Box Scraper Box Blade Operation

[agford4x4]

Ive never used a box blade before. My manual says for leveling, to shorten the top length to the rear blade clears the ground.

Am i to understand that the blade side plates DRAG on teh ground or do you adjust your 3 point to where that doesnt happen? If so, whats the point of shortening the top link when i can just raise the three point to keep the cutting edge from touching it?

 

[wushaw]

A BB is like welding, practice, practice, practice.
They take alot of practice to get what you want....but after you get it figured out it is a very usefull tool.

It's really difficult to tell you what you need to do that's why you have to just get out there and play with it yourself.

Oh yea having hydraulic tilt is the cats meow for adjustment on the fly.

 

[agford4x4]

My question is, is is standard practice to adjust it such that the end plates are dragging on the ground or is the weight of the blade supposed to be supported totally by the tractor?

 

[StrangeRanger]

Yes, the sides are on the ground. You want the weight of the box working for you.
You probably don't actually want the blade off the ground when shortening the top link. When you shorten the top link you're decreasing the blades angle of attack. They say to do that for leveling so that as you go along the blade is catching your high spots and chopping them down.
As wushaw said, BB's definitely have a learning curve. And they also take multiple passes. But once you figure it out they work pretty darn good.

 

[agford4x4]

OK, i see. So, you make your adjustment, and then drop the 3 point as low as it will go and start working. I have plenty of area to 'screw up' while learning, so i can't wait for this weekend!

 

[3RRL]

You got the answer already, but I thought it might help why to shorten or lengthen the top link.
I gather from your 1st post your boxblade has a front and rear blade. So shortening the top link will let that front blade do the cutting and it also raises the rear blade off the ground because of the forward tilt. As StrangeRanger said, the sided sill touch the ground as you lower the boxblade with the 3pt, but it is now tilted forward. If your ground is pretty soft, you can control the depth of cut with your 3pt position control. If it is real hard, you could probably let the 3pt all the way down and the boxblade will cut off some "humps" and may ride over the rest of the area. You might even want to lower the scarifiers to dig more and loosen up the soil so you can drag it off.

By extending the top link out, you can get the rear blade to hit the ground first. That will let you drag the boxblade and smooth the dirt without cutting too much or none at all. Just depends how much you tilt it back. You do the same thing ... lower it with the 3 pt to smooth in that setting.
If your interested in some boxblade uses, go here: Various Box Blade Uses
It is a thread showing several ways to use a boxblade, other than just dragging dirt.

 

[agford4x4]

This blade is hinged...if that makes any difference. Thanks for the link and pics!

One thing i don't understand is the SHORTENING to make the blade DIG better. The short i go, the higher the blade gets from the ground, so it seems if i wanted it to DIG, i would actually lengthen it, which is exactly what the manual says. However, several posts i have read seem to have it 'backwards'. Thats very confusing.

 

[john_bud]

This blade is hinged...if that makes any difference. Thanks for the link and pics!

One thing i don't understand is the SHORTENING to make the blade DIG better. The short i go, the higher the blade gets from the ground, so it seems if i wanted it to DIG, i would actually lengthen it, which is exactly what the manual says. However, several posts i have read seem to have it 'backwards'. Thats very confusing.

Ok, either print this off and look at the implement on the tractor imagine it.

There are 2 blades on the box. )( -> the arrow is the tractor direction.

The rear blade is apparently hinged (that's good). it faces backwards and is used when backing up. The adjustment for going backward is way different than for forward by the way.


The other blade is facing forward ( -> . you tilt the box so the rear blade is holding less of the box weight. Another way of saying that is that as you tilt the box forward, the front blade holds more of the box weight, so it diggs better. The sides of the box, being thin will cut into the ground, so you don't have to worry about that much.

If you can bolt the rear blade down, for smoothing you tilt the box the other way so the front blade is off the ground and the rear blade has all the weight.

For going backwards and digging with the rear blade, you level the box out. Dead level to back low 1" is pretty good. If you get more aggressive with the angle of attack (tilt), you will stab the ground and gouge it.


Do all your set ups with the tractor on known dead flat and level ground. Garage, driveway etc. Use a level. Measure the top link and the adjustable side link lengths so you can quickly restore level no matter if you are on a side hill or flat ground.

 

[wushaw]

This blade is hinged...if that makes any difference. Thanks for the link and pics!

One thing i don't understand is the SHORTENING to make the blade DIG better. The short i go, the higher the blade gets from the ground, so it seems if i wanted it to DIG, i would actually lengthen it, which is exactly what the manual says. However, several posts i have read seem to have it 'backwards'. Thats very confusing.

A manual??? I have purchased three box blades over several years and none of them came with manuals, I always figured it was learn by trial and error.

 

[Phineas7]

john_bud, I'm confused: If the rear blade is hinged, how can it hold the weight of the BB? Won't it just fold out of the way and rest on the front?

After reading agford4x4's comment about the manual, my question is: Do hinged and non-hinged work oppositely?

Mine in not hinged. If I lenghen the top link it digs less. It works well for smoothing high spots. If level or near level it shaves off a layer. If I shorten it, it digs.

 

[agford4x4]

Well, i took it out last night and tried it. Here is what i found.

If i shorten my top link ALL the way, it will get most of the weight forward on the blade, and it cuts very little, in fact, it hardly cuts at all. If i drag it around, the box will be filled primarily with sticks, leaves, and maybe a little dirt here and there. If i lengthen it a tad, then it cuts much better. So, thats what i found. That still goes directly against what was said.

I cannot adjust my top link short enough to get the box endplates to REST on the ground. The top link is a std 21" at the shortest.

A manual??? I have purchased three box blades over several years and none of them came with manuals, I always figured it was learn by trial and error.

Yeah it is. However, its nice to have for part numbers and such.

 

[john_bud]

Can you post the make, model and size of the box blade and tractor?


Phineas wrote - john_bud, I'm confused: If the rear blade is hinged, how can it hold the weight of the BB? Won't it just fold out of the way and rest on the front?

Yes, you are correct - that's the reason boxes with floating rear blades cut better. What I wrote was confusing. Must have been thinking fixed while writing about hinged. Hey, ya get what ya paid for.

jb

 

[agford4x4]

Can you post the make, model and size of the box blade and tractor?

woods HB72, Case DX55

 

[greg_g]

I cannot adjust my top link short enough to get the box endplates to REST on the ground. The top link is a std 21" at the shortest.

No wonder. That's NOT a function of the toplink. If your lower lift arms are bottomed out and the BB still doesn't touch the ground, lengthen the vertical stabilizers (the adjustable links between the upper and lower lift arms).

//greg//

 

[agford4x4]

hmm...you know, that never even occured to me. Ive never made an adjustment to them and the manual and websites only reference the top link. I guess i would have figured it out eventually. duh.

 

[agford4x4]

Actually, my lower links are just about all the way down already. Its ok. the blade doesnt NEED to rest on the side plates. If it does, then it wont cut at all.

 

[greg_g]

Actually, my lower links are just about all the way down already. Its ok. the blade doesnt NEED to rest on the side plates. If it does, then it wont cut at all.

Then - and I'm not writing with any intent to offend - you simply don't understand boxblade operation at all. Boxblades are designed to work below level. The scarifiers and/or the forward facing rear cutting edge naturally bring the side edges below level up/down to whatever level you're working them. And it would seem you're missing something about the TPH linkage as well, because they're supposed to have an operating range that will permit ground engagement work.

But if all you want to do is scrape and push, you should have saved money and bought a regular rear indexing blade.

//greg//

 

[agford4x4]

you simply don't understand boxblade operation at all.

I have no doubt about this. IM just going to use it a lot more and see what happens.

My whole point is that i have SEEN pictures and people using said blade such that the scarifiers engage but the blade does NOT for some purposes and that i cannot accomplish that. The lower links will not go lower and the top link will not go shorter.

What i want to accomplish right now is simply filling a large section of HOLE that wild pigs have created on my place. I want to take all the dirt ABOVE the normal ground level, drag it around and put it BACK in the holes. I do not want to scrape anything below that level. So, im trying to adjust the top link so that when the blade is in FLOAT position, it will accomplish that. I have gotten that to work, but the top link has to be in its shortest configuration. I dont even know if what im doing is the proper way to acomplish this, or if i should just level the box blade and use position control.

 

[ScottK]

Just make your box perfectly level in every direction and use the position control to do what you're trying to do - keep the scarifers up too. Unless the dirt to too hard, it will work fine that way. That's how I operate mine most of the time. You will need to operate the position control (down just before you get to the mound) and then raise it slowly as you come over/into the hole to match the final level. It should not be "floating" when you're over the area you're filling.

 

[agford4x4]

gotcha.