BX2370 - Land Pride BB1248 box blade or Pulverizer

[Michael Aos]

I've got 3x small properties. House on a 70' wide x 105' deep lot. Then two houses on a 123' wide by 180' deep lot.

All 3 back up to an unmaintained ~8 acres of open space. People walk their dogs back there, jogging trail, ride ATV's, dump trash, utilities access, etc.

The landowner put up some no-dumping signs and barricades. They've mostly been torn down, and I've started rebuilding them.

I've got a 2016 BX2370 with a Land Pride PD10 Post hole digger. Works great for my fencing projects and to stand up a bunch of leftover 6x6 landscape timbers.

I'd like some rear ballast for the FEL. I'd also like to reinforce the grade on the ~22K square foot lot. I assume it was all good at one time, but previous owners had kind of made a mess of it. Lots of "deferred maintenance".

Previous owner also had a large raised area with sod. All long dead now.

Thinking little garden in one corner. Redo a chunk (roughly 30' x 100') in the back with grass. Probably wait another year on the front to decide whether we want grass or Xeriscape.

I'll probably rent a rototiller to develop the garden and prepare a portion for grass seed.

I'd been planning to purchase the BB1248 box blade. Figured it would be a nice general-purpose tool. Then I discovered the Southern Big Tooth yard pulverizer. Seems like it could handle my grading needs AND help prepare the backyard for seed.

There's also the Ratchet Rake, although I've already got the BXpanded Piranha tooth bar.

I really don't want to purchase a bunch of attachments I may never use again. At the same time, I'm perfectly willing to purchase the right tool for the job.

I've been back-dragging the bucket on the BX2370 to kind of smooth things out. It sorta works, but I think it's too lightweight to really be effective.


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[jenkinsph]

Do you have water or irrigation for this? If not I suspect you are wasting your time. Look around you at the other properties there is a reason most of them are bare. Just enough water to grow weeds. If you want good results and a nice lawn without a lot of weeds you need the grass roots to choke out these weeds. That takes enough water to grow the grass thick and green. If you have a well that is good consider putting in a sprinkler system, without it you will not see good results.

I am in the landscape business and custom tractor/ grading business and about 8 hours south of you. I have for several years made my living fixing properties from small lawns to horse farm/hobby farm acreage. I have found that without the irrigation that I am wasting time trying to grow grass in New Mexico or Colorado. I do not bid work that does not have proper irrigation or water rights to install it. BTDT

Nice that it is raining outside while I type this.:thumbsup: Problem is the rains are not frequent and/or adequate enough to depend on in your locale.

With all of that said above, grading, tilling and planting your lawn area is a small job. I could do the whole job in two days for about $2,500 if you were near by. Add the cost of seed and fertilizer and you are less than $3,000. I am not trying to get the job, just trying to make a point. If you do not want to invest in the equipment to do the job you may be better off hiring it out. Without the water though this may be a waste of time and money. Xeriscape the areas you can and grow grass in some smaller areas that you can irrigate.

Starting multiple threads does not change things but does reduce the continuity and train of thought. There isn't any magic here and a pulverizer is not the tool for this job. I should add that a box blade can be a good choice for grading but it does require a lot of seat time to get good results. A land plane grader scraper is much better for a newbie to try for smoothing and I already suggested that in one of the previous threads you posted.

Here are some pictures starting with my lawn and pictures of my work on a few local horse/hobby farms. My lawn is set up with sprinklers supplied by a well water. The other fields are irrigated by ditch water and I have installed 12" pipelines with alfalfa valves on 50ft spacing. These fields are graded well enough to flood irrigate without bare spots +/- about .5 inches over the entire field with a .500 degree slope away from the valves. I have to tell you this is not work for a one time project and does require the proper tools and equipment to get it done. I say this because most property owners find it more appropriate to hire this out than spend the money to buy the equipment and learn how to do it themselves. 99% of the members on TBN enjoy using their tractors and are willing to buy the attachments/implements they want or need.

Think long and hard about where you want to go with this before you throw down the money.

 

[jeff9366]

Starting multiple threads does not change things but does reduce continuity and train of thought.
There are about thirty experienced tractor operators that provide most of the useful information on this site. Most cruise this site daily.

There isn't any magic here and a pulverizer is not the tool for this job. I should add that a box blade can be a good choice for grading but it does require a lot of seat time to get good results.

A land plane grader scraper is much better for a newbie to try for smoothing and I already suggested that in one of the previous threads you posted.

Learning to adjust/operate a moldboard plow takes more time and thought than any other dirt contact implement.

Learning to operate a Box Blade efficiently is second in time required to a moldboard plow. A HydrauLink Top Link is a help to Newbie Box Blade operators.

Land Pride's BB1248 weighs 316 pounds, or 79 pounds per foot of width. Except in unusually moist soil, Box Blades with weights of less than 100 pounds per foot usually cut below the expectation of buyers. One hundred twenty pounds per foot of Box Blade width is better, but may be too much for a BX to draw. Commercial duty Box Blades start at 200 pounds per foot of width.

BB1548 weighs 382 pounds = 96 pounds per foot of width

In ground contact work implement weight is EVERYTHING.

 

[jenkinsph]

Land Pride's BB1248 weighs 316 pounds, or 79 pounds per foot of width. Except in unusually moist soil, Box Blades with weights of less than 100 pounds per foot usually cut below the expectation of buyers. One hundred twenty pounds per foot of Box Blade width is better, but may be too much for a BX to draw. Commercial duty Box Blades start at 200 pounds per foot of width.

BB1548 weighs 382 pounds = 96 pounds per foot of width

In ground contact work implement weight is EVERYTHING.

Jeff,
You make some good points above but I think a bx 2370 with fel can handle a 48" box blade at about 480 lbs. or so. I say this because my soil is similar with lower clay content. In the deep south it would be darn near impossible to pull, here in the southwest the soil is easier to work with. I have lived in both places and dealt with this.

My x749 mower can just barely handle the box blade (about 400 lbs,) and land plane without rear weights or fluid filled tires but only weighs about 1200 lbs. Adding two speed range gears and about six hundred more pounds of weight with the BX2370 and fel it should be able to do a better job.

I use the x749 to work around trees and in tight spots the larger tractors can't fit. This helps reduce the amount of hand work tremendously. Here are some of the implements I find handy for working up a lawn.

 

[tractorshopper]

Yes, and you are not limited to a 48" blade. I have a 60" with my BX2370. I would recommend the same for you. More weight and no problem covering your tracks, etc.

 

[Michael Aos]

Thank you.

Yes, the original plan was to do something between all rock / Xeriscape -- and nothing.

The most-current driver was to address an existing negative-grade issue. Last year we had water in the crawlspace. I wanted to get that area built-up before the Spring rains (that haven't happened).

I've kind of lost count, but I think I've dumped about 12 yards of fill dirt in that area. I'm to the point trying to smooth it out / "grade" it and have been back-dragging the loader bucket.

Looking at the area, we started thinking if we were going to have ANY grass, that would be the spot. It also lines up with a chunk of the 2nd property that has dead sod. Those tenants have been asking about grass back there. That lead into the thought-process of doing both of them at the same time (and tying it all together). The tenants of each are close friends and have 5 kids between them.

I've never used a box blade, but it's been suggested as a good first implement and generally useful tool. I've been thinking I should get one eventually, and if it would help me with this project then maybe now is the time. On the other hand, if there's really a better tool for this, then I might go that route and postpone the box blade indefinitely. I didn't even know there was such thing as a pulverizer before this week.

The only 3pt rototiller I've found for rent is a 60" that's probably too big for the BX. I started pricing a 3pt rototiller -- doesn't feel like purchasing a new one would make sense, and haven't seen anything used.

I'll probably rent a rototiller if we continue down this road.

I'm not necessarily opposed to a sprinkler system. It so happens these spots are located near the garden-hose spigots on each house, so my current thinking is just garden hoses and battery-operated timers.

Think long and hard about where you want to go with this before you throw down the money.

 

[Michael Aos]

I just recently learned of the existence of a pulverizer. Watched a couple of Everything Attachments videos and they suggested a pulverizer would also level like box blade / land plane. Got me thinking it might be great to tear up the old dead sod and level that area.

Would a land plane grader scraper be the right tool grade / spread maybe 3/4" - 1" rock for Xeriscaping? I may wind up doing rock across ~3500 square feet in front and ~6000 square feet in back.
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There isn't any magic here and a pulverizer is not the tool for this job. I should add that a box blade can be a good choice for grading but it does require a lot of seat time to get good results. A land plane grader scraper is much better for a newbie to try for smoothing and I already suggested that in one of the previous threads you posted.

 

[Michael Aos]

Since I filled-in the the one area with dirt and scraped the other chunk full of dead sod -- it's now just all dirt / dust.

Was a muddy mess after the last snow. I had been toying with the idea of spreading out some wood mulch until I decide what to do with it.

The city was giving away free mulch (not sure if they still are) and another place offers mulch for $10/yd delivered.

Think long and hard about where you want to go with this before you throw down the money.

 

[Michael Aos]

Do you have any specific make / model recommendations.

Yes, and you are not limited to a 48" blade. I have a 60" with my BX2370. I would recommend the same for you. More weight and no problem covering your tracks, etc.

 

[jeff9366]

Yes, and you are not limited to a 48" blade. I have a 60" with my BX2370. I would recommend the same for you. More weight and no problem covering your tracks, etc.

Gross Box Blade weight is immaterial.

Key metric is weight per foot of width.

It is important to purchase a Box Blade at least as wide as outside-to-outside tire width or a little wider.


A 60" FORWARD ROTATION PTO-powered roto-tiller is well within the capacity of a BX.