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8x56mn
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 167 Watkins Glen NY
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2010-03-28          169584


Guys, I thinking of buying a box blade for a 30hp 4wd tractor that weighs 3500 lbs. and agg. tires. I want a heavy duty model of some kind. I want it to push as well as pull. I will be leveling ground for a new pole barn for an covered dog runs for our kennel operation. What brand can you recommend? Not particulary concerned about price, just quality.



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greg_g
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1816 Western Kentucky
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2010-03-28          169585


Your profile shows a B2150, which is a 24hp/1700# tractor. Do you have another tractor that fits the 30hp/3500# description? Cuz it makes a big difference in implement selection. And what is the outside rear wheel width? That too is a major consideration when selecting a boxblade.

//greg// ....


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8x56mn
Join Date: Aug 2006
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2010-03-28          169586


Just purchased a TYM 30 hp tractor that I will be using this attatchment on. ....


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greg_g
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2010-03-28          169588


Ok, what then is the rear track; outside to outside?

//greg// ....


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8x56mn
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 167 Watkins Glen NY
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2010-03-28          169591


OAW is 53.5 ....


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hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 3583 iowa
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2010-03-28          169593


Land Pride has been my brand of choice for quality for any three point equipment for a long time. Not the cheapest, but pretty rugged. I leave my box blade on almost all the time and find it one of the most usefull tools you can own. It is a good counterweight for the loader and in the winter I let the teeth all the way down to tear up the ice on the gravel driveway, I don't know if that is a recommended practice by Land Pride, but I've been doing it for years and nothing has broken yet.
I think they offer a hydraulic control for the teeth but I've never missed having it, it only takes a couple minutes and you don't adjust them that often.
The only caution I'll mention is when you said you want to push with the box blade. I do that sometimes and my box blade does habe a blade on the rear for pushing dirt but three point hitches really aren't meant to push with, there only function was meant to pull with, so don't over do the pushing part. Frank. ....


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greg_g
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2010-03-28          169596


Quote:
Originally Posted by 8x56mn | view 169591
OAW is 53.5
Thank you. In that case, limit your selection to five footers. It will cover your track, yet not stick out so far as to catch on stuff as you drive by.

I noted with concern your intent to "push" with this boxblade. Not a good idea, not big stuff anyway. Your new TYM is a tractor, not a bulldozer. The geometry of a BB is strengthened more towards pulling than it is pushing. But more importantly, the design of your three point hitch is almost exclusively for pulling. In most cases, using the boxblade as a bull dozer will more quickly damage the TPH than the BB itself. The backblade can in fact push SOME stuff, but it's intended more for finish work. You pull a heavy box full of material, dispensing it along the way. Then - if necessary - you go into reverse and use the backblade to smooth out what you just dropped.

That said, you want to look for one with a very sturdy A-frame. That's the part of the BB that hooks to the tractor. I strongly recommend both the sheet steel A-frame (as opposed to flat iron) and double bracket lower lift points. Not promoting any one brand, but the type shown in the photo satisfies both requirements. You can't see it, but there's an extra brace connecting the A-frame to the back plate. ....

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8x56mn
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 167 Watkins Glen NY
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2010-03-28          169597


Thanks to Gregg and Frank for the very usefull insight. Regarding pushing, I was watching a vidio or demonstration on how to use a BB. They would dig the dirt up going forward until the box got full and then slowly raise the BB to alow the dirt to disperse evenly and lastly go in reverse to smoth out the dirt a bit, just the high spots.Would that cause problems or should I avoid that all together?
Thanks again. ....


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auerbach
Join Date: Sep 2007
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2010-03-28          169598


I've been back-pushing snow and dirt with my scraper blade for 30 years. Damage? Only my neck. But it has been correctly stated that the implement and hitch are stronger pulling forward.

Box units are costly to ship, so whatever's in stock or made locally deserves a look. ....


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greg_g
Join Date: Jan 2004
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2010-03-28          169599


Quote:
Originally Posted by 8x56mn | view 169597
I was watching a vidio or demonstration on how to use a BB. They would dig the dirt up going forward until the box got full and then slowly raise the BB to alow the dirt to disperse evenly and lastly go in reverse to smoth out the dirt a bit, just the high spots.Would that cause problems or should I avoid that all together?
I wouldn't even call that pushing. Your word "dispense" is more to the point. When you originally said "push" - I envisioned another novice who thought he could slam the BB backwards into a pile of material and shove it around like an imitation bulldozer. What you describe should be no problem.

//greg// ....


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8x56mn
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2010-03-28          169600


I have a Woods dealer 10 miles from me. I think I will check them out.The dealer that I bought my TYM is 5 miles away and he sells Bush Hog brand I have read that the heavier BB is best as it stays down and doesn't bounce. I think the weight is around 900 lbs. What are your thoghts on that? ....


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hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 3583 iowa
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2010-03-28          169601


Woods has a good reputation, I never had one of their box blades but did have a Woods belly mower on a "B" Farmall once. A good mower, but the "B" was just a bit short on horsepower. ....


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hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002
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2010-03-28          169602


Sorry, I skipped over the part about Bush Hog. Again I never owned a Bush Hog box blade, but have had a couple of their rotary cutters and they were good machines.
If the teeth are a couple inches below the blade you won't have any problem with bouncing. The teeth will dig in and you'll have a load of dirt in seconds. One way I use mine is to pull up a blade or two full then use the loader to push it around rather than pushing backwards, it don't take long to get the hang of it, you'l do just fine. ....


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earthwrks
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 3853 Home Office in Flat Rock, Michigan
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2010-03-28          169606


I have 10 year old KingKutter from TSC (dual cutting edges). It's 6' wide behind a 33HP blue. I tend to push the limits on my equipment and I do use it for dozing-- even moving 1000 lb. slabs or 700 lb. landscaping boulders into small piles when the skid steer isn't around. Having a hydraulic top link makes it handy for pulling things out like small tree stumps and wooden fence posts--I can pull out a cemented-in post as fast as I can drive in reverse. I did much of this for hurricane restoration for a fence company. I did in 20 minutes what a fence contractor told would take his guys 3 hours.

As far as dozing it's great for piling up brush. Again doing hurricane cleanup I was piling and pushing piles several hundred feet that I could not see over--sometimes even whole trees with the box raised.

I also use mine for toting tools, supplies, and fire wood. I drop 3 Rubbermaid totes between the scarifier tooth bar and the back wall of the blade.

IMHO cost trumps quality when it comes a box blade--it wears out--side plates and the cutting edges (which are replaceable but costly). I've got at least 400 hours on the blade and can go another 400. For my commercial needs I would have thrown good money down the drain buying a good or top quality one.

BTW I doubt it's 900 lb. Mine weighs about 400. ....


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auerbach
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 2168 West of Toronto
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2010-05-16          170822


BBs sit way back so if it's 900 lbs empty, your hitch won't lift it when loaded. Even if that's the full weight, you may want a loader or weights in front. ....


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hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 3583 iowa
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2010-05-16          170826


Auer;
Mine is a Land Pride which costs more than a KK but I think it is heavier than EW's but I'm sure not 900 lbs.
We're maybe talking about two different machines. The type Box Blades we have won't carry dirt, when you lift it the dirt stays and the BB comes up. You can pull a load of dirt with the BB sliding it along on the ground but not lift the blade full up and carry it.
I have saw blades like your thinking about but they were pull type not three point. Frank. ....


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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2010-05-17          170862


Quote:
Originally Posted by earthwrks | view 169606
I was watching a vidio or demonstration on how to use a BB. They would dig the dirt up going forward until the box got full and then slowly raise the BB to alow the dirt to disperse evenly and lastly go in reverse to smoth out the dirt a bit, just the high spots.Would that cause problems or should I avoid that all together?
[QUOTE=earthwrks;169606] IMHO cost trumps quality when it comes a box blade--it wears out--side plates and the cutting edges (which are replaceable but costly). I've got at least 400 hours on the blade and can go another 400. For my commercial needs I would have thrown good money down the drain buying a good or top quality one.

BTW I doubt it's 900 lb. Mine weighs about 400. [/QUOTE]

I have no doubt that a decent box blade would weight 900 pounds.

We have a bunch of Rhino HB84 BB's (including one I have at home) and they, with the hydraulic scarifiers, weigh 1,250 pounds according to the manufacturer.

That's about 180 pounds per foot of width, so at that rate a 5' BB would weigh 900 pounds.

As for the whole cost /quality question, I'm the other way around, it's the farmer in me. I was always told it's cheaper to buy a quality product and have it for life than to buy cheap stuff and keep replacing or fixing it.

The side plates are much heavier, and are lined with hard-facing welds so they really don't wear. The cutting edges do wear, but again, they much heavier. In fact the edges Rhino use are standard road grader pieces available anywhere at a pretty reasonable price, and are reversible so you get two kicks at the cat anyways.

IMHO the weight also means you can do in 1 or 2 passes what a lighter blade might take many more to do, this especially true of the scarifier action, weight means penetration.

Best of luck. ....


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auerbach
Join Date: Sep 2007
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2010-05-17          170863


Hardwood, didn't quite get the saw-blade reference, but I was way off indicating a BB can transport its contents while raised. I was thinking of a midmount box that I saw a prototype of. Designed for high-ground-clearance tractors, you could change the down-tilt (to scrape or transport), and keep the contents in or spread or dump. ....


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kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 5275 South Carolina
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2010-05-17          170866


The four who have chimed in here probably have me beet greatly on box blade experience but in the majority of using box blade some forward and much back-wards did not like it as much as a 3 pth blade due to both blades being fixed and the BB weight riding on both edges making it cut slower to begin than a single edge rear blade for cutting dirt. Recently I did some work for a friend using his tractor and box blade and his had a hinged rear blade which flips up when pulling forward and drops down and engages when pushing back-wards. No doubt that adds to the cost but I sure did enjoy using that blade. ....


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earthwrks
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 3853 Home Office in Flat Rock, Michigan
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2010-05-17          170867


According to the KK website:

60" 520 lb
72" 550
84" 580
96" 660

Murf I think your hydraulics contribute to much of the weight difference that most guys here wouldn't encounter. Kenny on the other hand would prolly just use a bunch bungee cords to pull the scarifiers up; to put them back down after much head-scratching he'd grab another doughnut an' some KoolAid and stand on them. Right Kenny? LOL ....


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hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002
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2010-05-17          170874


Auer;
Sorry about the confusing statement.
If I hadn't slept thru english class perhaps I could do better.
I should have said, I have "seen" box blades that could carry the dirt with them but they were pull type machines. Most likely because as you said a three point box blade that could carry a box of dirt would be too heavy. ....


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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
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2010-05-17          170879


Quote:
Originally Posted by earthwrks | view 170867
Murf I think your hydraulics contribute to much of the weight difference that most guys here wouldn't encounter.


I'm not sure about that, I think it's more like the BB they put hydraulics on is just way heavier built.

According to the website the lighter version with manual scarifiers is built with a 4" x 4" x 1/4" main frame, mine has a 5" x 5" x 5/16" main frame. Likewise the end plates on mine are 3/8" plate, on the lighter duty one they're only 5/16" thick.

A 10" cylinder and a pivot mechanism isn't going to add more a ~100 pounds to the overall weight.


Best of luck. ....


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