Rear Blade Adjustment Preferences

[bgr]

npalen suggesion of gauge wheels and top link cylinder is right on. Very good control. Put the 3ph lever in float or all the way down and set the height with the hydraulic top link.
Blade does not bounce if tractor nods and all bumps are cut in half.

 

[npalen]

npalen suggesion of gauge wheels and top link cylinder is right on. Very good control. Put the 3ph lever in float or all the way down and set the height with the hydraulic top link.
Blade does not bounce if tractor nods and all bumps are cut in half.

Yes, even if the tractor front or rears goes over a bump or in a low spot, the gauge wheels maintain the level grade since the 3PH is floating.

 

[Buppies]

Great points thanks for sharing

 

[IndyIan]

I borrowed on old 7 foot blade that only angled, it was pretty light but worked well scraping the footing in the arena. So then I bought a Woods 7 footer last week and find it too heavy for my uses. Not only does it feel really heavy when transporting (manual says it’s 565lbs), it digs in too much in the material I’m moving. I have to adjust the level constantly, can’t let it float like I could with the lighter blade. Also, the lower lift points are really high so I had to adjust my lift links and it still scrapes on inclines. This blade would be great in harder material, but my uses are loose material and light snow so I’m going to get a lighter one. Live and learn.

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Maybe try rounding off the cutting edge a little with a angle grinder? Or just run it backwards?
For just a general smoothing in an area like that, back dragging with the loader is good and just adjust the bucket angle to suit, or an atv dragging square of chain link fence with a fence post or two on top.
I also find running a boxblade backwards with the tilt adjusted with my hyd toplink is very good for smoothing out loose gravel without moving too much of it.

 

[rScotty]

I'm always surprised that a set of gauge wheels and end caps aren't more popular. Without them, pulling a blade with the edge set to cut is a gamble on rough ground. Maybe most of us get a better surface back dragging with the FEL bucket.

But with a couple of adjustable & pivoting gauge wheels plus at least one end cap any just about any blade suddenly becomes a more useful tool - able to cut, level, and spread consistently.

I wonder why end caps and gauge wheels are hardly ever mentioned in threads about back blades? You hardly ever see them in homeowner use unless the surface is real important like for corral or arena smoothing. They sure make a blade work better.

Just wondering,
rScotty

 

[npalen]

I'm always surprised that a set of gauge wheels and end caps aren't more popular. Without them, pulling a blade with the edge set to cut is a gamble on rough ground. Maybe most of us get a better surface back dragging with the FEL bucket.

But with a couple of adjustable & pivoting gauge wheels plus at least one end cap any just about any blade suddenly becomes a more useful tool - able to cut, level, and spread consistently.

I wonder why end caps and gauge wheels are hardly ever mentioned in threads about back blades? You hardly ever see them in homeowner use unless the surface is real important like for corral or arena smoothing. They sure make a blade work better.

Just wondering,
rScotty

That may be the case because putting end caps and gauge wheels on an angle blade basically makes it a box blade sans ripper shanks. I do see some advantages with gauge wheels in particular on an angle blade, however, such as the ability to move material sideways if the end caps are removable or retractable. I don't know about the leveling ability of the gauged angle blade verses the box blade, though, as the distance between the leading and trailing ends of the angled blade in the direction of travel may have some affect. I'm guessing that it works fine.

 

[IndyIan]

I'm always surprised that a set of gauge wheels and end caps aren't more popular. Without them, pulling a blade with the edge set to cut is a gamble on rough ground. Maybe most of us get a better surface back dragging with the FEL bucket.

But with a couple of adjustable & pivoting gauge wheels plus at least one end cap any just about any blade suddenly becomes a more useful tool - able to cut, level, and spread consistently.

I wonder why end caps and gauge wheels are hardly ever mentioned in threads about back blades? You hardly ever see them in homeowner use unless the surface is real important like for corral or arena smoothing. They sure make a blade work better.

Just wondering,
rScotty

I am impressed with all the back blade setups and options shown here, I didn't know that some of that stuff was available.
I think for a rear blade to be a really useful road tool its got to be attached to a pretty big tractor, cat 2 3pt and 7-8k lbs+? And a good back blade seems to be expensive, a bit complex, and needs 2 or 3 dedicated remotes. And you need a road to maintain to make it all worthwhile.

I should borrow my buddies 7' HD back blade sometime and see what I can do with it, (although I think its cat 2 3pt), my 7' light duty isn't really for moving more than loose dirt, I have ditched with it but its a big rock away from bent, but its great for the amount of snow we get here.
For $1k I found a well used 7' 1000lb+ box blade that's simple, unbreakable with my tractor, and works for well enough on my hilly 1/4 mile driveway as I don't have 6" of grade A on it to smoothly grade from one end to the other. Also with just a hyd top link its pretty handy. Someday I'll add a hydraulic side link, so I am spinning the side link a few times an hour for some jobs. It also pretty tight to the back of the tractor so there's less leverage when a corner snags a stump or rock, and you can move dirt both ways.
If I had a CK30 I think a 5 or 6' HD box blade would do the same jobs as well just with smaller bites.

 

[BRCOL]

I have a New Holland T1110 which is a 29hp rated model with turf tires, MMM, and FEL. I don't have any weight on the tractor itself and use a Woods RBS72p blade. It has the bolts as you originally mentioned for "tilt" as well as side to side adjustment. It covers my wheel tracks when angled, so i've never offset it. I have found that if moving dirt, I mean HEAVY black dirt, here in Iowa, that I cant cause the blade to come out of level if the dirt was unusually hard on one side and not the other. 99% of my work is moving gravel in the driveway which is most flat, so its not an issue for me. I've spread roughly 28t of rock in my driveway this summer with the FEL and the rear blade, and have learned how to make it work well for me. I'm sure a Hyd. top mount and side swing would be wonderful, but the little NH doesn't have a rear remote, so I'm not missing it per say. The mounted blade can dig in as others have stated if your front tires go up, and can skip if the fronts dip into a hole. I've found that a combination of cuts, and back dragging can get almost anything smooth and in good shape. I can usually move almost a full blade full of rock in 2wd, but if moving dirt, 4wd is mandatory.

I plan on building my own adjustable skid shoes and end plates this winter when I get bored. I just can't justify spending $300+ on the Woods skid shoes.

 

[jyoutz]

I have a New Holland T1110 which is a 29hp rated model with turf tires, MMM, and FEL. I don't have any weight on the tractor itself and use a Woods RBS72p blade. It has the bolts as you originally mentioned for "tilt" as well as side to side adjustment. It covers my wheel tracks when angled, so i've never offset it. I have found that if moving dirt, I mean HEAVY black dirt, here in Iowa, that I cant cause the blade to come out of level if the dirt was unusually hard on one side and not the other. 99% of my work is moving gravel in the driveway which is most flat, so its not an issue for me. I've spread roughly 28t of rock in my driveway this summer with the FEL and the rear blade, and have learned how to make it work well for me. I'm sure a Hyd. top mount and side swing would be wonderful, but the little NH doesn't have a rear remote, so I'm not missing it per say. The mounted blade can dig in as others have stated if your front tires go up, and can skip if the fronts dip into a hole. I've found that a combination of cuts, and back dragging can get almost anything smooth and in good shape. I can usually move almost a full blade full of rock in 2wd, but if moving dirt, 4wd is mandatory.

I plan on building my own adjustable skid shoes and end plates this winter when I get bored. I just can't justify spending $300+ on the Woods skid shoes.

The offset function is extremely useful when you need to work ditches: to pull dirt or gravel from the ditch or to grade snow into the ditch.

 

[BRCOL]

The offset function is extremely useful when you need to work ditches: to pull dirt or gravel from the ditch or to grade snow into the ditch.

I could see that, I just don't have any that I need to do that near. My 7 acres might have 3' of total elevation change.