Box Scraper Grader Blade or Box Blade?

[Dale1995]

Hey there guys I am looking to you for some expert advice! I am looking to purchase a either a grader blade or box blade, I would like to use it for some light landscaping around my home and in the winter time when doing my driveway, I don't have a lot of experience with this, This will go on my John Deere 2320 (24hp) Cat 1 . The tractor is 4'wide should I go with a 4' or 5' blade, or box blade, could I use the box blade in the winter? Who makes a decent product for a decent price? I have looked at Frontier, and am looking at one from www.tartergate.com they have a 5' that I can buy for $290.00 Sound good, but have any of you seen or used the probuct.....what are you guys using? Does anyone have plans to build one? I will be listening to any and all suggestions. Thanks

 

[RadarTech]

Dale,
I was in the same spot about a year ago. Here is what I have learned from a year's experience and all the folks here:

1. For moving dirt and digging- The boxblade with teeth is the best implement.

2. For scraping snow- An offset and angling scrape blade is best.

3. For Landscaping and smoothing- I prefer the box blade.

4. If you are 3RR, a box blade will do anything!!

now let me explain-
I graded out around a new house, built and maintained several trails, maintained a steep driveway and scraped about 3 miles of driveway and county gravel road for snow..

Around the house the box blade let me grab the dirt, hold on to it, and move it to where I used the bucket to pickup and dump elsewhere. I tried this the the scrape and just did not work that well. The box also is alot heavier and REALLY digs. the scrape is light and bounces...
for light landscaping the scrape might be fine-- but it will depend on your definition of light..

Now for the snow, the box would be useless if you have more than just a couple of inches and you are going more than 50-60 feet.

I have an L3400 Kubota, with a 6 ft scrape anda 5 ft box. I have stopped the tractor dead with a root while using the box..

anyway,
I hope this helps..

Later,
J

 

[Gittyup]

Scraper for snow and culvert making. Box for just about everything else. I would stick with a 4' box and maybe a 6' scraper on your tractor. It's too light for anything bigger. You need a wider scraper so that you can angle it and still cover your tracks.

search for the thread by Bobskurka on boxblade comparisons. That will show what different brands are like and the pros and cons of each.

Scrapers, get one that angles in both axes.

 

[kebo]

If the tractor is 4x4, I would go with a 5ft box for the first choice. A 24hp 4x4 tractor will pull that like a two wheel drive 27hp tractor. Later on , you can save up and get a scrape blade. I think you could run a 5ft scrape blade as well.

 

[MarkV]

For snow I would say the rear blade, for dirt the box blade. It looks like you have the snow covered with a nice blower and cab set up so I would think box blade.

The thing about box blade is that the heavier they are the better they work. That is also true of rear blades for dirt work. The lighter units tend to bounce or skip along rather than dig. The ones you linked looked to be very light. I have a similar size tractor and would get a 5' box. That will give you enough room outside the tires to work up to a fence or structure.

With a rear blade I would look for a 6' model so that it will be out side the tire foot print when angled. Also keep in mind some blades will angle but some will swing to an off set, angle and tilt. Those features can be handy for working ditches.

MarkV

 

[rdln]

You have a snowblower......Buy the box blade, with turf tires.....4 footer.

 

[Thomas]

Great advice been given,if you plan on purchasing blade check out unit which can turn 180 degrees...pulling/pushing...also have you check out rake w/drop down blade.

 

[Johndeere3720]

I have a grader blade and a boxblade. The boxblade has done many things, (dig up arenas, level areas, dig out new area for a fire pit, made trailes in the woods, and bull dozed dirt). My grader blade is pretty new and has (pushed snow, graded the arena, graded the driveway, added weights to hold back of tractor down when transporting heavy loads with the loader, and spread gravel). I researched before purchasing both implements and got great deals. The KingKutterXB boxblade 4' was $425 and the grader blade 5' was $250 from Montana tractor. The boxblade would be a first for dirt work but the blade is excelent for snow removal.

 

[Iowachild]

I would like to express my opinion on box blade size. I pull a 5 footer with a worn out 1984 Ford 1310 that only made 19 engine HP when new and never felt the blade was too big. I would think a JD 2320 could handle a 5' box blade with no problems. It is amazing what one can do with a box blade in terms of moving dirt around!

 

[kthompson]

Of the ones I have seen: with a box blade you are limited to any angle change to what ever you have with the lift arm adjustment your tractor has. If you are wanting to cut ditches or round a road bed or slope an area I like the rear blade. If you will be wanting to pull dirt any real distance and not really slope such as road bed think the box blade would be best. Now, some rear blades do offer ends to allow for pulling dirt more like box blades.
You do want a heavy unit in either. I can take my rear blade and rotate it and cut just as well and a road grader. If you put ends on it to hold the dirt for straight pulling it looses that ability.

 

[Mech]

I have a 27 hp 790 with a 5 ft landpride box blade with about 350 lb of weight added to it (it weights about 430 lbs by itself). If it fills with dirt the tractor won't pull it up a hill. If it will cover the rear wheels I would probably go with a 4ft or 4 ｽ ft on a 2320 (it has less HP, is lighter and is hydro).

This is my first BB and for grading it far outperforms a scraper blade. I also didn稚 find the scraper blade very good for snow removal. I have a front blade for that, snow blower would be good also.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

4. If you are 3RR, a box blade will do anything!!

Yep!

I think Rob had a thread where he bailed hay with his boxblade.

 

[dangerdoc]

Hey there guys I am looking to you for some expert advice! I am looking to purchase a either a grader blade or box blade, I would like to use it for some light landscaping around my home and in the winter time when doing my driveway, I don't have a lot of experience with this, This will go on my John Deere 2320 (24hp) Cat 1 . The tractor is 4'wide should I go with a 4' or 5' blade, or box blade, could I use the box blade in the winter? Who makes a decent product for a decent price? I have looked at Frontier, and am looking at one from www.tartergate.com they have a 5' that I can buy for $290.00 Sound good, but have any of you seen or used the probuct.....what are you guys using? Does anyone have plans to build one? I will be listening to any and all suggestions. Thanks

I vote both.

 

[3RRL]

Yep!

I think Rob had a thread where he bailed hay with his boxblade.

lol David, I think you and Radar are nuts...
Although I did plow my 1-1/2 acre food plot with it one year.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

lol David, I think you and Radar are nuts...
Although I did plow my 1-1/2 acre food plot with it one year.

And here I thought that you were going to say that you had never bailed with it, but you did save a bundle of $$$$ on your insurance.

 

[3RRL]

Or stayed at a Holiday Inn...

 

[Slatecreek]

As a fellow 2320 owner, I do have a 5 foot box blade that gets a lot of use. It is primarily used for driveway maintenance and ditch work, but gets a workout maintaining trails as well. The 5 footer on the 2320 works great, and yes when full it can be a load. The grader blade definitely shines in the snow, and works fairly well on light landscaping. If snow removal is the primary reason for this purchase than I would go with the grader blade, as it can do other tasks as well. The box blade just doesn't do very good at all in the snow.

 

[dlatzko]

Dale,
I was in the same spot about a year ago. Here is what I have learned from a year's experience and all the folks here:

1. For moving dirt and digging- The boxblade with teeth is the best implement.

2. For scraping snow- An offset and angling scrape blade is best.

3. For Landscaping and smoothing- I prefer the box blade.

4. If you are 3RR, a box blade will do anything!!

now let me explain-
I graded out around a new house, built and maintained several trails, maintained a steep driveway and scraped about 3 miles of driveway and county gravel road for snow..

Around the house the box blade let me grab the dirt, hold on to it, and move it to where I used the bucket to pickup and dump elsewhere. I tried this the the scrape and just did not work that well. The box also is alot heavier and REALLY digs. the scrape is light and bounces...
for light landscaping the scrape might be fine-- but it will depend on your definition of light..

Now for the snow, the box would be useless if you have more than just a couple of inches and you are going more than 50-60 feet.

I have an L3400 Kubota, with a 6 ft scrape anda 5 ft box. I have stopped the tractor dead with a root while using the box..

anyway,
I hope this helps..

Later,
J

I just bought a 4' box scraper to use with my JD 4300 and am a newbie at using it. I need some advice. I noticed that in trying to smooth grade one area, the box scraper was actually making it worse. In this area, there are slowly rolling peaks and valleys in the dirt (just a few inches higher or lower) , maybe 15 feet apart, and as the tractor very slightly tilts upward up the peak, the box scraper scrapes the valley lower than it originally was. So using the thing actually makes the peaks and valleys worse. Am I doing something wrong?

 

[Conservation]

I used my box blade on our lane the other day. It is usually my blade of choice. However, the frost wasn't completely out, and it was kind of mucky. It is a 6' I believe on a JD1050, which is about 32 hp. I ended up filling up the blade with muck that wouldn't come out. I could barely lift it, and I ended up shoveling it out. My dad got a good laugh out of that one. Other than that incident, I love the box. But I have a scraper for snow. For the teeth to work on the box, I think I am going to have to put a weight box on it and throw some lead pigs that I have laying around in the box. I hate to risk breaking a tooth, but they just don't do much as it is. Mine is a King Kutter.