LMan1967
Gold Member
Stupid question, sorry, but what can a box blade do that a grader blade cannot? :ashamed:
box blade v. grader blade
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milkman636
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Carry material over distance. A grading blade will trail spoil on one or both sides.
Some better brands of grading blades offer end wings and guage wheels that are bolted on to perform like a box. Woods has them for their HBL series of blades.
Some better brands of grading blades offer end wings and guage wheels that are bolted on to perform like a box. Woods has them for their HBL series of blades.
crazyal
Super Member
When you say grader blade, do you mean a rear blade or are you talking about a grading scraper?
familyman
Platinum Member
If you mean an angling rear blade, the box blade is a heavier, tougher tool. Will move more soil, faster and better than a rear blade. Because they can angle, rear blades can be faster at spreading gravel and clearing snow, but not for grading. A boxblade is also better at resurfacing a rutted stone drive because it carries the material and spreads it into the low spots.
schmism
Super Member
I disagree with the last part. Proper gravel road maintenance is done by cutting the entire surface off, rolling all of the material over thoroughly mixing both larger and smaller aggregate and re-spreading the material over the road. This is what a road grader does with a single blade.
A rear blade can be angled and tilted and can windrow the material. Great for cutting ditches, plowing snow, and grading driveways.
A box blade is great for cutting high spots and carrying that material to be deposited at a low spots. A box blade basically becomes useless once the box is full of material.
When it is full is when it is doing the job, moving material. Is a bucket useless once it is full of water? When they are empty is when they are useless.
Bruce
OP
LMan1967
Gold Member
Thanks for the info. I guess I mean a scraper, an angled blade (like a road grader) to fix roads. Sorry, I'm still learning the nomenclature...
One of my primary tasks will be to maintain the roads/trails around the perimeter of my property...they are all dirt, although I would like to gravel them in the future. If I only get one attachment or the other, I want to get the one best suited for my task.
One of my primary tasks will be to maintain the roads/trails around the perimeter of my property...they are all dirt, although I would like to gravel them in the future. If I only get one attachment or the other, I want to get the one best suited for my task.
s219
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That's the whole point. It will still be ripping/cutting when full, but also redistributes material at that point. A good box blade will have a rear cutting edge that you can run it in reverse if you do not want to be moving material in the box, making it fairly versatile.
The rear blade and the land plane (grader) are better for many things (for instance, I'd choose a land plane over anything else for finishing a gravel driveway). But the box blade has a wide range of capabilities and is best if you really need to dig, rip up, or move material. It's structurally configured and braced for that kind of thing, where the others are not.
DKCDKC
Platinum Member
I have a mile gravel drive. I have used a box blade as a primary tool to keep it in a nice, smooth condition for 10 years, and it works fine. I have observed graders working and would certainly agree they can do a better job, for a lot more money. I have looked at land planes, and they too offer some real capabilities, for a lot more money. I picked up a regular rear blade a year ago for nothing, had it fixed and use it primarily for snow. I may use it once a year on the drive to bring some gravel back into the road bed, but that's all.
For a single tool for a gravel drive for someone trying to keep costs down, a box blade is the way to go. If you learn to rotate it a bit, you can do a lot with it. I rotate it forward and put the tines down fully to till my garden. Works.
I have added a Ratchet Rake for some brush control, but found it is also for minor grading jobs on the drive when I don't want to go hook up the heavy box blade.
For an old country boy like me, getting the job done as cheaply as possible is key. And for that I like my box blade.
For a single tool for a gravel drive for someone trying to keep costs down, a box blade is the way to go. If you learn to rotate it a bit, you can do a lot with it. I rotate it forward and put the tines down fully to till my garden. Works.
I have added a Ratchet Rake for some brush control, but found it is also for minor grading jobs on the drive when I don't want to go hook up the heavy box blade.
For an old country boy like me, getting the job done as cheaply as possible is key. And for that I like my box blade.
horsinaround
Silver Member
A box blade is great for maintaining a driveway.
You can also drop the rippers to really work it up.
They will generally be a lot tougher than a grader blade.
You can also drop the rippers to really work it up.
They will generally be a lot tougher than a grader blade.
