Roll over boxblade or T&T?

[Richard]

We recently acquired an International 886 that has something like 80 hp. (I'm not really sure of amount)

I'm thinking on getting a new boxblade for it as the one we have on the old International 444 (35 hp?) was never heavy enough to do REAL work...I always had to add some boulders or weights to the top.

Soooooooooooooooo....

The 886 has two ports on the back (4 outlets) and I was thinking I could do a top/tilt kinda thing. Then I remembered about rollover boxes... then I remembered about hydraulic scarifiers....

So, I guess I'm trying to figure out which setup would be the cats meow.

If you were doing this and wanted the best, most helpful setup, exactly what would you do?

Standard box with top/tilt?
Rollover box with top/tilt?

Standard box & hydraulic scarifiers & add third outlet on back? (probably my higher choice)

Any other options I'm not thinking of??

This would be primarily used for gravel road/driveway maintainence, which actually leads me to another thought...is there yet a DIFFERENT tool which might be better than the boxblade??

 

[radman1]

The best of all worlds is usually the most expensive. My vote would be TNT, standard box (hinged rear blade) and with hydraulic scarifer. I have a 60" gannon set up like this on my JD 3720.
That size of tractor will require at least an industrial grade 84" boxblade.

 

[radman1]

by the way, the IH 886 is rated at 90 hp. We have a 1086 cab on the farm (131 hp). Nice tractors.

 

[FarmGeek]

...is there yet a DIFFERENT tool which might be better than the boxblade??

Well, maybe….. It depends on what you need to do. I use a box to drag material where I need it but use an 84" Woods angle blade for most of my driveway work. Usually I find the fill I need at the outsides of the road so I just angle in, tip down and make a couple of passes. Then one or two to crown it the way I like and I’m done.

There’s another blade I've seen that worked great on a gravel roadbed but can't remember what it's called. It had two angled blades inside of a box and took very little HP to pull. I'm sure you can find it in these forums.

By-the-way, I use and swear by a Top-N-Tilt system. Makes all the blade adjustments with the flick of a finger and on the fly as needed. This would again be my first modification if I ever get a new tractor.

Just my $0.02. Have Fun!

 

[radman1]

This would be primarily used for gravel road/driveway maintainence, which actually leads me to another thought...is there yet a DIFFERENT tool which might be better than the boxblade??[/QUOTE]

I didn't read your post close enough the first time. If your primary goal is to maintain a gravel road, I think a rear blade with angle capability and tilt is the way to go. A rear blade can maintain a road and still do other projects and cheaper than a box blade. Your tractor is big enough for a 10' rear blade which can be heavy enough to do some dirt moving if needed. Rear blade can dig dirt up to a point. Once the dirt becomes packed/hard, they struggle to dig in. Hard/packed dirt is made for the scarifers on the box blade. Rip it up and then move it with the box blade. We have a 10' 1500 lb blade on the farm but in hard dirt, I will choose the much lighter and smaller box blade on a smaller tractor.
There are some grader/drag type blades which have been mentioned on TBN. They sound great for maintaining a road but too me seem narrow in their overall use.
For me, a box blade is best for moving soil or to dig/tear up soil. A box blade can maintain a road but an angle rear blade is better/easier. Look at commercial road graders on county roads and how they work. I feel a box blade is more difficult to control and keep a road smooth and crowned.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

This would be primarily used for gravel road/driveway maintenance, which actually leads me to another thought...is there yet a DIFFERENT tool which might be better than the box blade??

This Road Boss Grader - Road and Landscape Grading, Surfacing and Leveling, and Material Spreading and Reclamation type of implement is what a few of us TBNers use. It works very good at grading and maintaining roads. Not a real versatile implement, but great at what it is designed to do and that is to grade roads. Works even better with a top"n"tilt setup. There are many different brands of this type of implement. Probably need to do some research to get the best bang for your buck.

 

[FarmGeek]

Thanks Brian,

That is exactly what I tried to describe. Getting old has some disadvantages and loosing ones memory is one of … what was I talking about…???

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Thanks Brian,

That is exactly what I tried to describe. Getting old has some disadvantages and loosing ones memory is one of … what was I talking about…???

What? Who are you? What were we talking about? Ah, was it the weather?