Go BottomBox Blade Hinged Back Blade
 | 17ACRES
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 15 Lake Stevens, WA. 
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2003-04-16 53208
I am thinking about purchasing a Frontier 72" box blade. I am considering their "medium duty" box due to the added weight. I am concerned that this box has a hinged back blade. I have a hydraulic top link and I would think that with the swinging back blade I would loose some of the control when depositing material with the top link extended. Has anyone used this type of box blade? What are the pros and cons of a swinging back blade?
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley 
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2003-04-16 53213
I have a fixed type and I've never seen a hinged type. I have heard that the distinction isn't relevant on some hinged types since the rear cutter can be locked in place (never seen one though).
I think the main idea of a hinged type is that they give you a wider range of attack angles for the front cutter. With a fixed type, you can't roll the box down very far before the front cutter comes off the ground and then the box rides on the back of the rear cutter. With a hinged type very small attack angles can be used so the box really is capable of scraping rather than just cutting. That is supposed to make them better for smoothing and finishing.
For spreading, I really don't know. It wouldn't take rolling a box too far back before it would stop having an attack angle. The front cutter would lift off the ground and the box would ride on the back of the front cutter. It should spread like this even with a full box but I can't compare it to the same operation with a fixed rear cutter.
The hinged type also makes it possible to make heavy cuts in loose material. With a fixed type, the box sits down on the rear cutter when a heavy cut is tried. When making shallow excavations with a fixed type, you can't get much better than shallow ramps at either end.
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 | Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2003-04-16 53219
The backside of the blade (either one) is a poor tool for doing any task, the curvature causes it to ride up onto material and not push it along ahead of it.
The theory of the hinged rear blade, as Tom mentioned, is to allow a more aggressive use of the front blade before the rear blade starts to act like a skid shoe and prevents a deeper 'bite'. This allows a more precise adjustment when depositing material also for the same reason, it is unecessary to hinge the front balde however since the sides are so long forward of the blade they contact the ground long before the front blade can affect rear blade performance. The rear blade is only free to swing in one direction, away from the front blade, it rests against stoppers when you put a load against it, I have however seen one which was equipped with a small hydraulic cylinder which adjusted the angle of the rear blade so that a very precise amount of material could be laid down, it was used for building clay tennis courts.
Personally I can't think of a single instance in which I would want to lock the rear blade in position, certainly in all the years of using them I haven't found one yet. I also wouldn't buy a box blade without such a feature either.
Best of luck. ....
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2003-04-17 53273
I do use the back of my fixed rear cutter for compacting gravel. That's usually the first thing I do after I get a grade right. I then go back and finish the compacting by back-dragging with the loader while holding down-pressure. I usually go back to the box for final smoothing.
A swing type may be better at smoothing, but you can't smooth loose gravel. It has to be compacted first. I suppose I should say that the gravel I'm talking about is pit run (a mixture of small stone and sand). A thick layer of pea gravel doesn't really compact.
A swing type box may not work well for this type of compacting since the front cutter can't be raised far enough off the surface to keep the box from picking up loose gravel. A heavy box sinks down so the front cutter edge never clears the surface. However, I've got to say that this may not be a real issue. I'm not sure that using the box first in compacting operations provides any great advantage over just starting with the loader. Besides, if the rear cutter locks in the forward position, the issue goes away.
Overall, both types do pretty much the same jobs. I suspect the hinged type is better for smoothing. I probably spend more time tinkering with my grades with my fixed box, but for my home-owner occasional uses there's probably not a lot to choose between. If I were buying one today I'd probably go for a hinged type but wouldn't want to pay a lot for the feature. Weight, heavy construction and a strong top-link mount are more important I think.
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| Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2003-04-17 53288
Tom, I forgot to mention, some people (us included) spring load the rear blade so that you have to compress the spring (a pair of simple coil springs on the hinge) in order to get the rear blade to tilt. This is a real time saver doing topsoil or screenings work since the spring tension gives you a little compaction, but more importantly, breaks up most of the clumps that would normally be left behind on the surface.
Best of luck. ....
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2003-04-18 53341
I have wondered how well the rear cutter works as a drag. I was thinking that they wouldn't heavy enough to do much but I hadn't thought about springs. Sounds like that do a much better job of final smoothing than my fixed box rolled all the way back on it's rear cutter. I think my box used like that does a better job than back dragging with the loader in float. Who knows I may get particular enough about my finished grades to think about a new box? ....
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