Adding weight to a box blade.

[Bspring]

I have some dies that are solid steel about 12肺12肺3? I want to add some weight to my Box Blade because it skids across the top of our hard dirt. I could add 400 pounds or more but I want to know if this would be a problem for the tractor or if there are any other consequences that I may not have thought of. I normally use the FEL but the BB stays on the tractor, a John Deer 3320. Will I lose power to the FEL with the hydraulics having to support the extra weight of the BB?

 

[3RRL]

As long as your tractor can handle the extra weight it's no problem at all.
And you won't lose any power in the hydraulics at all with the FEL. That has to do with your control valve(s). A lot of guys have really heavy boxblades so making yours heavier would be like buying a heavy one.

 

[jimgerken]

I doubled the weight of mine with bolt-on steel plate, right at the back. It makes it work better into the ground, and it increased its effectiveness as a loader counterweight. Just read your tractor's specifications to determine the max amount to add. Add it in steps if you wish.

 

[Bspring]

Jim, if it is not too much trouble could you post a pic of what you did? Also, how thick was the plate you added?

 

[3RRL]

Do those die plates have leader pins and bushings in them?
If they have bushing holes in them, you could bolt or weld some long leader pins onto your boxblade. Add them behind the 3pt hook up frame and pile the plates onto the leader pins. Perhaps make 2 sets ... one for each side? I get each die plate weighs about 122lbs, so put the the leader pins where you can easily put the plates on or off without hurting yourself.

Another thought is to have a thinner plates) welded or bolted to the boxblade where you could put the die plates on. In other words, make a frame mount. The thin plate(s) would have two holes in the so you can put some pins through the die plates and thin plates from the top. Then use a lynch pin to secure the leader pins to keep them from falling out.
Rob-

 

[Conservation]

I actually borrowed some suitcase weights from the farmer across the road, and hung them on the sides of the box blade. Man, does that work a lot better! It does make the unit wider though.

 

[joes_427_vette]

You mean like this ? 784# Mounted my weight case from the garden tractor on the box blade with two allignment pins and one bolt. With the top link cylinder I can cut sod by the inch on a level surface. Works great.

 

[Bspring]

3RRL If understand what you are suggesting I was thinking along that line and yes the dies have holes for the pins and bushings. This was my original plan but I realized that I would have to build a brace from the 3 pt hook up down to the back of the BB to hold the dies. That would prevent me from using the top of the BB to transport logs, pallets and other large objects. I could get over this because I don稚 use the BB for that often and I have the FEL. Jimjerkin痴 idea would allow me to add weight and keep the top available. Also, I don稚 want to add any width. If I attached them to the 3 pt hook up with out the support going the back of the BB I was concerned about the extra stress on it.

 

[3RRL]

Well, in that case, you could build a little "table top" mount directly over the back of the boxblade sort of like a spoiler.
Support the table top by adding two support tubes or flat bar from either the sides or back of you box. In fact, that would give you a larger surface to carry your stuff on top of the box blade when the plates are off of it. Heck, they might not even get in the way? You could use lynch and hitch pins to make the connections so you could easily remove the table top.
Rob-

 

[Tim Stuart]

This hard clay I have around here laughs at my box blade and rippers so I have a 55 gallon drum I attach to them and fill it with about 50 gallons of water. I lay the barrel on it side with 1 bung hole up and 1 down. I take the top bung out to fill it and the bottom bung out to drain it. When I want to change implements I just drain the water out. I use ratchet straps to hold the barrel in place. This adds 420 lbs to the implement witch make it work much better. I have been doing this for a couple years now with out any problem with my tractor.

 

[Highbeam]

This hard clay I have around here laughs at my box blade and rippers so I have a 55 gallon drum I attach to them and fill it with about 50 gallons of water. I lay the barrel on it side with 1 bung hole up and 1 down. I take the top bung out to fill it and the bottom bung out to drain it. When I want to change implements I just drain the water out. I use ratchet straps to hold the barrel in place. This adds 420 lbs to the implement witch make it work much better. I have been doing this for a couple years now with out any problem with my tractor.

Tim, you are a genius. Ha! I've been using the 55 gallon poly drums the exact same way, right down to the ratchet straps. This is only when cutting into hardpan and boy does it make a difference. The drum is narrower than a box blade so it doesn't add to the width and when you are done you just drain the water out to make lifting and stowing easy on the back.

 

[Bspring]

Tim I was thinking about your idea and I realized that I need to consider the visibility issue with what ever method I use. If you want to back up to push some dirt around can you see what you are doing with the drum on the Box Blade? I have had some problems with doing this and hitting something even when I thought I could see what was there so it is not that important but I was just wondering.

 

[Tim Stuart]

Tim I was thinking about your idea and I realized that I need to consider the visibility issue with what ever method I use. If you want to back up to push some dirt around can you see what you are doing with the drum on the Box Blade? I have had some problems with doing this and hitting something even when I thought I could see what was there so it is not that important but I was just wondering.

Bspring, I have not noticed a visibility issue any worse than normal but admittedly I normally use it going forward and use mine for more of a rough grade situation. If needed to remove it takes about 60 second to take it off. Poly barrels are cheap so give it a try before going through other more expensive methods.

 

[jimgerken]

Bspring: Here is a pic. Ignore the added curved plates on the sides, they are for forming half-pipe shapes in deep snow conditions for the "kids" to slide downhill in. The added plate steel is about three inches thick. There are actually two layers totalling 3 inches thickness, and the dimensions fit the boxblade well. I was fortunate to find this steel in the local scrapyard, so it cost me 20 cents a pound. It does cause one problem. If I am using the boxblade backing up grading, dirt and sod get caught in between the cutting edge and the bottom edge of the steel plate. If I could I would raise it. Other than that, it makes a great boxblade out of a KingKlutter boxblade, and also greatly improves its value as a loader counterweight.

 

[Bspring]

Jim, thanks for posting the pic. You guys have given me a lot of great ideas. I may have to make a trip to my scrap yard to see what they have available.