Rear Blade Why doesn't my rear blade cut?

[dcyrilc]

I have a used JD 65 (8ft) rear blade which I have only tried to use a couple of times in the few months I've had it. As I have been reading various threads, I have seen rear blades which will roll a full blade of material while being used. Mine pretty much just slides over the surface taking any small humps off and has never got more than three to four inches of material built up in front of the blade.

Here are my questions:
1) How much does a JD 65 blade weigh and how much does weight affect the ability of the blade to cut?

2) My cutting edge is rusty from sitting outside before I got it. Can the cutting edge become dull from this? Would it be advisable to replace the cutting edge with a new one?

3) The few times I have used the blade, I have had it in what I would consider a neutral position (the mounting arm between the 3PH and the blade level). Should I need to extend the top link and roll the blade back increasing the angle of attack on the blade for it to cut well? Would that be considered normal?

TIA for any feedback.

 

[jenkinsph]

Adjusting the top link will make a big difference, depending on the angle of set you can pull material back in a trench without much damage to grass or put some set in the blade and cut deeper.

FYI I think the Deere 65 blade has a reverseable cutting edge, if you bought this used and the blade is worn enough you should be able to turn it around and have a new surface. Check to see if the top edge is worn too before doing this.

 

[nspec]

Adjust the top link. Shorten link to roll blade forward and take a bigger bite. Lengthen top link to roll blade back and take less of a bite. In otherwords, the shorter the top link, the more aggressive the cut. Longer the top link, less aggressive the cut. You'll see a big difference.

 

[MMagis]

Adjust the top link. Shorten link to roll blade forward and take a bigger bite. Lengthen top link to roll blade back and take less of a bite. In otherwords, the shorter the top link, the more aggressive the cut. Longer the top link, less aggressive the cut. You'll see a big difference.

You sure about that? Mine is the opposite unless I have the blade tured backwards.

 

[dex3361]

You sure about that? Mine is the opposite unless I have the blade tured backwards.

I have to agree with you. If I make my top link longer it angle the blade back and plows it into the ground. If I make the link shorter it allows the blade to smooth the area with less cutting.

 

[KWentling]

Lengthening the top link will make it more aggressive. The more you angle the blade the more material you can move. Once you get the blade to scour it will work better and you can angle it less and still move material. You may need to take a shovel and clean the dirt off the blade several times until it cleans itself. I doubt you're cutting edge is causing a problem. I been maintaining about 3/4 miles of gravel road with mine for 9 years and it has very little wear. They actually sharpen themselves. You just want to change them before you start wearing into the moldboard. Some blades have adjustable shoes to limit the cut or to hold the blade up for clearing snow off gravel or rock. If you have those make sure thats not limiting the cut.

Kim

 

[kennyd]

You sure about that? Mine is the opposite unless I have the blade tured backwards.

I have to agree with you. If I make my top link longer it angle the blade back and plows it into the ground. If I make the link shorter it allows the blade to smooth the area with less cutting.

You guys are correct, nspec got it backwards...

 

[gordyy]

nspec might just have a box blade yout shorten the link to make a BB more aggresive and lenthen to make it less aggresive

 

[sweettractors]

Some extra added weight to the blade will do wonders. Also. as mentioned above, reversing the cutting blade could be a step in the right direction. Ken Sweet

 

[nspec]

My bad guys. You'all are right - I had it backwards. That's what happens when you sit at your desk and write about your tractor!

 

[/pine]

Does shortening the toplink not cause the boxblade to roll forward? lowering the scarifiers?

 

[kennyd]

My bad guys. You'all are right - I had it backwards. That's what happens when you sit at your desk and write about your tractor!

:laughing::laughing: We are all guilty of that sometimes:thumbsup:

 

[dcyrilc]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll see if I can get a good look at the cutting edge this weekend and post some pics. As I had it set up last time I had it on the tractor, the only cutting it did was to scrape the center hump off the drive. Didn't do anything after the hump was removed.

 

[czechsonofagun]

Cyril:

I use blade I borrowed from a friend - he uses box blade and this just came with his first tractor as a bonus.
Anyway as part of the deal I replaced all the fasteners, most of them were loose and the whole blade was very rickety. I took it apart, new plow bolts etc and also flipped the cutting edge upside down since the top seemed in better shape. It made huge difference, I actually had to relearn how to use since the change.

 

[Chilly807]

Extra weight will help a lot, if the blade will stand the added load. It sounds like you're trying the same job I did last weekend, re-grading my driveway.

The hard-packed gravel and stone surface just bounced the blade along for the most part, the center ridge did get chewed down though.

Some serious weight and a rigid blade will do the job. Road graders have scarifiers for the same reason, they concentrate the weight of the machine on a very small area, thus getting penetration of hard surfaces. A box blade will do a better job IMO, I don't have one either.. yet.

I believe the average rear blade is better suited to leveling loose material, snow removal, or removing high spots.

Chilly

 

[dcyrilc]

Extra weight will help a lot, if the blade will stand the added load. It sounds like you're trying the same job I did last weekend, re-grading my driveway.

The hard-packed gravel and stone surface just bounced the blade along for the most part, the center ridge did get chewed down though.

Some serious weight and a rigid blade will do the job. Road graders have scarifiers for the same reason, they concentrate the weight of the machine on a very small area, thus getting penetration of hard surfaces. A box blade will do a better job IMO, I don't have one either.. yet.

I believe the average rear blade is better suited to leveling loose material, snow removal, or removing high spots.

Chilly

The main area I wanted to attack, was where I had a dump truck tailgate spread 10 yards last year. I discovered that I'm not 20 any more and said scr*w this and put the shovel away last year. I regraded that area Saturday with the front bucket in two passes. The rear blade just slid across the top of it when I tried last month, yet it was still soft enough to dig with a square point shovel.

I figured I'ld better post and figure out what I'm doing wrong after looking at pix in another thread and seeing Mtnviewranch post this picture.

 

[Chilly807]

That Woods rear blade, which has hydraulic blade tilt, offset, and angle, weighs in at a whopping 1100 lbs plus. I'd dig too if I weighed that much...

Chilly

 

[dcyrilc]

That Woods rear blade, which has hydraulic blade tilt, offset, and angle, weighs in at a whopping 1100 lbs plus. I'd dig too if I weighed that much...

Chilly

I'm not sure what my old JD 65 blade weighs, but I'm guessing around 500#. It's built solid so maybe I'll see if I can figure out a way to add about 500# to it and get it up around 1K# and try again. LOL

 

[dangerdoc]

I have a used JD 65 (8ft) rear blade which I have only tried to use a couple of times in the few months I've had it. As I have been reading various threads, I have seen rear blades which will roll a full blade of material while being used. Mine pretty much just slides over the surface taking any small humps off and has never got more than three to four inches of material built up in front of the blade.

Here are my questions:
1) How much does a JD 65 blade weigh and how much does weight affect the ability of the blade to cut?

2) My cutting edge is rusty from sitting outside before I got it. Can the cutting edge become dull from this? Would it be advisable to replace the cutting edge with a new one?

3) The few times I have used the blade, I have had it in what I would consider a neutral position (the mounting arm between the 3PH and the blade level). Should I need to extend the top link and roll the blade back increasing the angle of attack on the blade for it to cut well? Would that be considered normal?

TIA for any feedback.

Since questions 1 and 3 have been discussed, I'll take a shot at #2. I haven't noticed much difference as I've used my blade but most have a reversible cutting edge. Flipping it over should give you a fresh cutting edge.

 

[jenkinsph]

dcyrilc,

I have a Deere 45 7' blade which is very similar to yours. I don't have high expectations as to what it can do but I have used it with topntilt to cut ditches and move material towards the center to crown the driveways. It really depends on how much use you have for the various implements but doing enough work having a grader/landplane and a boxblade to augument the rearblade helps alot.