Go BottomWhat does a box blade do
 | Don M
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 120 myLocation 
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2001-04-06 26399
I know what a box blade is, but I don't know exactly what it does. I assumed it is used for leveling loose dirt. But I looked at one and saw teeth to do what? And someone posted he uses it on his gravel driveway. I have used a regular blade on that, and it's hard to actually churn any gravel up sometimes (from packed roadmix). Is a box blade better for that?Thanks, Don M
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| Bird Senter
Join Date: Jun 1999 Posts: 962 
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2001-04-06 26403
Don, most box blades (all the ones I'm familiar with) have "scarifiers" or "ripper teeth", usually spaced about one foot apart. They can be removed when not needed, or raised so they don't touch the ground, or lowered to at least one or two settings so they dig into the ground before the blade the back of the box. For spreading or leveling loose dirt or gravel, you don't use them, but if you have hard packed dirt, gravel drive, etc. you can lower those teeth and tear it up. You adjust the tilt of the blade, front to rear, by lengthening or shortening your top link; shorten it to make it bite in or dig more. A hydraulic top link greatly increases the speed with which you can work. You can tilt the blade forward, dig in and drag dirt and/or gravel, then tilt is back as you go to let it feed out in front of the front blade and be smoothed with the back blade. ....
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| JonB
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2001-04-06 26411
Don, Bird's description is good. The box is a multi-purpose implement that will do the job of many different ones. I use one to spread and level a gravel road & parking area, scarifiers to rip ground too tough for the blade to simply level, then use the blade to level. It was real helpful in removing mounds of dirt in my orchard, leveling the dirt into low areas. The blade can cut forward or backward, or used to press the dirt down (with the blade up and sliding over the dirt). I'll be using it in a few weeks to help level and settle the ground over new irrigation lines (of course I'll be using the loader too for this). It can cut a road or clean one up. I've used the scarifiers to begin breaking up ground to start a new garden (when the ground was too tough for a middle buster or furrow). It's also good ballast. Best of luck. JonB ....
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley 
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2001-04-07 26417
Just adding to the other good comments. The box (or a blade with end-plates) carries material cut by the blade or scarifiers in front of the blade. With an ordinary blade, cut material comes off the blade ends. With a box, material can be cut from one place, dragged to another and spread or dumped. With a hydraulic top-link, cut, drag and spread operations can be done on the fly. The 3ph hitch side-levelers allow me to cut shallow ditches, crown drives and cut level pads into side-hills. The rear cutter can be used as a 'poor-man's' dozer to backfill trenches and cut new grades.
As mentioned, compared to a blade, the scarifiers help cut hard ground or sod. However, the extra weight of a box also helps cut hard ground, although extra weight can be put on top of a blade. Of course, good blades with all the adjustments do have advantages over a box as well. To me, both are a big improvement over grading with a loader bucket, which is something I never got the hang of. I’ll also add that a box has a price advantage. A decent box is not expensive, but a good blade can be pricey. My notion is that a decent box is more useful than an inexpensive blade.
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| FarmerWannabe
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2001-04-20 26971
I was thinking about buying one myself. The store quoted me a price of $500 for a 4ft for my Kubota 7200. Is this a good price?
I want to use it to break up the hard pack in my horse pasture (among other things). Will it work for this purpose? I've looked at aerators and drags but think the box blade looks like the best all-purpose implement. Am I expecting too much? Thanks for any input. ....
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| JonB
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2001-04-21 27031
$500 for a box could be a fair price depending on quality. What brand box is he offering? ....
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2001-04-21 27043
Using the scarifiers to loosen hard ground so the blade cuts better is a main advantage of boxes. However, you would have to ride the 3ph to keep the blade up so it wouldn't cut and pick up material. Something like a middle-buster wouldn't have that problem. However, a middle-buster only busts, and a box is sort of a 'swiss-army knife' of an implement. I used mine yesterday to take up some sod to prepare a garden plot. I held the blade off the sod, and cut it with the scarifiers in overlapping passes--first one direction and then the other. Then, I tilted the box down so it rode mostly on the rear cutter. Floating the 3ph and dragging the box across the cut sod did a pretty good job of pulling it up and dragging it to the side. After beating up on the sod chunks with the bucket blade for awhile, I spread the material back across the plot. Then, I ran a walk-behind tiller to pulverize the sod--and ran it and ran it. I think I need to get garden ideas that are big enough to justify a 3ph tiller. Did a pretty good job though. All the topsoil is still in the garden, I didn't pull up any subsoil, and the sod serves as green fertilizer. But now, there’s a second garden to put in. If we had both gardens on the same property, then I could get a 3ph tiller. ....
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| FarmerWannabe
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2001-06-04 28945
I am debating between a box blade, which sounds great, and a landscape rake. I have a horse pasture that is very well packed with rocks, weeds and some grass. I want something to break up the soil so that water and fertilizer and seed can get into the ground. I have a 17hp Kubota and don't want to spend a fortune for only 3-4 acres.
Please give me your opinion on the best implement. Thanks.
(I would consider other options than the two I listed above) ....
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| JeffM
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2001-06-04 28948
FarmerWannabe, I think the scarifiers on a small box blade (4 foot) would probably work better for you in this pasture than a landscape rake. Other possibilities are a subsoiler or a pasture renovator. These last two are made by Monroe Tufline, as well as other manufacturers I'm sure. See link below. ....
Link:
Click Here
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| jay vander plaat
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2001-06-04 28955
HEY FARMERWANNABE, USE THE BOX SCRAPPER. ITS SAFFER THAN RAKE. IF YOUR PASTURE IS PACKED WITH ROCKS YOU DON'T WANT TO FIND OUT HOW DANGEROUS YOUR RAKE IS. THE TINES WILL BREAK OFF AND WHEN THEY DO WATCH OUT. LAST WEEK I LOST 4 OF THEM DONING WHAT YOUR YOUR THINKING OF. DIDN'T MEAN MUCH UNTILL ONE WENT PAST ME AND LANDED INFRONT OF THE TRACTOR. MY RAKE IS IN RETIREMENT. KNOW I ONLY USE IT FOR LOOSE GRAVE IN THE DRIVE.
JAY ....
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