but no tools needed. The blade also of course angles and can be reversed, and you can adjust the tilt via the top link.

it's NOT heavy - 300 lb I'm guessing - two of us lifted/slid it onto my trailer when I bought it.

Observations so far - hard to level dirt, especially packed dirt, but better than the box blade at leveling loose dirt. As good or better than the bucket for levelng/smoothign dirt.

tilt and angle and it will work almost like a plow. If the ground is greasy wet/muddy you can move the tractor sideways..

Plan to fill in 'dead furrows' in the pasture - disk to loose and use the blade to mvoe the dirt sideways. Disk is difficult to do that with..very slow.
Put in some drainage in a few areas.
Perhaps move snow.

Works better in reverse as a 'bulldozer' than the box blade.

If it would quit raining here I might get more time to learn it...wettest year on record, 5 of last 8 days had rain (one had over an inch, another 3/4). Rained last ngiht. Rain tonight and tomorrow. rain on friday. Anything not paved is like a wet sponge.

I can see the benefit of wheels, and more weight.

As for bending it..I've got a CK3510, 4300ish lb 4x4 with 35hp..not a chance, and this is a light duty blade. As i've said, I can move and stop the tractor with it with no observable detriment to the blade.

 

[/pine]

...Works better in reverse as a 'bulldozer' than the box blade....

This is not a prudent practice with any type of blade...merely leveling a payload of material is fine but severe damage can occur to the 3ph if the blade hits something it can't move...neither a box blade or a rear blade are meant for "bulldozing"...!

For smoothing moving forward try reversing the blade and flatten the angle with the top link...also on the final passes try speeding up with the above mentioned setup...

 

[mred2]

Many years ago, I backed up to small stump. I thought that I could push it out. The tractor had more traction and power than I thought. Bent both lift arms on the tractor. Lesson learned.

 

[Overtaxed]

Well, decision made, wish me luck. I went with the Bison NB80-240 HD with 2 hydros (tilt and angle). Saw some good reviews, it's heavy (about 900 lbs) and seems to be built well from everything I read and what I can see.

Now for the rant.. You know, I just don't get tractor dealers. I called about 3 different dealers for Woods/Rhino and Frontier, including one place where I've done some business before, and you know how many people called me back? I won't spoil it for you.. Anyway, I eventually did get someone on the phone at 2 dealerships, gave them the info, they talked to me about what they had on the lot (basically nothing) and then both said they'd get back to me with timing for a delivery from the factory. That was a week ago. I've been calling and chasing these guys across 1/2 a dozen dealers for a week, and have 0 quotes, and basically have gotten 0 information from them about why their blades are better and/or what I should be buying for my area.

During that time, I called a few online vendors, including EA. EA was fantastic, they answered the phone, talked to me about their blade, what made it better, what would work for my tractor and my use. The only reason I didn't go with them, they are so far out on lead times I wouldn't see the blade until spring, and I need it this winter to do the trail work that I've got planned. But just a first class sales experience, and, after hearing their pitch, they probably have the better blade than what I purchased (at a slightly higher price, to be fair). Then I found Bison, reached out to their distributor online, and had a call within the hour. Got'em in stock, yes, it should work great for what you want to do, no, you don't need the bigger model, although we have them in stock too if you wanna go totally bulletproof. Good experience; responsive and able to talk about their products well.

The one local dealer who did get back to me is the same place I bought my Baumalight tree cutter (Brushcutt). And man, what an experience that was. I needed to have Baumalight call the dealer for me to get him to call me back (we don't sell them). Basically knew nothing about Baumalight at all, what they sold, what the applications were. And then getting the item? I got tired of waiting and finally called them "Oh yeah, we've had that here for a week, wondering who it was for". <banging head on desk>. Look, I get it, I'm not spending 100's of K a year in implements/tractors. But I've probably spent close to 100K over the course of the last 3 years. And nearly 100% of that has been online (including Craigslist) because I can't get anybody to call me the heck back from a dealer. Even my tractor, I test drove it at one dealer, started the deal process with them, and then.. Dark. Couldn't get a call back. Didn't do the final paperwork.. So, I called Kioti and asked them if they could please find me someone to sell me an NX tractor. They did, and that deal was made 100% online, never met the guy until he rolled up with the tractor behind his truck. And these aren't the discount dealers, the place I bought my Baumalight, if I wanted to call them out, would all be seen as the "premium dealership". Nice offices, big inventory, big yards.. Just nobody to return a phone call.. I want to buy local guys, I really do. But man, it's hard work.

/end rant

 

[BMan2005]

Nice blade, I tried to find a local dealer carrying them when I was looking at them but didn稚 so I passed. They look to be very well made with good specs, and pretty sure they make Frontier blades if I recall. Nice set up & post pictures when you get it in.

 

[Overtaxed]

Nice blade, I tried to find a local dealer carrying them when I was looking at them but didn稚 so I passed. They look to be very well made with good specs, and pretty sure they make Frontier blades if I recall. Nice set up & post pictures when you get it in.

My first preference was to find a local dealer with a blade on the lot that I could see/touch. After a bunch of calls, that wasn't gonna happen, they just don't stock these bigger/heavier blades anymore, the farmers don't use them around here I guess and most homeowners don't have tractors big enough to pull a larger blade. Next preference was to get someone to order me one from a big name brand, Woods at the top of the list.. Well, see my rant above, I couldn't get that done either. Then I went the online route, and would have wound up with an EA if they weren't so backed up and I had a need for it before the winter.. So, here we wind up, with a blade I've never seen from a company I've never heard of heading my way with my wallet 3K lighter. I'm crossing my fingers.

One thing I'll say, if I could have ordered a Woods/Rhino/Land Pride online, I would have gone that way because I know that's gonna be a quality blade (and, while I couldn't get anyone near me to order one and/or call me back, there are lots of reviews of those blades out there and I know what it should have cost from looking up price lists). But I wasn't gonna deal with ordering it from a dealer across the country and paying another shipping charge on top of the price of the blade.

Honestly, as much as this may upset some dealers, those brands didn't get the sale because they don't have a "buy online" option. I would have bought that blade direct from Woods, and they could have shipped it the dealer who refuses to call me back for final delivery. "Ship to store" option, with the payment/pricing determined by Woods/Rhino and they would have had this sale.

 

[BMan2005]

My first preference was to find a local dealer with a blade on the lot that I could see/touch. After a bunch of calls, that wasn't gonna happen, they just don't stock these bigger/heavier blades anymore, the farmers don't use them around here I guess and most homeowners don't have tractors big enough to pull a larger blade. Next preference was to get someone to order me one from a big name brand, Woods at the top of the list.. Well, see my rant above, I couldn't get that done either. Then I went the online route, and would have wound up with an EA if they weren't so backed up and I had a need for it before the winter.. So, here we wind up, with a blade I've never seen from a company I've never heard of heading my way with my wallet 3K lighter. I'm crossing my fingers.

One thing I'll say, if I could have ordered a Woods/Rhino/Land Pride online, I would have gone that way because I know that's gonna be a quality blade (and, while I couldn't get anyone near me to order one and/or call me back, there are lots of reviews of those blades out there and I know what it should have cost from looking up price lists). But I wasn't gonna deal with ordering it from a dealer across the country and paying another shipping charge on top of the price of the blade.

Honestly, as much as this may upset some dealers, those brands didn't get the sale because they don't have a "buy online" option. I would have bought that blade direct from Woods, and they could have shipped it the dealer who refuses to call me back for final delivery. "Ship to store" option, with the payment/pricing determined by Woods/Rhino and they would have had this sale.

Sorry to hear how the dealers dealt with this with you. Going through this not long ago I talked to about 3-4 dealers that carried different brands and all but one were very quick to get me info and prices on what they carried. In the end though, you have yourself a high quality blade and probably saved a little money, but I understand your frustration. Just hook it up and put it to use, you’ll forget all about it.