Rear Blade What can a rear blade do for me that my box blade can't? Road and ditches mainly

   / What can a rear blade do for me that my box blade can't? Road and ditches mainly #61  
How wide is your tractor?
 
   / What can a rear blade do for me that my box blade can't? Road and ditches mainly #63  
An 8'will be short in some circumstances.
 
   / What can a rear blade do for me that my box blade can't? Road and ditches mainly #64  
A 7' blade angled at 30* would be 72 3/4" across behind your tractor (only 2 1/2" of each tire would not be covered). In general terms, an 8' blade would be recommended. If, as you say, there are tight quarters, a 7' blade will serve you well - you can angle the blade 22*, or slightly offset it and do what you need done.
 
   / What can a rear blade do for me that my box blade can't? Road and ditches mainly #65  
View attachment 663999

So I appreciate the feedback on size so far, but I'm still not sure 7' or 8'. Here is some other features of the ones I've been considering.

I can give you some data points.

Well, I have had some similar blades for years. Some of what I've found might help. The little blade is a Land Pride RB3572 which is their medium duty 6 foot 3 way blade. We also have an 8 foot Servis Big Rhino WM3 which is a much more heavily built 8 foot version of the same. The Servis brand pre-dates Land Prides offering, but looks very much the same. In Land Pride designation the WM3 would probably be an RB4596 or maybe a 5096. Both of our blades have end caps and both are 3 way manual adjustement.

I pulled them for snow and road maintenance here in the mountains. Snow could be deep, and the roads are crudely built - mostly by bulldozers - through crumbled granite, gravel, and sand. We don't have much dirt, but a bulldozed road is pretty good for durability. Both blades were hooked to 30 hp tractors and matched their tractors pretty well. The smaller blade was mounted to a 3500 lb, 33 hp 12 speed 4wd Yanmar - that's your typical Japanese compact tractor of a few years back.

The larger Servis WM3 blade is Category I/II, & was hooked to a 30 hp 4 speed JD530 which is a 5500 lb plus tractor much like an older JD B or A. It's your typical Ag tractor.

Both tractors pulled their blades about the same, and for each one that was all the blade it wanted to handle. BTW, both tractors have a good functioning automatic draft control which was a big help.

When grading in dirt (sand & gravel actually) with the blade at an angle I would leave the "downstream" end cap installed and remove the one on the end of the blade that was closer to the tractor. In that way the blade acted like an angled box blade and could pull a pretty good load of dirt. Pulling a load of dirt along helped a lot in rough ground when I was filling in low spots, washboards, and divots. Especially washboards.

The 33 hp Yanmar at about 3500 lbs with weight could not handle the big heavy 8 footer. It had no problems with its 6 footer. The John Deere could handle either, but since it really didn't have any trouble with the 8 footer that's what it used. It could handle a full load of dirt and any angle or tilt...but neither tractor could handle any more than a small offset of about a foot.

We have a Kubota M59... a 59 hp 8000 lb tractor with a Cat. II 3pt hitch, but unfortunately I've never hooked either blade to it. My guess is that it could handle more offset just because of the weight. But still a couple of feet of offset is a lot.

I don't know if this has helped any; my feeling is that unless we are using different blades on the same machine in the same dirt then it's pretty hard to compare.
rScotty.
 
   / What can a rear blade do for me that my box blade can't? Road and ditches mainly
  • Thread Starter
#66  
I can give you some data points.

Well, I have had some similar blades for years. Some of what I've found might help. The little blade is a Land Pride RB3572 which is their medium duty 6 foot 3 way blade. We also have an 8 foot Servis Big Rhino WM3 which is a much more heavily built 8 foot version of the same. The Servis brand pre-dates Land Prides offering, but looks very much the same. In Land Pride designation the WM3 would probably be an RB4596 or maybe a 5096. Both of our blades have end caps and both are 3 way manual adjustement.

I pulled them for snow and road maintenance here in the mountains. Snow could be deep, and the roads are crudely built - mostly by bulldozers - through crumbled granite, gravel, and sand. We don't have much dirt, but a bulldozed road is pretty good for durability. Both blades were hooked to 30 hp tractors and matched their tractors pretty well. The smaller blade was mounted to a 3500 lb, 33 hp 12 speed 4wd Yanmar - that's your typical Japanese compact tractor of a few years back.

The larger Servis WM3 blade is Category I/II, & was hooked to a 30 hp 4 speed JD530 which is a 5500 lb plus tractor much like an older JD B or A. It's your typical Ag tractor.

Both tractors pulled their blades about the same, and for each one that was all the blade it wanted to handle. BTW, both tractors have a good functioning automatic draft control which was a big help.

When grading in dirt (sand & gravel actually) with the blade at an angle I would leave the "downstream" end cap installed and remove the one on the end of the blade that was closer to the tractor. In that way the blade acted like an angled box blade and could pull a pretty good load of dirt. Pulling a load of dirt along helped a lot in rough ground when I was filling in low spots, washboards, and divots. Especially washboards.

The 33 hp Yanmar at about 3500 lbs with weight could not handle the big heavy 8 footer. It had no problems with its 6 footer. The John Deere could handle either, but since it really didn't have any trouble with the 8 footer that's what it used. It could handle a full load of dirt and any angle or tilt...but neither tractor could handle any more than a small offset of about a foot.

We have a Kubota M59... a 59 hp 8000 lb tractor with a Cat. II 3pt hitch, but unfortunately I've never hooked either blade to it. My guess is that it could handle more offset just because of the weight. But still a couple of feet of offset is a lot.

I don't know if this has helped any; my feeling is that unless we are using different blades on the same machine in the same dirt then it's pretty hard to compare.
rScotty.
Well it makes me think that my 6500lb tractor would be okay with a 850lb 8' blade. I think that's what I'll buy.
 
   / What can a rear blade do for me that my box blade can't? Road and ditches mainly #67  
Here is my under 5000# IH 574 with a 9 footer on it;
012.jpg 100_4304.JPG 100_4165.JPG 100_4299.JPG 100_4291.JPG
 
   / What can a rear blade do for me that my box blade can't? Road and ditches mainly
  • Thread Starter
#68  
   / What can a rear blade do for me that my box blade can't? Road and ditches mainly #69  
No snow for me though. Only digging ditches and crowning roads. Maybe other stuff, but mainly working a 1/4 MILE mountain road to a cabin.

That's is nice.
Ideally you would work uphill as the material will travel down hill on it's own.
For ditching downhill adds a lot of power to your effort.
 
   / What can a rear blade do for me that my box blade can't? Road and ditches mainly #70  
Well it makes me think that my 6500lb tractor would be okay with a 850lb 8' blade. I think that's what I'll buy.

That's what I would do. If the length turns out to be just too much, you can always shorten the 8 footer. Since your tractor can handle weight, I would also lean toward the heaviest blade. Do all the blades you listed have the same shape & thickness? That's something to check. Also, do consider the end caps - they are perfect for jobs where you are trying to smooth using existing material rather than just cut & move the dirt off to the side. Caps are useless in snow, but they unbolt for winter.
rScotty
 
 

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