Box Scraper First box blade

[Dave Pee]

Fired up the Land Pride 5" box blade for the first time. Watching the videos, it looks so easy to clean up driveways, fill low spots, etc. I can see that practice will pay off - it anit easy to get it right!

I filled some holes the the stump man left behind - simple, right? Started in reverse, with that blade, to fill the worst spots, which I could then drive forward over, with out falling/tipping into the hole.

Getting the hole mostly filled is easy, but getting really smooth is not! Lots of bacck and forth.
\
And my old neck does not like to be twisted around so far - I am sitting inside now with a cold beer, hoping the pain will subside. Anybody have solutions for working rear implements without straining your neck?

I am wondering if a simple front blade would do most of what I want, without breaking my poor neck.

 

[TripleR]

I use rear view mirrors on mine, I have a cab, but some mount mirrors on an open station. Your best friend using a box scraper is a hydraulic top-link.

 

[/pine]

Fired up the Land Pride 5" box blade for the first time. Watching the videos, it looks so easy to clean up driveways, fill low spots, etc. I can see that practice will pay off - it anit easy to get it right!

I filled some holes the the stump man left behind - simple, right? Started in reverse, with that blade, to fill the worst spots, which I could then drive forward over, with out falling/tipping into the hole.

Getting the hole mostly filled is easy, but getting really smooth is not! Lots of bacck and forth.
\
And my old neck does not like to be twisted around so far - I am sitting inside now with a cold beer, hoping the pain will subside. Anybody have solutions for working rear implements without straining your neck?

I am wondering if a simple front blade would do most of what I want, without breaking my poor neck.

Do you have a hydraulic top link ?

 

[oosik]

Man Oh man - - Dave, get a hydraulic top link. Fantastic assist for ANY ground engagement implement. Especially helpful for box blade and rear blade. Allows you to easily get that "perfect set" and then your job is half done.

 

[Fallon]

Man Oh man - - Dave, get a hydraulic top link. Fantastic assist for ANY ground engagement implement. Especially helpful for box blade and rear blade. Allows you to easily get that "perfect set" and then your job is half done.

I'll 2nd or 3rd that. A hydraulic toplink is FAR more effective at smoothly filling or emptying the box blade than the 3pt lift is. Changing the angle of attack of the blade is much more effective than lifting it.

 

[Thomas]

You nail it on the head when you said " practice",once you get use to it the neck pain no longer...like learning to ride a bike.

 

[Dave Pee]

No hydraulic top link yet - but I will look into it. Thanks!

 

[DieselBound]

As someone whose neck it currently totaled, I can state that mostly the damage comes from going fast in reverse over uneven ground while having one's head turned.. And in this measure I could probably say I could best just about everyone in doing this (my neck can attest to it). Most of this damage/activity is, however, from mowing, using my B7800: this tractor changes direction so fast as to also contribute to whiplash!

I've been doing a lot of boxblading the last couple of years with my Kioti and, even with a rear camera and mirrors I still like to turn my head around to look. The difference, however, is that the ride is less jarring and I'm tending to go pretty slow (when you're pushing around a 1,200 lb implement you're going to be a bit more on the cautious side- when things go bad they can really go bad).

Hydraulic top link is a MUST. Wish that it weren't such a hassle to get one set up on my B7800 otherwise I'd be all over doing so on that tractor: I still have a good 5 years w/o using an hydraulic top link, meaning that one can still get work done, though less efficiently (great for one's exercise needs, jumping on and off the tractor!)

 

[Mainahs70]

Don't have much experience with my BB but can't wait to have my TnT installed thursday. Will make it more efficient and less back and forth- less neck strain.

 

[/pine]

Hate to burst any bubbles...but taking advantage of having hydraulic top and tilt only compounds the need to watch what's happening back there as adjustments are being made on the fly.
It does not take long to get used to blindly using the controls and getting the top and side links to do what you want but it takes an eyeballs on confirmation they are doing exactly what you want...

I often use visual aides placed when I'm looking over a section of road I'm working...I use fiberglass rods (electric fence rods) set off to the side (out of the way) to mark start or stop lines where I want to go from a light cutting angle that loads the box to a smoothing unloading setting (extend the top link)...i.e., cutting and filling etc...