I need a Box Scraper, I think?

scesnick · Jan 6, 2006

I have a very long driveway I have to maintain. (2.5 miles)
I have a yanmar 2000 I also have a backhoe but it doesn't do what I want it to do as far as smoothing the road goes.
My road is mostly red dog shale and it gets very packed in the summer when we have hot, dry spells. Softer in the spring. Can you offset it to crown a road?
Will a box scraper smooth out my road and fill in the potholes? I am not familiar with them at all.
I thought they were mainly for landscaping yards.
It seems to me that the scarifiers would just barely scrape the surface.
Forgive my ignorance on the box scraper knowledge but, how exactly do these things work, and will one work for me ?
thanks. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

jcmseven · Jan 6, 2006

Yes. A box blade is a nice tool for your purposes. The nicest thing about a box blade is that the teeth will dig up tough terrain and the "box" will let you pull material from where you do not want it to where you do. Most BB's have adjustable teeth, so you can set them however you want. Also, for all they would do for you, they are relatively inexpensive. There are lots of nice brands and a comparison was done about four months ago that you can access on site.

John M

scesnick · Jan 6, 2006

I think what concerns me most is if the teeth will actually dig into the road. I could easily see it just skim the road with the teeth and be nothing more than a good sled to pull things with.

Highbeam · Jan 6, 2006

Oh yes, they'll rip as much as your tractor can pull.

scesnick · Jan 6, 2006

even on a very packed road? it would just seem like it would have to weigh a ton in oder for the teeth to dig and not just scrape. Maybe i will rent onefirst and give it a whirl .

jinman · Jan 6, 2006

Weight of a boxblade is very important. Some of the more expensive ones will weigh 1/2 ton or more. The cheaper ones will weigh 500 lb (more or less). I have never seen any material that cannot be penetrated with the scarifiers except concrete. You don't have to use all the scarifiers or you can set a couple to dig deeper than the others and get the most out of whatever weight the box is.

Another thing about a boxblade is that you can push and scrape in reverse. That makes your tractor much more efficient because you can pull materials forward and immediately push them back and spread them evenly.

If you set the tilt on your 3PH correctly, the boxblade will pull material from the outside shoulder of your road and deposit it on the center to help create a crown. You may need to make several passes, but I don't know anything I'd rather have for road maintenance than a boxblade... unless you can get your hands on a road grader. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

scesnick · Jan 6, 2006

Thanks jinman,

So I guess it is possible to crown a road with one of these. I'm not totally sure if my Yanmar YM2000 has a tilt feature on the 3pt. I have not tried that yet.
Are there any " rules of thumb" for buying a Box Blade to fit your tractor?
Thanks for all the great info.

millsnhills · Jan 6, 2006

You can probably buy a new toplink to help with the tilt if you don't have one but not sure if you could do the side tilt to create the crown. I believe the box blade is definetly one of the best implements I have. I would caution you it takes some time to master though. Boy did I make some big messes before figuring out how to work it.

I do quite a bit of driveway work and for potholes and bad ruts you really can't just fill them in to fix them you need to dig them out. You could do this with the teethe on the blade.

For sizing at a minimum make sure you get one that covers your path and maybe a little wider. Can not recall the measurements on your tractor but a 4 ft or 5 ft should do. The 5ft'er will have the extra weight and help out a good bit however if your tractor is only 2WD it may give you some problems.

Another thing I was thinking short term if you have a 4-in-one bucket on your backhoe simply open the bucket up, tilt down slightly so that it cuts the ground and run backwards to smoothe the drive.

Good Luck

RonR · Jan 6, 2006

A box blade might be the right tool to refurb the driveway, but if it were me, I'd buy or build something I could drag the length of the drive 2-3 times a month to keep it maintained.

I tried to find a link to one--I've seen several at farm shows--but I came up empty. The ones I've seen have basically two "blades" inside a box beam type implement. They have the ability to angle the front blade to move dirt to the high side, while the rear blade smooths it. If there is too much dirt, it simply goes over the top of the blades.

You should be able to pull a wider one of these than you could a box blade, so you could easily cover your tracks. With the top link, you should be able to make it more or less aggressive on the cutting.

They are pricey though, so building something would be a cheaper way to go.

Ron

sweettractors · Jan 6, 2006

Is this implement what you were thinking of?--Ken Sweet

RonR · Jan 6, 2006

Ken,

Yep--you're good!

Sure wish you were located a few states to the west. I check out your web site frequently and drool. You must move a lot of stuff! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Thanks.
ron

bncsauve · Jan 6, 2006

My driveway is only about 600 feet, so a different class than yours, but, it is packed stone and gravel that is very hard in the summer. I only use my box blade when it is in fairly bad shape, but it works pretty good when you make multiple passes to let the scarifiers rip things up. I usually do it after a wet period to keep the dust down. Mostly I use a landscape rake. It will fluff things up pretty well if you don't need to make major repairs to the drive. You can crown the drive with either tool. The implement shown by Ken looks like it would be even better, particularly for the length of drive you are talking about. Ps My goal in life has always been to have a driveway long enough to need mile markers. Sounds like you're pretty much there.

scesnick · Jan 6, 2006

bncgsauve,

Yeah, it's nice having a long driveway, in the summer. It is a pain in the butt in the winter. It is also up over a mountain. Only 2 farms up here and my nearest neighbor ( who lives 1.5. miles away) usually share the plowing duties for the first mile and a half.
We had 52 inches of snow in one shot a few years back and it took us 4 days to get back into our homes. We bugged out to the in-laws until it was over.
What is the name of that implement in the pic above?
that might be what I look into.
thanks for all the geat feedback. now I know what a box scraper does. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

JonBarleycorn · Jan 6, 2006

( I think what concerns me most is if the teeth will actually dig into the road. I could easily see it just skim the road with the teeth and be nothing more than a good sled to pull things with. )

Oh yeh!! It will dig in alright. I have only set mine to the shallower depth, and I amnot sure but think I pulled out a few China men.
It also pulled up a tremendous amount of rock, in addition to the gravel which has packed in over the years. Until now I have used only a scrape blade, which is a great all around tool, and which you need for snow where you are, but the box digs in and pulls it out.
Whatever you buy, don't buy a cheap lightweight as you will be wasting your money.
Good luck!

MtnViewRanch · Jan 7, 2006

Scesnick, I have about 2 miles of roads to maintain myself. Let me tell you, the picture of the scraper that Ken Sweet put up is the implement for you. I have a road boss myself, it works great. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Google these names and you will see 4 different brands. Road Boss Grader, Grademaster, Dura-grader, onlineagtools.com Be sure to shop around, prices vary a lot!
Good luck Brian /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

flusher · Jan 7, 2006

With less than 25HP on your Yanmar 2000, you probably are underpowered to handle one of those 2-blade soil movers that have been recommended.

I have a 21HP B7510HST and a 48"-wide KK box blade. I can lug the engine with the 4 scarifiers extended the max into the clay-loam soil on my place. Sounds like your driveway material is a lot more unforgiving.

I'd check carefully on your tractor's pulling capacity before I'd venture into box blades or other scraping implements larger than 4-ft wide.

Also, with these small BB's you'll need to add weight to get the thing to work properly. I usually carry about 100 lbs of extra weight (a 90-pound sack of cement mix or a 6-ft piece of 1/4" wall steel pipe).

wushaw · Jan 7, 2006

Not necessarily..the Road boss is available down to a 4' model. I would recommend loading the rear tires and have either a FEL on ft. or some other kind of weights to help in pulling it.
A Box Blade willl work but it will be very tiresome after 2.5 miles of road. It would be much easier with a road grader type of attachment.

rk246 · Jan 8, 2006

I am learning that it definetely takes some time to master the BB, it is one implement that I had never used. It does seem to be real handy though. I just put on the Top and tilt kit, that allows angling the BB and tiliting it back or forward with hydraulics. I don't know if this is an option for your tractor or not but for that long of a driveway, seems that it would be real handy...