What does a box blade actually do?

[The Famous Grouse]

This is probably a silly question, but I have to ask.

What does a box blade actually do? What's the sweet-spot in terms of what it's really good for?

I see people talking about them all the time and I see them for sale, but I honestly have no idea what they are supposed to do. I don't know anyone on a farm that uses one and I've never seen one in use.

Please clear up the mystery for me.

Grouse

 

[deezler]

Box blades are best for scarifying and then moving hard compacted dirt or gravel. Those ripper shanks hanging down can really bite into the ground - then the dirt they break up can be scooped/retained with the back blade and held in the box to be dragged somewhere else.

The shanks are adjustable vertically so that you can choose how deep you want to rip. And you can adjust your 3-pt arms to put angle on the box blade to make a ditch or crown, etc.

Box blades are very strong, so you can use the full tractive power of your machine to rip up the ground.

But I do understand your question, because if you have loose dirt or stone, you might as well just use a straight blade to move it around. Or a loader bucket to scoop and move it.

 

[deezler]

To add - if you want to make a new trail in the forest or brush across un-even ground, the box blade set to an angle is perhaps the best way to re-shape the trail bed, bench cut into a hillside, create proper drainage ditches, etc.

Like this road I cut into a steep hillside - only a box blade is going to quickly, effectively and safely accomplish this:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-...I/AAAAAAAAKhk/byUoRNnGDbo/w995-h746-no/13+-+2

 

[EverythingAttachments]

Here is a video of one in action.

 

[EverythingAttachments]

And another.

 

[bigbull338]

the boxblades are used to level ground.as well as spread dirt an gravel.an you can knock down high spots an fill in low spots.

 

[joshuabardwell]

A box blade is a lot like a grader blade except that the box blade has sides, so it carries the dirt along vs. letting it spill out to the side. It's great for leveling ground and spreading loose material like dirt and rocks. Also great for side-grading trails by setting it at an angle. Can be used like a push-blade if you use it in reverse.

 

[nybirdman]

I would advise against pushing backwards....something is going to break if you are not real careful.
Box blade is a great tool with a little learning curve.Best on dry material.

 

[The Famous Grouse]

Many thanks for the info.

So it looks like the principle use is to loosen up ground, and then re-distriubte it and re-grade it.

Follow on question. If you set the forks deep, could you also use a box blade as a sort of chisle plow? I'm talking for small 1 acre or less food plots here, not for 800 acres of corn.

Grouse

 

[PhysAssist]

I would advise against pushing backwards....something is going to break if you are not real careful.
Box blade is a great tool with a little learning curve.Best on dry material.

We agree completely. After having excavted our pond bank to a more gradual angle, we had a very uneven surface, and piles of spoils all over and our box blade was great to level the surfaces to an even grade, and then loosen the spoils piles so we could more easily pick the upan move them.

However, the spreading, moving, and grading large pilesof dirt (or stones) across or along a large area is where they shine. That said, we also use it to rip up brush, carry our trash cans down to the road, pull our trailer and roller with the trailer hitch box we have attached. Spreading new gravel was the other big thing we bought it for, and it is awesome for that.

Thomas

PS: I forgot, we used it to make a new drainage ditch or creek across the back edeg of our pond area where the excavators had destroyed it.