grader blade size?

[wendlingknives]

I have a 55hp TYM t574, about 65" wide. We have probably a couple of miles of dirt roads on our property in east texas, red clay soil. With heavy rains the roads get a lot of runoff washouts. Ive been smoothing them with a box blade, but think a grader blade that i could cut a runoff ditch on the sides and try to keep crowned a bit would be a better option. Should i look at a 7' with offset ability or an 8'? Or would a regular 7' be wide enough when angled?

 

[Tinhack]

I have nearly identical conditions at my place. I have a Ford 782A blade I use all the time behind my 3910. I think it's a 7-foot blade. Adding side wings and a hydraulic cylinder for angling left and right has been on my "To Do" list for a while. What really helps is a 3PH top cylinder that lets me adjust the blade attack angle. It will dig deep or not depending on the angle.

I looked but couldn't find a picture of mine but the one below (from an auction) is identical to mine. I've added a drop-down stand post on mine to help connect it with my quick hitch.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I have a 55hp TYM t574, about 65" wide. We have probably a couple of miles of dirt roads on our property in east texas, red clay soil. With heavy rains the roads get a lot of runoff washouts. Ive been smoothing them with a box blade, but think a grader blade that i could cut a runoff ditch on the sides and try to keep crowned a bit would be a better option. Should i look at a 7' with offset ability or an 8'? Or would a regular 7' be wide enough when angled?

8' for sure. As heavy as you can afford, nothing under 700lbs, offset, skid shoes, and be sure that the blade can swivel the full 360* when mounted on the 3pt hitch.

Something like this would be ideal IMO.

 

[rScotty]

I have a 55hp TYM t574, about 65" wide. We have probably a couple of miles of dirt roads on our property in east texas, red clay soil. With heavy rains the roads get a lot of runoff washouts. Ive been smoothing them with a box blade, but think a grader blade that i could cut a runoff ditch on the sides and try to keep crowned a bit would be a better option. Should i look at a 7' with offset ability or an 8'? Or would a regular 7' be wide enough when angled?

I've found that the more adjustments the grader blade has the better work it can do. A 7 foot seems to be OK to handle, but an 8 footer is too much for our 60 hp Kubota. It tries to steer it in our dirt. .

Like everyone, we started with an old blade that would only angle and added a box blade.
Then much later we got this one that had swinging offset, adjustable tilt, as well as angle & were amazed at how much more work it could do. But it sure did cost more, too. I was lucky & found a used one online. Adding a set of side wings made it better at crowning and allowed it to pretty much replace the box blade for finishing. Fits Cat 1 or 2. About 600 lbs.

Ours is an older Land Pride & I don't find the same model today....but looking at their catalogue a 7 footer manual adjust would be similar to their RB3784 today. Ours is basically a RBT35 series but without the hydraulic cylingers. It could be made into hydraulic, because the attachments points for cylinders are there, but ours is manual and uses pins like the RB3784.

It's hard to figure the right width for someone else. You can use a shorter blade when it has swinging offset and tilt like these do, we are just doing one roadside at a time when crowning anyway. For crowning I run ours with a single side plate sometimes. and for that a six footer with offset would do the same job.
rScotty

 

[nyone]

For a machine of

that size your going to want a cat 1/2 capable rear blade. Alot of these rear blades have nearly no rear support and can bend really really easy.

 

[rScotty]

For a machine ofView attachment 3877676 that size your going to want a cat 1/2 capable rear blade. Alot of these rear blades have nearly no rear support and can bend really really easy.

That's right, and I'm glad you brought that up. I was just looking at our older LandPride and even older Big Rhino brand back blades. Both have manual angle, tilt, and offset like the one you show in the photo..
But our older ones are obviously built of heavier gauge metal.
If I was buying a back blade today, I'd probably try to find a good used one. Some of the new ones look light duty to me.

 

[nyone]

That's right, and I'm glad you brought that up. I was just looking at our older LandPride and even older Big Rhino brand back blades. Both have manual angle, tilt, and offset like the one you show in the photo..
But our older ones are obviously built of heavier gauge metal.
If I was buying a back blade today, I'd probably try to find a good used one. Some of the new ones look light duty to me.

I'm talking more about the huge piece of C channel that's supporting the back of the blade. Tilt and angle dont mean anything if the blade is bent in half.

I paid $400 for that one in 2022 as you see it. Hardly used it but to cheap to pass it up.

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I doubt that you will find a cat 1-2 rear blade that is set up for hydraulics that is light duty.
I'm not saying that it has hydraulics, but the adjustment mounts are set up for them.

Again, look for something at a minimum of 700lbs. Any blade that weighs 700 or more pounds will not be light or even medium duty.

The yellow blade pictured is what I would call a good medium duty blade. Put it in front of an 7-8000lb machine and things will start bending. Maybe not the blade itself, but other parts.

 

[rScotty]

I'm talking more about the huge piece of C channel that's supporting the back of the blade. Tilt and angle dont mean anything if the blade is bent in half.

I paid $400 for that one in 2022 as you see it. Hardly used it but to cheap to pass it up.

I realize that. Here's a picture of our 8 foot Big Rhino blade by Servis. It has similar reinforcement, and was rated at 90 hp. Very heavy construction...

Servis was the predecessor to a lot of ther 3-way adjustable blades sold more recently by Woods, Monroe, LandPride, and Bushhog.

One advertisement I have from years ago called this blade design a "Gill Design" after the engineer who orginally designed that style of 3-way adjustment.