This Box Blade Had a Bad Day!

[xzcVAbc5]

I just bought a box blade off of good old Craigslist. It's a 5ft King Kutter (standard duty). The owner said he used it about 4 times. He was blading and caught a root. He admitted that he had it on too big of a tractor. As you can see it is a fixer-upper.

The damage:
1) Flat iron bent on back of 3PH
2) One of the bottom points is bent and will need replaced
3) The piece of iron holding the bottom connector is slightly bent.


I dropped it off at the welding shop this afternoon and told them what I wanted changed. I'm going to turn it into a pseudo-"professional" grade King Kutter box blade. The main upgrade is putting a box channel with gusset between the 3PH and the back of the box instead of flat iron that is bolted on. I also asked them to weld the 3PH at the two lower points. Someday I may gusset the corners of the box and other areas, but all I need to do is grade some rock.

Here is the pictures from KK's website for what a professional series box blade looks like (the red box and arrow I added to show the welding shop):


Stay subscribed. I'll post pictures of the final result which I'm hoping is tomorrow or Monday.

 

[Arc weld]

You could replace the bent flat bar that holds the top mount with angle iron. Had a Cultivator do the same thing and and fixed it with some 2"x3"x 1/4" angle iron. Doesn't look like a major repair. While it's there, you should get them to weld some 3/8" flat on the bottom of the side plates(inside) so it doesn't wear away so fast. That's what my Woods box blade has.

 

[juiced10]

I bought the same POS and the second time I used it I caught a root and it literally ripped the center ripper out of the 4x4 box steel. Oops.

 

[xzcVAbc5]

I bought the same POS and the second time I used it I caught a root and it literally ripped the center ripper out of the 4x4 box steel. Oops.

Orscheln Farm and Home sells a lot of them. That's where this one came from. When I'm looking to grade something other than driveways I may end up upgrading.

 

[94BULLITT]

Get them to make it a clevis style hookup. It will make it a lot stronger. Here is one I saw on craigslist a while back, listed as good condition.

 

[xzcVAbc5]

Get them to make it a clevis style hookup. It will make it a lot stronger. Here is one I saw on craigslist a while back, listed as good condition.

Too late. I just picked it up. I agree on the clevis style hook up though. Also the idea of adding the extra steel at the bottom was great by ArcWeld above.

The welds look great and everything looks like it was done well. I'll post some pictures tomorrow when I get it unloaded.

 

[Redbug]

I have one of those box blades. If I would have known better back then, I would have spent more money and got a better one. Anyways...here's my fix to mine. I added extra plate under where the pin is. That piece of metal was bending so I had to give it more support.

 

[xzcVAbc5]

Here is the final product. I was a little nervous putting in the middle ripper. As you can see it barely clears. The rippers were in the back of my truck when this blade was getting rebuilt so its just an accident that the ripper fits. I thought they were going to put the tube in closer to the top. In the background of one of the pictures is the JD 2440 that is going to be pulling around for a while until I get my own rig. It worked pretty nice in my parents' driveway, but I'm going to wait until I get the two bottom pins get changed to the right size (cat 2) before I do too much more work with it.

Enjoy!

 

[kebo]

Looks good!! All it needs is some yellow paint, and hook it up and go play in the rocks!

 

[joshuabardwell]

The welding shop looks like they did a good job! Do be careful using that box blade on a Cat 2 tractor. It's just not designed to take the kind of forces that a Cat-2 tractor can put out, as the previous owner learned. By reinforcing some parts of a smaller box blade, you usually just move the failure point somewhere else, so don't count on your reinforcements to make the blade Cat-2-ready.

 

[Coyote machine]

What was just stated in post above this. It's still a cat 1 blade.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

We had to beef up a Howse box blade but converted it to category 2. All one has to do is to run two more pieces of steel to the back of the box.

 

[Redbug]

That gives me some more ideas for my BB.

 

[Glocker]

Looks like a first class repair to me !

 

[Renze]

Here is the pictures from KK's website for what a professional series box blade looks like (the red box and arrow I added to show the welding shop):
View attachment 325041View attachment 325042

You wouldnt be happy if i borrowed that professional series BB to push up some trees along the fenceline with it either... only homemade equipment lasts here

 

[xzcVAbc5]

Thanks for the comments. This will mostly be a rock spreader/driveway maintainer until I get my own tractor.

As far as the welding goes the shop I took it to is 'Argabright Welding' in Sabetha, KS. The welds look about 5x better than the factory welds on this blade.

 

[xzcVAbc5]

I have one of those box blades. If I would have known better back then, I would have spent more money and got a better one. Anyways...here's my fix to mine. I added extra plate under where the pin is. That piece of metal was bending so I had to give it more support.

What would you consider the best built box blade in the Cat1 world? I looked at a couple new ones at the big box tractor stores and the KK seemed about the same quality and price. I did not go to any implement dealers.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Bushhog BB comes in different grades/weights and not that much more I found by shopping hard. Dealers that wanted list price are over the top.

 

[Coyote machine]

Thanks for the comments. This will mostly be a rock spreader/driveway maintainer until I get my own tractor.

As far as the welding goes the shop I took it to is 'Argabright Welding' in Sabetha, KS. The welds look about 5x better than the factory welds on this blade.

Yes those welds look excellent. Probably stronger than the metal the box is made from. So, maybe if you're careful, you can hitch it to your cat2 tractor and not beat the snot out of it?!:confused3:

 

[xzcVAbc5]

Yes those welds look excellent. Probably stronger than the metal the box is made from. So, maybe if you're careful, you can hitch it to your cat2 tractor and not beat the snot out of it?!:confused3:

The first real work for it is coming up on Thursday, July 4th (if it isn't rainy). I have to do some gravel parking lot fixes where the water pools up and make it drain. Then it's back to my house where the alley and parking are going to get leveled out and ready for a load of rock.

Someday (assuming I don't kill this blade) I imagine it going behind a 30HP or so diesel tractor with a FEL. I just need to let life play out for a while before I spend the money.

Probably more pictures to follow later in the week.