Box Scraper Woods box blade?

[npalen]

Kirk, If you are going to use the box blade for anything other than soft loose material, I would be considering a heavier blade. Your tractor has the capability of bending a medium duty box. I recommend a rollover box blade at the minimum, I have the Gannon versions of this and am very happy with them.Woods Equipment Company - 72'' & 84'' Heavy-Duty Rollover Box Scrapers - R Series

Or go with a heavy duty box blade, Woods Equipment Company - 72'', 77'' & 84'' Heavy-Duty Retractable Box Scrapers - SR Series

Does anyone know of a source for the Gannon type rollover box blades for the smaller tractors in the under 20 HP range? Category 0 preferred but can adapt to CAT1
Thanks
Nelson

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I pull mine with a 7000 lb. loaded tire M 6800. And I am over the rated limit of this box blade by over 20 horsepower. I also prefer heavier duty implements, but I bought this box blade when I needed one quickly and I did not want to order one. I agree that a heavy duty model would cost much more, and I'll bet that the turn over style will be more than double the cost of this one. I strongly disagree with the statement that this blade would only be good in soft loose soil. I have graded several miles of roadside ditches, made dozens of waterbars, cut down a 4' high clay bank, and have really used this boxblade hard for several years. Our soil is clay and often rocky. I have never damaged any part of it. For the money, this is a very good blade. I just don't see spending another $1000 or more for a heavier one. This one does all that I ask of it. The flip down scarifier feature on the fancy one may be nice, but I don't really need that. I usually use mine without the teeth anyway as it leaves a smoother finished surface.

Harold, glad to hear that your BB holds up well for you and does all that you want with it. :thumbsup: If you used it a lot more than it sounds like you do, you would appreciate a heavy duty one. I typically recommend implements that are on the stronger side. For example, I would prefer an implement that is rated for 30-40hp tractor for my 32hp tractor rather than have the same implement that is rated for a 25-35hp tractor. Having an implement that is more than strong enough for the machine is far better than having one that is marginal at best.

Yes the heavier implements cost more money, and I understand that there are many reasons that people can't or don't go with the better stuff. But why take a chance if you don't need to? I've gone the light duty route a couple of times and the implements have failed. So what did I gain by going cheaper than I should have? In the long run it has cost me money, time and frustration. No more, either I get the right size and weight, or I don't get it at all.

Again, glade that your box blade works for you, but I would not recommend it myself for anything other than lighter work for a tractor that is bigger than it was ever intended for.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I thank you booth for your input but it is very conflicting. I have zero knowledge about a roll over box blade so I am very green to those, have to start researching I guess. The BB i was looking at was just a regular 72" medium duty, and it was priced at $1100 which I know is high but Canadian pricing, it has a floating tailgate which I'm unsure about and 72" is the exact width of my tractor, so should I go wider. I go in the next few days to talk to the salesman and actually get to see the product so hopefully I'll know more as well. I plan on being nasty to this box blade so maybe HD is the only way to go.

Any more info on the rollover version though is apperciated, I haven't even heard of one of those up here.

For a cab tractor, you would probably need a rope and have it go through the back window to pull the lever to roll the box over into its 3 different positions. Now the rope does work, that is what I have used on my bigger tractor, it is hard to reach the lever on a bigger tractor. The rollover box blades were designed for use with tractors that did not have rear hydraulics which were not all that common back in the 60s.

As far as the uses, the rippers can go in a full 10". A std BB rippers go in about 4-5" I believe, while a bb with hydraulic rippers will go in 10" also.
Flip the rippers up and you have the use of a BB. Roll the box over so that the blade is in the reverse pushing position and you can push material in reverse without material falling off the sides. Very good at moving material in reverse without loosing a lot of it like you do with a std type BB. Now with the blade in the reverse position and go forward and you have a heavy implement that does an excellant job of smoothing material out.

I hope that some of this helps, while the rollover box blades are very good in my opinion

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I thank you booth for your input but it is very conflicting. I have zero knowledge about a roll over box blade so I am very green to those, have to start researching I guess. The BB i was looking at was just a regular 72" medium duty, and it was priced at $1100 which I know is high but Canadian pricing, it has a floating tailgate which I'm unsure about and 72" is the exact width of my tractor, so should I go wider. I go in the next few days to talk to the salesman and actually get to see the product so hopefully I'll know more as well. I plan on being nasty to this box blade so maybe HD is the only way to go.

Any more info on the rollover version though is apperciated, I haven't even heard of one of those up here.

The rollover box blades were first made in the 60s I think. They were used a lot because most tractors did not have any rear hydraulics back then to operate any hydraulic rippers.

The rollover BB has 4 uses.
1st would be as a box to drag material or to cut away material from a site.
2nd would be to have the rippers down to loosen the earth that needs to be moved.
3rd would be to have the box in the reverse direction to move material in the backwards direction. the rollover BB works very good for this since it has the sides of the box to help with any material falling off to the sides as it does so easily with a standard BB.
4th would be to move forward with the box in the reverse direction, this smooths material out very well.

The positive things of the rollover BB vs a standard BB is that the rippers can dig in 10" while most BB rippers only dig in 4-5". Plus you can be in the ripper position in seconds without getting off of the tractor while with a std box blade you have to get off the tractor and lower each ripper separately.

Using a rollover BB in reverse you are able to move more material because of less loss due to the sides of the BB. But with a rollover, you can not get as close to a wall to back fill as you can with a std box blade.

The forward use of a rollover is pretty much the same as a std BB except that with a std box you can rip and move dirt at the same time were as you can not do that with a rollover.

In reality, a hydraulic activated ripper box blade is probably the best box blade that you can get. But in my opinion, the rollover box blade is superior to the standard type box blades. I have been very happy with both of my 66" & 81" Gannon Rollover Box Blades. :thumbsup:

 

[Tractor Shopper]

Yeah you are right, i have a 47hp McCormick with a gear transmission so it has decent power, I was very close to buying a 72hp but I'd need a bigger truck/ trailer set up so I went with the smaller tractor, wish my land was closer to my home.

Thanks for all the info guys, there is a tonne of knowlegde to be gained picking the brains on this site and again it is much appreciated. Like i mentioned before I'm going to visit the dealer this week and hopefully he has a roll over balde there, I'd like to see on in person, and i'll see what the damage is on the HD Blade.

So whats the opinions on have a BB the exact same width as your tractor? will this be a major pain in the butt? should I go to an 84", will a 47hp gear tractor handle a BB Blade of that size. Our soil is simailar to the New England States so it can get rocky and lots of clay, mostly till so you could hit anything.

 

[Ken45101]

I bought a new medium duty BB last year. I debated between the 7' and the 8'. My tractor width is 6'. I went with the 7', that gives me 6" on each side, which is good. I'm glad I didn't go bigger as it would have gotten in the way when using it on my trails in the woods.

As for the ability of the rollover boxes to go deeper with their rippers, well I've always found that I lose traction sooner or later with rippers only a 4-5" deep. I can't imagine using rippers 12" deep in a heavy clay/rocky soil. If I had sandy loam, it would be different. But I don't.

In my experience, there is a big difference between light duty and medium duty. For most of us, I don't see the need for "heavy duty" and the added cost. Prior to buying the bigger one last year, I had a 5' bb that I bought used ten years ago. It was probably medium duty for it's day although the 3 point hitch isn't as beefy as new ones. But it never bent or broke no matter how I used it.

Ken

 

[Reg]

You didn't describe your tractor, uses, or personal constraints.
If you are on a TIGHT schedule to get work done and if time is money to you then a heavier box would be a better investment.

If you are a casual week-ender or retiree with some time on your hands what you have will probably suffice.

When I am on unknown ground I rip first; SLOWLY and with the outermost rippers UP to avoid the turning moment that would result from catching something with one of those.
I rip again if/when I have moved away the first layer that I loosened.
It probably makes little difference, but I usually stay in 2wd in the hope that things will stop quicker if/when I catch something that stops me.
It is probably momentum that would do most of the damage and traction after the initial hit wouldn't worsen things THAT MUCH, so it is just a peace of mind thing.

 

[Ken45101]

It is probably momentum that would do most of the damage and traction after the initial hit wouldn't worsen things THAT MUCH, so it is just a peace of mind thing.

You are probably right but then I'm using idling or running 1000 rpm max in 1st or 2nd gear. I have very little momentum unless I have a box full of loose dirt that I am moving. Maybe that's why I haven't broken anything

Ken