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auerbach
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 2168 West of Toronto
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2012-10-21          185245


I'm shopping for a box blade to move and level topsoil, using a 22HP 4WD diesel c FEL. Hitch lifts 600 lbs.

1. Any features I should look for?

2. Best width?

3. Is there one with a mechanism to block the fall-through during transport, so you can back into or plonk on top of a topsoil pile, and pick up a load to move it to where it goes?

Thanks!




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kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 5275 South Carolina
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2012-10-22          185250


I have a front end loader style bucket for three point hitch with hyd cyl for top link that works well for me to move dirt. No front end loader.

But to you question, my only suggestion on the box blade is I would want it the full width of the outside of the rear tires. Other wise think you will find it difficult to level with it.

You may wish to consider a three point hitch bucket if you are moving dirt. Link below. ....


Link:   scoop bucket

 

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hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 3583 iowa
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2012-10-22          185252



After the front end loader my box blade is probably my most used impliment.
Like KT said keep it a bit maybe six inches wider than the outside of the rear tires.
The scarifier teeth are what makes a box blade move so much dirt, they rip it loose then the "Box" carries the soil along with it.
There are models with a hydraulic lift on the teeth to keep you on the seat instead of manually adjusting the tooth depth. Mine doesn't have the hydraulic attachment, and no more than I've ever changed the depth of the teeth I'd have a hard tome spending much on that attachment.
They also have guage wheel attachments to help keep a desird depth of cutting or sprerading, I don't have that either. With a little practice I'd again have a hard time spending much on guage wheels. After a while you hardly look back, the load on the engine tells you how deep you are cutting.
I'm sure it isn't a recommended practice but when an ice storm comes along I turn the scarifier teeth backward so they don't catch on something and pull it around on the ice, that tears it up pretty good.
There are pull type box blades that have a bottom pan for carrying dirt to another location, they are mainly meant for bigger tractors. I rented one once and pulled it with a 100 HP tractor, it worked good, but if you have a lot of dirt to move a good distance it can be pretty slow.
They have farm size scrapers now that a good sized farm tractor, (150+ HP), can pull, they can move dirt a lot faster than than a pull type box scraper.

Frank. ....


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greg_g
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1816 Western Kentucky
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2012-10-22          185253


1. Not too many options on a BB. There are models with a hinged rear plate, but it doesn't sound like you have a use for that.
2. You've only got 22 hp, don't over-buy. Measure your outside wheelwidth, and get a BB that's equal. Going more than an inch or so outside your tire width will likely take more of a bite than your tractor can handle.
3. Don't think you'll find one small enough. But as already suggested, you might take a look at a pond scoop instead. Click on the Picture Link below.

//greg// ....

Picture Link


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auerbach
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 2168 West of Toronto
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2012-10-23          185264


Thanks, guys. Never used one, and every dealer assures me that the one on his lot is the perfect one for me. Won't be lowering hills, just filling valleys from delivered topsoil. Greg,

1. What does a rear hinged plate do?
2. If it's wider than my track and the soil's too hard for dig-down traction, aren't they easy to depth-adjust by turning the top-link and/or raising the hitch arms?
3. Thanks for such an eclectic set of pictures. Curious about where they're from. ....


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hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 3583 iowa
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2012-10-23          185265


Auer;
I really can't tell you what a hinged rear plate is or does. What ever it is I seem to get along fine without it.
So far as working really hard ground, yes it is easy with the top link of the three point or adjusting the scarifiers up will lighten nthe load. You don't need to worry about not knowing if you are deep enough, the blade will stop you when it goes too deep.
Ok, now just as a comparison, my Deere 4310 has aboput 35 HP. compared to your 22 HP. With that said my box blade is six ft. wide with scarifier teeth. I wouldn't want any bigger one, the six footer is about all the baby deere wants, but it isn't overwhelmed. So with that said it comes up to five HP per scarifier tooth, so it calculates out to five HP. per tooth so your 22 HP. shpuld handle a four footer with four teeth if there is such a thing.

Frank. ....


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kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 5275 South Carolina
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2012-10-23          185266


Yes you can easy adjust the cutting with third arm and lift. The rear blade that flips up is to make it easier for cutting when going forward as the rear blade is now clear of the dirt and allows the front blade to cut into the dirt easier.

The dirt scoops come in 24 inchs in not badly mistaken and don't think you would have any issue with that or 30 inch one again using the lift and third arm for depth and angle of cut.

No idea ther but scoops use to be popular her and you can find used ones from time to time. They are made to trip from the seat and resetting. ....


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hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 3583 iowa
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2012-10-23          185269


I may be mistakn, but I think what you guys call a dirt scoop we called a tumble Bug.
I probably wasn't old enough to even be driving a tractor at the time but I remember driving an H Farmall pulling the scraper with a long chain attatched to this Tumble bug. My Uncle was digging a basement for a house in sort of a sidehill. I would pull the scraper forward with my Uncle hanging onto the two handles of this scraper, then when it was full and outside of where the basement was to be he tipped it over forward to dump it, then he dragged it back whle I backed the H up.
I have driven past the house for which we dug the basement in later years and the house is still there. It looks like the soil we were digging was pretty sandy which would have dug easier than black dirt or clay, but still pretty close to slave labor that my uncle was doing, plus he was trusting me at probably seven or eight years old not to back over him. I thought about it after I drove past that how he would have enjoyed using my Baby Deere with the box scraper to do what we did.

Frank. ....


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taogden
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 81 United States
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2012-10-23          185274


Auerbach, you have the best thing for moving dirt, the FEL, the box blade will just help you make it level. A box blade will have ripper teeth (4), a front blade and a blade to push with on the back side of the box. For your tractor, I would suggest a 4 foot blade, like my Kabota 2320, 23 HP and 4 wheel drive, a full box is about all it will pull, and the 4 teeth in the ground.
The other thing you were talking about sounds like a tumble bug, the was a device which started life behind a horse, then adapted to tractor use. It was pulled along scooping dirt, when full, pull the lever to lift the edge to stop cutting, when you got it where you wanted, the lever was pulled again and the box rolled over dumping the contents. A tumble bug was only about 30 to 36" wide and held maybe 6 cu ft for the one I used. When I used it it was attached to a Ford 8N, wish I could have had a try with a team of horses. The attached link is for a site which has a tumble bug and a pan scraper pictured. ....


Link:   Tumble Bug Scraper

 
Picture Link


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greg_g
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1816 Western Kentucky
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2012-10-23          185275


1. Hinged BBs permit you to scrape and spread at the same time. See picture link below. Another feature is that you can dig deeper, almost to the point of trenching. Of course, that feature is horsepower and traction limited.
2. I'm assuming your tractor has no depth control, not many below 35hp do. That said, a BB won't dig in hardpan unless the scarifiers are pinned lower than ground level. Shortening the toplink causes them to dig more aggressively, lengthening the toplink causes them to lift.
3. Search engine (Bing)

//greg// ....

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auerbach
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 2168 West of Toronto
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2012-10-24          185279


Thanks again, guys. I think now I know what I need to. At least about boxblades.

Greg, thanks again for the new set of photos. I didn't know about Bing. What is it, if I may ask, that you do? ....


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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2012-10-24          185290


Bing is the Microsoft search engine, if you believe the commercials it's Google, but with a suit & tie instead of a t-shirt.


Best of luck. ....


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greg_g
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1816 Western Kentucky
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2012-10-24          185291


Quote:
Originally Posted by auerbach | view 185279
Greg, thanks again for the new set of photos. I didn't know about Bing. What is it, if I may ask, that you do?
I used to use Google, but quit them because of privacy issues. Bing is now my search engine of choice. I was in the Navy for 20 years, retired, started up a sheep ranch, sold lamb chops for 22 years, sold out, retired again. Now it's just odd jobs around the property to keep the waistline down and my butt off a barstool.

//greg// ....


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kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 5275 South Carolina
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2012-10-25          185298


On Goggle, a friend who is in website business said they have changed their search to bring up advertisers first in any search and are slowly losing market share. Guess with what they have share wise they can loose some and make it. LOL ....


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auerbach
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 2168 West of Toronto
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2012-10-25          185300


Thanks; somehow I took you for something like a retired English professor. But sailor-turned-shepherd? That's one of the rare and elemental career-paths that would have been understood 5,000 years ago. ....


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greg_g
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1816 Western Kentucky
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2012-10-25          185306


Actually, I have degrees in American Lit and Secondary Education. I was planning to become a teacher, but lost my draft deferment when I graduated. Given that my draft number was six, I decided to enlist in the Navy before the Army caught up with me. Turns out I conformed well to military life, so I stuck with it.

//greg// ....


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kthompson
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 5275 South Carolina
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2012-10-25          185307


We have a 17 year old niece who is considering the Navy. Her reasons make good sense as long as she has correct information which I wonder for think she has yet to get information direct from the Navy. ....


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auerbach
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 2168 West of Toronto
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2012-10-27          185320


Ken, when I googled WOMEN IN THE US NAVY pages came up. She'd join 52,000 other happy campers (as long, apparently, as she doesn't want to become a SEAL).

Not that I'd ordinarily google women or anything like that. ....


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kthompson
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2012-10-27          185322


auerbach, that is funny. ....


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auerbach
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 2168 West of Toronto
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2012-11-10          185439


Now that I know what to look for, when the right BB comes up, I'll grab it. Meanwhle, I'll fabricate a pair of "wings" and bolt one onto each end of my rear blade, so when I pull material along it won't so much spill out the ends.

I've got a good weight on the blade (no power-down) and a modified pivot so I can turn and lock it a couple holes more than the 45-degree max it came with. And with one of my vertical hitch-arms fitted with a turn-screw I can change the L/R up/dn on the fly. I'll let you know how it works.

....


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