Grading What rear Blade For a L3010

[W5FL]

Halsey, I am glad you were successful with your box blade. I think a box blade is one of the best implements for all around use that anyone can buy.

Guess I should have elaborated a little more. For 6 years all I had was a 6 ft box blade and I did the same thing. I tilted it to the maximum, put a couple of scarfiers down and dug a shallow ditch. I could keep water off to the side, but could not dig very deep.

This year I finally got a rear blade. It is an 8 ft heavy duty blade rated for 100 HP. With it rotated forward, it also tilts. This makes a scoop that can really dig. In about an hour, I dug over 800 feet of ditch and pulled out over 90 yards of dirt. Guess that is about 8 dump truck loads worth in about an hour. I could not have done that with my box blade in two days. The other problem I had with the box blade, as you said, is how to get the dirt out of the ditch, yet keep a clean ditch for water to flow in. I never really solved that problem, but I pulled and pushed dirt a lot trying to do it. The rear blade setup pulls the dirt out correctly on the downhill side.

So, yes, a box blade can dig ditches (and that is what I would use for occassional work), but a rear blade is better equipped for the job. I have several thousand more feet of ditches to put in to capture as much water for my tank as I can, and I believe the rear blade will make short work of this. I think digging with the rear blade it is possibly easier to damage your tractor if you hang a blade due to the long lever arm to the blade than with a box blade.

 

[gordon]

I've been looking for a replacement blade one that offsets. So I was looking at a used blade a Landpride 35series at the dealer. Go in and ask the price and they can't find a price on the blade and didn't know if it was their stock or off a customers unit. They figured out that it did belong to them but couldn't find a card or any info on it. I kept hounding the owner about the blade and he finally said ok how much would you give. I told him $250.00 cash he laughed and said its worth every bit of $500.00. So I gave him my speal that if I hadn't of hounded about it you still would have thought it was off a customers unit and how much in labor alone he has lost just moving that blade around the lot-that hit home to him. Had been sitting there and moved around the back lot for at least a year that I know of. He knows once I get on something I don't give up until I get a square answer. He gave me two choices that when he found the card or info on the blade he would sell it to me at his cost or $375.00. I told him $325. and he has a deal. He went for it smart man he is. Because along with the blade I bought a gauge wheel for it and also endplates. But I still have an almost new condition (wear wise) blade, gauge wheel and end plates for less than a new blade would have cost me.

I've found some good deals in his back lot over the last couple of years, but this was the best by far./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
Gordon