Road boss 7' or 8' commercial decision - Deere 5115M

[johnsayen]

Hi all,

Going to purchase either the commercial 7' or 8' road boss grader to go behind my 5115M. The website lists the following for the specs and I'm having a tough time making my decision.

The rear wheels on the tractor are set to 82" exterior to exterior, so I think the 7 footer would cover my tracks appropriately. The occasionally windy 1/2 mile gravel road I maintain has varying widths, I haven't taken a measuring tape to it yet but I think it gets down to 12' wide at some spots.

I'd lean toward buying the 8 footer so that I could more easily suck some of the gravel up from the side of the road as there are trees near the roadside and snugging the tractor right up next to them isn't feasible but I also don't want to buy too much of a unit for the tractor horsepower.

I recognize I might be worrying about this decision too much since the specs say the 8 footer can be handled by 80-115HP but it's a big purchase for me.

Commercial Model 7 – 1100 lbs Tractor Horsepower Requirements: 60-80 HP
Commercial Model 8 – 1200 lbs Tractor Horsepower Requirements: 80-115 HP

Thank you

 

[ning]

Hi all,

Going to purchase either the commercial 7' or 8' road boss grader to go behind my 5115M. The website lists the following for the specs and I'm having a tough time making my decision.

The rear wheels on the tractor are set to 82" exterior to exterior, so I think the 7 footer would cover my tracks appropriately. The occasionally windy 1/2 mile gravel road I maintain has varying widths, I haven't taken a measuring tape to it yet but I think it gets down to 12' wide at some spots.

I'd lean toward buying the 8 footer so that I could more easily suck some of the gravel up from the side of the road as there are trees near the roadside and snugging the tractor right up next to them isn't feasible but I also don't want to buy too much of a unit for the tractor horsepower.

I recognize I might be worrying about this decision too much since the specs say the 8 footer can be handled by 80-115HP but it's a big purchase for me.

Commercial Model 7 – 1100 lbs Tractor Horsepower Requirements: 60-80 HP
Commercial Model 8 – 1200 lbs Tractor Horsepower Requirements: 80-115 HP

Thank you

7' = 84"
Your 82" tracks will likely not be covered by a 7' grader on even minor curves.
You've got the tractor for an 8', make use of it.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

It's not the HP, but the weight of the tractor pulling the implement. You should be over 10K pounds with the loader, more so if you have additional ballast. You can pull the 8 footer no problem, just depends on the conditions of the ground.
I have a 1400lb 7 footer that I pull with a 12K pound 75hp tractor.
One of the things that I have learned, use draft control, you will never bog down.

 

[ning]

Another thought - is the 7' grader 7' outside to outside, or is that 7' the width of the cutting part between the outside frame?

 

[sandman2234]

I have a homemade 7 footer and although it was built extremely heavy, I wish it was 8 foot. When I am moving piles of dirt and it fills up above the 20" sides, the JD 2555 (70-77 hp) knows it is back there, but I have no weights on nose and its 2wd.
David from jax

 

[johnsayen]

I think I am over 12k lbs with the 540m MSL loader with cutting edge and R34 rear Nokian snow tires filled with rim guard. I also have two sets of wheel weights on the rear.

I believe the road boss 7’ is 7 feet of cutting edge.

Thanks for the tip on draft control.

It sounds like you all are leaning toward the 8 footer for me.

 

[ning]

I think I am over 12k lbs with the 540m MSL loader with cutting edge and R34 rear Nokian snow tires filled with rim guard. I also have two sets of wheel weights on the rear.

I believe the road boss 7’ is 7 feet of cutting edge.

Thanks for the tip on draft control.

It sounds like you all are leaning toward the 8 footer for me.

Well, we do like to spend others' money and the 8' is likely more spendy than the 7'.
But more seriously, I think it's a better fit overall and I doubt you'll be disappointed.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I think I am over 12k lbs with the 540m MSL loader with cutting edge and R34 rear Nokian snow tires filled with rim guard. I also have two sets of wheel weights on the rear.

I believe the road boss 7’ is 7 feet of cutting edge.

Thanks for the tip on draft control.

It sounds like you all are leaning toward the 8 footer for me.

Yes typically the said width is the blade cutting width. (Distance between insides of side panels.)
I am happy with my 7 footer, because I would still have areas in the road that I would need to go over 3 passes wide.

Forget about pulling material sideways, it just does not happen. I have painted the ground to check to see how much it moves from side-side, the ground itself moves about 1".
You want to pull material from the sides toward the center, get a rear blade.

 

[johnsayen]

I guess it is pretty irrational to fear that a tractor at the top of the HP recommended range is undersized for the attachment. Too much thinking about it.

 

[Hay Dude]

8’
Go big or go home.

 

[johnsayen]

Thanks everyone

 

[jdtractor]

Hi . I guess I’m going to be on the other side of this discussion… I wouldn’t go for the 8’ . I would go 7’ the reasons are a few 1 once you fill that unit to full capacity you are going to know it’s back there … 2 Not to condone your tractor you have to remember that you are on rubber… regardless of the weight of your tractor you’re still going to have some issues pulling it. I base these comments on I’ve run a few scraper pans front and rear powered and once you try to load and pull it’s tough going unless you’re being pushed by a push cat. I also have owned a 2014 5115 m loaded like yours almost to the t . Except the tires .. I was not impressed with it as far as it being a tractor period! I sold it and don’t regret it . They are not all the tractor that Deere thinks they are. Please don’t change your opinion because of mine… I’ve just been around Deere and they think they are the best …. I got a bad taste in my mouth from. Good luck with your decision.

 

[johnsayen]

Thanks and sorry to hear you didn't have a good experience with your 5115m. I've had mine for around 40 hours now and it's been a huge upgrade from my Kubota L6060. It's been my experience that all tractors have problems (my Kubota did, my Deere did/does). I went with the Deere because I had a local dealer and because of the command quad transmission. It's also really slick to have an electronic 3 point hitch and push button differential lock. It really sucked trying to hold that diff lock lever down with my foot while driving the 6060.

Appreciate your opinion on the 7 vs 8 footer.

 

[scootr]

For a landplane I would go with the wider option. These things do not carry a lot of material like a box scraper or gannon which can get very heavy. I use a 7 footer behind my 6 ft 52 hp tractor. Only time I had trouble pulling it was when I mistakenly put it in wet clay soil. That was a mess I had to wait until it dried out to fix.