Box blade recommendations

[Wheelerfreak]

Looking at buying a box blade for my tractor And was looking at Land Pride and Homestead Implements. Homestead has free shipping and 10% .mil discount. Checking Land Pride it will have to be ordered and then the cost of shipping make it more than the Homestead. Tractor Supply in my area doesn’t have any and they said I’d have to go to another location to get one unless I wanted to pay shipping?? I checked CL and found nothing in my area. Are there any other places that are recommended to order one from?

 

[Hooligan]

Everything Attachments looks good, but I have no experience with them.

If you aren’t in a rush, the do seem to pop on CL as all or nothing. So if today is blank, next week will have 10 of them.

 

[Tin Roof]

Check with your local implement dealers too. Sometimes they’ll have some decent prices.

 

[Drummer79]

The shit from Tractor Supply, Agri Supply, etc, is chinese junk and unless you modify it or reinforce it, the first time one of those scarifier teeth hits something decnelty solid, it'll rip it right through that frame. The land pride looks decent, but if you can, go look at anything you pick, and see how well it's built. I've still got that Agri Supply box blade, and still use it, but it's been welded on a lot over the years to make it the implement it currently is.
The homestead one looks great as well. whichever has the thicker walled box tubing that the teeth go through, that's who I'd go with.

 

[rockota]

Why a box blade vs straight blade?

I have both - 4’ John Deere’s generic brand box and a 5’TSC straight. I don’t think I’ve used the box blade since getting the TSC unit. 99% of use is grading the driveway abs neighborhood road - mostly 3/4”- topped with crusher run.

 

[Clb]

Fwiw
a true Box scraper will move more dirt in one pass (if that's your need) but an angle able blade is more useful for edge blading and rolling material across the drive.
What category and width?

 

[Wheelerfreak]

I’m fixing all the ruts and shit that built up all winter on my road and then ordering several yards of base coarse for it. Based on that topic in shit shat here on IBB, a box blade was recommended. I have a straight blade for it now.

I’d been looking on CL for the last month to six weeks and haven’t found shit. Nobody I found within 200 miles of me had one in stock (new) to look at. Due to contract SNAFUs I’ll be off mid April until June and wanted to do all that work then, so I needed to order something ASAP. I ended up going with a 5’ box blade from Homestead, made in USA, free shipping to my place (off the main state road anyway), and they had a .mil discount. Should be here April 14.

 

[45acp]

Why a box blade vs straight blade?

I have both - 4’ John Deere’s generic brand box and a 5’TSC straight. I don’t think I’ve used the box blade since getting the TSC unit. 99% of use is grading the driveway abs neighborhood road - mostly 3/4”- topped with crusher run.

A box is better at grading gravel... BUT it leaves a row pile down each side.

3 of us here keep our road graded because the county sucks. The other 2 guys use boxes, I use a straight blade. When they grade its smooth as glass and gets a great turnover. When I do it I rake all their side rows in and put some crown back on it but I can't get it perfect smooth like they can. Maybe if I did 5 or 6 passes, but I don't have all day to do the governments job.

 

[Clb]

This^^^
crowning the bed is key to stopping (slowing really) the potholes.

 

[rockota]

A box is better at grading gravel... BUT it leaves a row pile down each side.

3 of us here keep our road graded because the county sucks. The other 2 guys use boxes, I use a straight blade. When they grade its smooth as glass and gets a great turnover. When I do it I rake all their side rows in and put some crown back on it but I can't get it perfect smooth like they can. Maybe if I did 5 or 6 passes, but I don't have all day to do the governments job.

definitely *can* be done with a box blade, but to your point, it takes a lot more work.

I'm curious why newer tractors don't have the adjustable (from the seat) angle for the 3pt like that 9/8n+ Fords. Makes using either attachment much easier, especially for crowning roads/drives.

 

[Hooligan]

Thought for road grading a land plane was the thing to have?

 

[rockota]

Thought for road grading a land plane was the thing to have?

I was just going to suggest this. Neighbor has one and it works quite well.

 

[Clb]

Three point adj links (manual and hyd. ) are available for new shite but Corporate chimerica wants ya to buy it separate!
land planes are tough to build crowns with no?

 

[rockota]

Three point adj links are available for new shite but Corporate chimerica wants ya to buy it separate!
land planes are tough to build crowns with no?

Depends on how hard the surface is... with enough weight on the plane and adjusted correctly, it can crown well.

if the surface is compact , might take some work...

 

[Clb]

True ...
Ive not dicked with many.
Homeowner with a land plane sounds spendy!

 

[PAE]

For those in n California lots of of ads in a magazine called "ag source" just look out for an unscrupulous character in Pixley just off 99.

He says one price on the phone and once you drive the miles to get there the price triples.

 

[Hooligan]

For those in n California lots of of ads in a magazine called "ag source" just look out for an unscrupulous character in Pixley just off 99.

He says one price on the phone and once you drive the miles to get there the price triples.

Lot of the smaller gas stations on 99 have this mag/ad.

 

[Drummer79]

A box is better at grading gravel... BUT it leaves a row pile down each side.

3 of us here keep our road graded because the county sucks. The other 2 guys use boxes, I use a straight blade. When they grade its smooth as glass and gets a great turnover. When I do it I rake all their side rows in and put some crown back on it but I can't get it perfect smooth like they can. Maybe if I did 5 or 6 passes, but I don't have all day to do the governments job.

Right, box blades tend to do a better job not rippling than a straight blade. I need to take a picture of it, because it would be easy for any of you fabricators to build, but the company I work for has 3 of these things built in Virginia. Imagine a 3 point hitch, then a 6x6 square tube going back 6 or 7 feet, with two independently rotational straight blades on it, then two guide wheels on the back. You adjust the height with the top link on the 3 point hitch. rear tires keep rear blade about a half inch off the ground, top link adjusts the front blade. It will do more in 1 pass to level something uneven than half a day with a box blade. I'll try to find more info on it and report back.

 

[45acp]

Pics!! This sounds like some shit I could build out of junk laying around... and it appears I'm grading our road forever or at least until we get a new county judge.

 

[aczlan]

Everything Attachments looks good, but I have no experience with them.

If you aren’t in a rush, the do seem to pop on CL as all or nothing. So if today is blank, next week will have 10 of them.

Everything attachments makes good equipment from what I've seen, the only problem is that they are popular enough that they're backed up 9 to 12 weeks from order date to shipping date.
From what one of their reps was saying over on Tractor By Net, they're working on adding a second shift to help move production along faster, but that's obviously taking time.

Aaron Z

 

[Drummer79]

Pics!! This sounds like some shit I could build out of junk laying around... and it appears I'm grading our road forever or at least until we get a new county judge.

If I remember I'll take pics of it tomorrow, I should be stopping by the shop to test fit a windshield on my Harley anyway. In return I need a link to that youtube video of you saying "I don't give a fuck about you" to try to help get one of my college aged crew guys laid . I tried to tell him the story as you told it, but you tell it so much better.

 

[Baconator]

I suppose I run a Box "Professionally", if my motor grader is too big for the job I use my tractor/box scraper, which is what I started on about 20 years ago so I will always have a soft spot for them.
I really like the Gannon boxes, however they are priced well above what a homeowner is willing to spend and they are probably too much box for your average guy. I have run this one for 15 years and have replaced the cutting edge probably a dozen times, and thats it.
At a minimum I would recommend a hydraulic top link, I am constantly adjusting pitch to control cut/fill of the box. I have hydraulic tilt as well, however I dont believe it is mandatory, I ran for a few years without it, just takes more time to get off and adjust things.

View attachment IMG-4029.JPG

 

[Gregj50!!!!!]

Can I add to this.... I’m gonna get a box blade for my
B-2601.... assuming bigger is better I’d like to get a 60”, but they do offer a 48”.... anyone had any experience with a tractor of this caliber dragging a 60” compared to a 48???

 

[72Pstroke]

I spotted this on CL this morning.... 48" box blade.

https://spokane.craigslist.org/hvo/d/orient-box-scraper/7302495461.html

 

[Baconator]

Can I add to this.... I’m gonna get a box blade for my
B-2601.... assuming bigger is better I’d like to get a 60”, but they do offer a 48”.... anyone had any experience with a tractor of this caliber dragging a 60” compared to a 48???

Whats the outside width of your tires? Make it atleast cover the width.

 

[aczlan]

Can I add to this.... I’m gonna get a box blade for my
B-2601.... assuming bigger is better I’d like to get a 60”, but they do offer a 48”.... anyone had any experience with a tractor of this caliber dragging a 60” compared to a 48???

General rule of thumb is five horsepower per foot for most attachments under normal use. It looks like your tractor has 26 horsepower, so you should be good with a 60" box blade. It looks like your wheels are about 60" wide, so that should be about right to cover your tracks.

Aaron Z

 

[Clb]

Bigger also equates to less ground force\power...
luv ny lil gannon

 

[Drummer79]

(Untitled)

Pics!! This sounds like some shit I could build out of junk laying around... and it appears I'm grading our road forever or at least until we get a new county judge.

Here you go. This is the next best thing to a motor grader as far as I'm concerned. Does beautiful work in half the time of a box blade, especially on road grading.

 

[45acp]

Awesome. I'm guessing the blades have pins and alignment holes? So you can set some angle or run 90 degrees?

Are both blades even with the ground when lowered to "grading" height? With the wheels it looks like the front blade would do most of the work the deeper you have it set to cut.

 

[Drummer79]

Awesome. I'm guessing the blades have pins and alignment holes? So you can set some angle or run 90 degrees?

Are both blades even with the ground when lowered to "grading" height? With the wheels it looks like the front blade would do most of the work the deeper you have it set to cut.

Yes, both blades have alignment holes and pins front and back to double the security of it if you hit something solid. There are two different degrees to each side you can set it to, or just set one angled and leave the other straight, etc..
The way it works is that you hook it to the tractor, and adjust the guide wheels height at the back to the rear blade is about a half inch off the ground. The height of the front blade is set by turning the top link turnbuckle on the 3 point hitch so that it's also about a half inch to an inch off the ground, depending on how rough of a surface you're starting with. Then basically drop the lift and ride, and it will make an idiot look like a pretty damn good grader in no time. In rougher ground I set the front blade higher and run over it a few times, then adjust the turnbuckle down a little to get it even finer.
Yes, the front blade does most of the work, when cutting heavy dirt or rock spills over the front blade and the rear blade since it's slightly off the ground disperses it. The front replaceable cutting edge wears out several times faster than the rear one.
The man who builds these things engineered the shit out of it, that center mount on top, if you stick a clevis in it to lift it, perfectly balanced. We discovered these things 15 years ago or so, while doing work with a landscaper. he had one and we asked about it, he took off in one pass across a lot we'd just ripped stumps from and it was unlevel as shit, did a couple loops over it all and it was basically done, so we bought one. Now we have 3 of them, one for each different sized tractor we use.
Griffin Manufacturing Company in Suffolk, Virginia builds them.
The one in this picture has the extra tabs welded lower for our quick hitch system on that tractor. He's never set them up to run with quick hitches, he wasn't sure it would work, but we welded those tabs on and it works just like it's supposed to, just adjust the top link as i said.