Yet Another Box Blade Question

[GlueGuy]

I have to agree with CowboyDoc.

I have "almost" 50 hours on my B7500, and most of it has been using the bxoblade. As some of you may recall, I was totally flumoxed and befuddled by the operation of this tool as anyone (maybe more). I got a lot of the same advice that Harv got, and what I took away was: practice.

So I practiced. I started out trying to minimize the damage to the shared part of our road. Just in case you might think it's easy, we have hills; serious hills. We have rocks; round, sharp, big, small. I practiced. Take small bites. Observe what the boxblade does with different input. I practiced.

Now, I won't say that I'm "good". I will say that I have become half-way competent. I now get complements from neighbors about the road. Hey we're getting somewhere!

The GlueGuy

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>no proof that I ever made such a literary faux pas</font color=blue>

Someone's been tampering with the evidence./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Free shipping on the TNT kits is no problem. Of course, you apparently haven't heard about my labor rates and profit margin on the parts./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Bird

 

[StanInCalif]

Glenn-
The rear blade swings back only. No , you can't ride the rear blade, so it is not as good for backblading - But I suspect as we get better with these things and more of us get hyd. top links, we will be doing less backblading. In any case I think a lockable hinged blade is the best of both worlds.
I agree with what your catalogs say and with your analysis.

 

[StanInCalif]

I totally agree. In my earlier post I mentioned the importance of always keeping some material in the box, but in this case, I would back off a little on that as Harv doesn't want his mom walking on powder.

 

[RobertN]

Glennmac,
I have found the regular box scraper with rippers to be a more useful all-around tool.

The roll-over scraper is very nice for smoothing. If you roll it over back-facing, and poull forward, it does a fantastic job. It also work really good when you just want to rip things up; with the rippers down, it gives you great control.

On my roll-over, when the rippers are wolled into place, you do all depth control with the 3pt height control. Yes, it does allow you to cut or smooth in forward and reverse. All you do is lift it up, release the lever, and let it woll over. The hardest part is getting the spelling right so it rolls over instead of wolls over. It is a terrible thing when it wolls over /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Also of note, the roll-over box tends to be heavy... That helps when you really want to dig in.

The roll-over seems to be more of a niche solution. It does a *few* things VERY well. However, I have found that the box scraper, with rippers, does a *lot* of stuff pretty good.

I wouldn't mind keeping my roll-over box, but could use the $$$ to fund other adventures /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

RobertN in Shingle Springs Calif

 

[StanInCalif]

Harv -
Glenn County - Ag country-few rocks, but lotsa weeds. Anyway, I agree with with the others that say the rear blade should be locked for this project- but not permanently - you may want to go back. My "locking mechanism" is simply a tab with a hole in it welded to each end of the blade and a corresponding one on the back of the frame through which a bolt is inserted - Are you sure you don't have something like this ? -Stan

 

[RobertN]

Up Corning and Red Bluff direction???

Say, any Farmall A's, H's, or Cub's out thatta way?

RobertN in Shingle Springs Calif

 

[glennmac]

CDoc,

You cant possibly disagree with my entire post. Most of it was nothing more than a longwinded way of stating the self-evident proposition that: the effectiveness of a shovel depends on what you're trying to shovel. But your emphasis on the importance of practice and experience is duly noted and seems to be undeniable.

My soil hypothesis is actually more involved. I believe the box is more effective in those parts of the country which, a zillion years ago during Mark Twain's Sylvanian Period, were under an ocean, and less effective in those parts of the country that were Sylvanian mountain tops. Stated yet differently, the box is more effective in sedimentary soils than igneous soils.

You will note that a recent Gallup poll shows that all the happy and contented boxers live in sedimentary states ... like Iowa.

 

[StanInCalif]

SE of Orland.
Don't know of any, but will keep my eyes open.

 

[cowboydoc]

Glenn,
I should have phrased it differently. I disagreed with the following: "But I think is the circumstances that are largely responsible for the discrepancy. Namely, the soil and geological characteristics of the user's locale.

I hypothesize the ideal geology for successful boxblading is: (1) perfectly flat land, (2) with no rocks, (3) with no vegetation, and (4) with dryish, sandy, "flowable" soil. Indeed, just about every picture in catalogs or marketing brochures that show boxblades in use show this kind of circumstance--pictures of smoothing a horse ring or an all-dirt, flat construction site.

I further hypothesize that the more the soil and geology depart from this ideal, the more difficult, frustrating and unproductive boxblading becomes. In other words boxblading becomes more difficult, regardless of technique and experience, as: (1) the land elevations get steeper, hillier, bumpier and more irregular; and/or (2) the soil gets rockier and rockier and bouldery; and/or (3) the soil contains more grass, vegetation and roots; and/or (4) the soil gets moister, clingier and clumpier."

Where I learned to use one was out west in Idaho and Oregon. WIDE range of soils out there. The guy I was talking about could use one in any soil and on any grade. I'm not that good and never will be but it can be done. It's a tough piece of equipment to get good at. While yes you are right about it being easier in soil conditions you can use in any conditions it just might not be as easy.