proudestmonkey
Platinum Member
A few weeks ago, there was a thread about which blade would be good for a BX. Timing was perfect, because that's what I was looking for.
I ended up buying the standard duty back blade made by King Kutter (not the smaller and lighter XB blade and not the heavier "Professional Series" blade). I bought a 60" at TSC for $215. What a great blade for the price. I couldn't put it on when I bought it because the weather was too wet to do anything with it. Today was the first chance I had to put it on and play with it.
I was worried because a local dealer thought a standard blade would be too big for my BX, but I didn't think the smaller "estate" series Woods or the XB series from King Kutter would be heavy enough to drag dirt and gravel when doing grading work. Now that I have this blade, I think I was right (see below).
So, the blade I bought worked just great. Its probably better adapted to tractors that have a higher 3 pt hitch (when you have rear hydraulics in the very lowest position, the blade tilts forward a bit). Other than that, it seems perfect for what I want to do, and lifting the blade by a few inches remedies the situation because the blade straigtens out. I am very glad I bought it. Its plenty heavy, its not really too big, and it extends far enough back so you can change it from forward to reverse without taking it off (another reason I am glad I went with the 60").
I used the blade to dress up my gravel driveway, which was in very bad shape. Up until now, we've been hand raking it, which takes about an hour to an hour and a half. I did the same amount of work in 5 minutes, and after 30 minutes of fine tuning, the driveway is smoother now than its been since we paid someone to spread three dump trucks full of class III and class V (clean) gravel a year and a half ago. I rolled the newer gravel with the older base of Class V and limestone powder to make a more stable mix. Tommorrow its supposed to rain, so I am going to go over it with my water-filled lawn roller to pack it down before we start to get frost (which will hopefully lock it in for the winter).
I also finally have a smooth trail to the tractor shed. Earlier this year we got a short deluge of rain that washed several very long and fairly deep ruts in the trail (which is about 200 feet long). On my way to put the tractor away, I let the blade down all the way, so it was floating over the loose stuff, which then rolled into the ruts. Without hardly slowing down, I had accomplished in no time at all something I have been wanting to do, but unable to do, all summer long. Doing both jobs, I can see that a blade any lighter than the one I got (250 lbs) would probably be too light. As it is, I had to go over some areas a few times to get enough of the gravel "rolling" ahead of the blade to properly fill in low spots.
This blade meets everything I was looking for: size, versatility, durability, and very low cost (I still can't believe they can make a profit selling this much iron for such a low price--I figure shipping alone has got to be very pricey).
Given its size, and maneuverability, it should be perfect for snow plowing.
The only downside I can see is that, with the length of the back blade plus the added length of the FEL, I will no longer be able to put the tractor in the shed (the FEL is not on yet).
I ended up buying the standard duty back blade made by King Kutter (not the smaller and lighter XB blade and not the heavier "Professional Series" blade). I bought a 60" at TSC for $215. What a great blade for the price. I couldn't put it on when I bought it because the weather was too wet to do anything with it. Today was the first chance I had to put it on and play with it.
I was worried because a local dealer thought a standard blade would be too big for my BX, but I didn't think the smaller "estate" series Woods or the XB series from King Kutter would be heavy enough to drag dirt and gravel when doing grading work. Now that I have this blade, I think I was right (see below).
So, the blade I bought worked just great. Its probably better adapted to tractors that have a higher 3 pt hitch (when you have rear hydraulics in the very lowest position, the blade tilts forward a bit). Other than that, it seems perfect for what I want to do, and lifting the blade by a few inches remedies the situation because the blade straigtens out. I am very glad I bought it. Its plenty heavy, its not really too big, and it extends far enough back so you can change it from forward to reverse without taking it off (another reason I am glad I went with the 60").
I used the blade to dress up my gravel driveway, which was in very bad shape. Up until now, we've been hand raking it, which takes about an hour to an hour and a half. I did the same amount of work in 5 minutes, and after 30 minutes of fine tuning, the driveway is smoother now than its been since we paid someone to spread three dump trucks full of class III and class V (clean) gravel a year and a half ago. I rolled the newer gravel with the older base of Class V and limestone powder to make a more stable mix. Tommorrow its supposed to rain, so I am going to go over it with my water-filled lawn roller to pack it down before we start to get frost (which will hopefully lock it in for the winter).
I also finally have a smooth trail to the tractor shed. Earlier this year we got a short deluge of rain that washed several very long and fairly deep ruts in the trail (which is about 200 feet long). On my way to put the tractor away, I let the blade down all the way, so it was floating over the loose stuff, which then rolled into the ruts. Without hardly slowing down, I had accomplished in no time at all something I have been wanting to do, but unable to do, all summer long. Doing both jobs, I can see that a blade any lighter than the one I got (250 lbs) would probably be too light. As it is, I had to go over some areas a few times to get enough of the gravel "rolling" ahead of the blade to properly fill in low spots.
This blade meets everything I was looking for: size, versatility, durability, and very low cost (I still can't believe they can make a profit selling this much iron for such a low price--I figure shipping alone has got to be very pricey).
Given its size, and maneuverability, it should be perfect for snow plowing.
The only downside I can see is that, with the length of the back blade plus the added length of the FEL, I will no longer be able to put the tractor in the shed (the FEL is not on yet).
