BENT BOXBLADE SCARIFIERS

[3RRL]

I thought someone might point me in the right direction.

I have a 7' Howse boxblade. It is very heavy duty except I have been breaking and bending the heck out of the scarifiers. I've gone through 4 or 5 now in the last 20 hours of use. It's true that they have pulled up some BIG rocks and roots, but I didn't think they would give that easily. Look at this picture. This is a result from the dirt road that is packed down. I've no trouble on other areas I've ripped.

My question is this...I bought some spares from the Howse website but I was wondering if:
1) Are there any other places to by these at a lesser cost than what Howse charges ($25 ea. + shipping)
2) Are there other scarifiers that will work on the Howse?

Anybody with input...
Thanks,

 

[Steve_Miller]

55HP and a 7' blade, something has got to give, be it the scarifier or the tractor. I'll take the scarifier any day. Try not taking such a big bite in the tough areas.

Steve

 

[Bird]

Rob, maybe it's just my eyesight, but those appear to me to have been bent or broken by turning with them in the ground instead of pulling in a straight line. You do raise them before turning, don't you? Naturally, they're strongest front to rear and weakest side to side.

Sorry I don't have an answer for your questions though.

 

[Glenn9643]

I've bent a couple on my Bush-hog boxblade, but never broken one. Instead of buying replacements I had a buddy of mine straighten them out in a hydraulic press.
Suggest you try to pull straight ahead when the scarifiers are down, and not turn.

 

[jmc]

Not a great design idea to put a notch on the surface of greatest stress. My Woods scarfiers are the same way. Maybe its the old "give away the razor, sell the disposable blades" strategy.

 

[MarkStewart]

I know agri-supply sells shanks. I don't know if they are
exactly like yours or not. I think their shipping charges are reasonable also. Check near the bottom of this page
for different shanks. box blade shanks
Here is their shipping info web page

 

[Highbeam]

Oh such a familiar site. I have a little experience with this, it is one of the few things I have broken on my tractor. For me it happens when raking through the grubbed ground to pick up junk and then I find a hidden root or stump.

I have not managed to actually break one on my tractor but did break one on my bulldozer. On the broken tooth there was no bend, only break so I ground a nice v-notch at the break on both sides and got the arc welder out. Kept flipping it over to be sure that the shrinkage of the weld didn't create a bend. I used 6013 and just let it cool naturally. That ripper is still working today as one of three on a 45 HP dozer.

On my tractor I've bent them and ripped the wear teeth off. By extreme luck I have found the two wear teeth that have ripped off. They are crimped on from the factory but I went ahead and welded them on for good.

On the bent ones I have only repaired one. The other, still bent, is on the tractor now awaiting repair. The damage occurs while going straight ahead, the turn isn't the cause. For whatever reason, they don't yield striaght back but always to the side. Anyhow, I borrowed an acetylene torch and used the rosebud to get it glowing red and then pounded it straight blacksmith style. It doesn't need to be perfect but we got it real close. Let it cool in the air and then black gloss paint and you can't tell which tooth it was.

The bent tooth for me is always the one on the outside. So I put the newly straightened one in the middle just in case it is weaker after the work. I expect this to be an ongoing problem but if I had a table full of broken ones I might look to adjusting my style a bit.

Mine is a Frontier 60" BB which is supposed to be made by Woods.

 

[5030]

Rob:

Those dirty rusty bent shanks in front of those nice clean Kennedy boxes.......shame on you....and, you should have not turned up that tractor of yours. It's overpowering that boxblade. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Looks like it's time to send them to the heat treater.

 

[rozett]

I have a 6' BB made by Midwest. I also had the tips welded on, after knocking them all off on our wonderful rocks. Since then, I have broken one scarifier off just above the tip. I have used mine a lot in reclaiming old pasture that has grown into woodlands. Between the rocks and the stumps, I've stalled the tractor a couple of times. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Thanks for the link on replacements shanks.

 

[Highbeam]

Wow, I didn't realize that new ones were so cheap and apparently universal. Mine looks to be the 10$ one. That's hardly worth the repair effort.