Floating Tailgate on an ETA Box Blade!! First Look!!

[EverythingAttachments]

Yes, it's been a long time coming!! I have the computer generated images of our first ETA box blade with a hinged tailgate.

Ted's favorite hinged box blade of all time is the Gannon/Woods SR series, which is longer in production. Why did they stop making such a superior product? The price got so high, demand became low, and dealers stopped ordering them.

Our new box will borrow many of the strong features of the Gannon with some nice design tweaks courtesy of Ted, and will be offered to you at a fraction of the price.
He claims that it will be the strongest floating tailgate on the market today.

Here are some initial pics....more details will be coming soon. A retractable shank model should not be far behind!!

Let us know what you think!!
Travis

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

Looks good. What is the estimated weight for a 6 footer? And how is the hinged tailgate pinned in the closed position?

 

[oldballs]

It looks stout enough, but what's the float function suppose to do? It seems to me that the front blade is cutting, and the rear blade is smoothing in its fixed position.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

On my Gannon, I pin the tailgate shut if I want to smooth dirt out. If I want to dig in and move a lot of dirt, I take the pins out and put it in the floating position.

 

[Ken45101]

I have the floating tailgate on my Bush Hog box blade and I've never really understood the advantage. My preference is for the fixed blade on the rear.

 

[Oliver1655]

My understanding is when you lift the box blade with the 3 pt arms, the front of the side plates come up first to allow some of the material to feather out under the side plates. When the box in resting fully on the side plates, then both the forward & rearward blades are at the same level. As the angle of the box changes with the raising of the front of the side then the weight of the box is on the rear blade instead of the forward blade which inhibits the cutting action but does help with the smoothing action.

With a floating rear blade, the rear blade will float rearward allowing the forward facing to have a deeper cut. For this to really work well, the side plates are 1-2" higher than the blades.

 

[EverythingAttachments]

Looks good. What is the estimated weight for a 6 footer? And how is the hinged tailgate pinned in the closed position?

Thanks!
I think it will be in the 1,000 pound neighborhood. We are outfitting it with 1/2" side plates(the Woods SR20,25&30 had 3/8") and a 1 1/4" hinge pin.
I'll ask Ted about the closed position when I see him.
Travis

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

1,000 pounds is beastly and will make a lot of people on this forum happy. Sounds like it will be another excellent design from ETA. My old Gannon will last me forever, but I can't wait to see your finished product.

 

[EverythingAttachments]

And how is the hinged tailgate pinned in the closed position?

Pappy, Ted would like to see a picture of the locking mechanism on the tailgate of your box blade.

The SR series was shipped to dealers with bolts on either side to hold the tailgate closed in transit, but they were meant to be removed by the dealer before retailing.
Back when he was a Woods dealer, Ted learned this the hard way because a customer bent 3 box blades because the pins weren't removed.

For smoothing, those attachment points would probably be fine, but we want a bulletproof design to secure the tailgate for harsh applications.
The locking point should be easily installed/removed without tools for easy use.
Ted wants to be able to lock our tailgate, he has 10+ ideas in mind, but none of them totally meet his criteria.

Any ideas out there?

 

[mikehaugen]

Pappy, Ted would like to see a picture of the locking mechanism on the tailgate of your box blade.

The SR series was shipped to dealers with bolts on either side to hold the tailgate closed in transit, but they were meant to be removed by the dealer before retailing.
Back when he was a Woods dealer, Ted learned this the hard way because a customer bent 3 box blades because the pins weren't removed.

For smoothing, those attachment points would probably be fine, but we want a bulletproof design to secure the tailgate for harsh applications.
The locking point should be easily installed/removed without tools for easy use.
Ted wants to be able to lock our tailgate, he has 10+ ideas in mind, but none of them totally meet his criteria.

Any ideas out there?

How about a solid bar that will slide in behind it? It will also add strength to the hinged section. Maybe use the same 1-1/4" that you use for the hinge? I know it would be heavy, but it would sure be strong. Use hitch pins to hold it in place, or maybe some kinf of "drop-in" type brackets. Make sure you include brackets to store it while not in use.