Box Scraper Sheared ripper frame

[Drsmile]

Admitedly, I am a novice. I was clearing / grading an area with some debris (brush, limbs, etc...) on a piece of land I have only owned for 5 mos. Having fun and a good time today in the Georgia sun and 65 degree weather when all of the sudden - STOP... I looked back saw I was hung up on something and backed up. A stump just below grade that was not visible was grabbed by my middle scarifier and sheared right through the frame!! I pulled out the ripper and spend 3 hours getting the stump out so I don't damage anything in the future forgetting it was there. I am going to take it to a fab shop and have it fixed. It is a BushHog SBX720 - a stout piece of steel.

That was the back story. Now the question: should I have the ripper frame beefed up, or is it good that the scrape was the weak link in this chain? I guess I would rather tear up a scrape then hurt the tractor if / when this happens again... McCormicK CT50U is a great machine, and with only 200 hrs - I don't want to beat it up too bad. Also, am I a rube, or does this sort of thing happen to everyone as sometime or another?

 

[joshuabardwell]

That's mighty darn impressive.

 

[dex3361]

I have done the same thing to my box blade ripper and I just fixed it and I may beef it up a little. Your ripper shank will bend sometimes instead of ripping the tubing. It happens o all of us and the reason a lot of us learn to weld.

 

[xring100]

bummer remember if you reinforce this area to make sure that everything else from the shanks slot to the 3point mounting points is beefy enough to handle the kind of loads that you'll be capable of inducing. To bad they don't have a fuseable link like a shear pin
It would be a real bummer to trash the main beam worse than just a tear out

 

[Bigfoot62]

That big tractor of yours is obviously over-powered. You'll have to get rid of it. Seriously, BushHog's website recommends 35hp or less (FWD) for the SBX blades.
You should be able to find a welding shop that can fix it right up. Then, be really careful how you use it, or get a heavier blade.

I have a 6' Gill Roll-Over. It's 30+ years old, and I've had it behind 100 hp FWD tractors. Never broken or even bent it. But, it probably weighs 3x what your box blade does. (probably costs 3x too)

 

[Drsmile]

That big tractor of yours is obviously over-powered. You'll have to get rid of it. Seriously, BushHog's website recommends 35hp or less (FWD) for the SBX blades.
You should be able to find a welding shop that can fix it right up. Then, be really careful how you use it, or get a heavier blade.

I have a 6' Gill Roll-Over. It's 30+ years old, and I've had it behind 100 hp FWD tractors. Never broken or even bent it. But, it probably weighs 3x what your box blade does. (probably costs 3x too)

I'm at 38 on the pto. I'm chalking it up to being a novice and working soil I was not really familiar with. It did great ripping out roots and grading a dirt road that hadn't been touched in 7 yrs. That tractor stopped so fast my neck must have grown an inch when I hit that stump. Rippers were set up high, and top link was trimmed out so I was only cutting maybe 2-3 inches deep. Another learning curve! I would rather have to fix up a blade than the rear end on my machine.

 

[xring100]

I'm at 38 on the pto. I'm chalking it up to being a novice and working soil I was not really familiar with. It did great ripping out roots and grading a dirt road that hadn't been touched in 7 yrs. That tractor stopped so fast my neck must have grown an inch when I hit that stump. Rippers were set up high, and top link was trimmed out so I was only cutting maybe 2-3 inches deep. Another learning curve! I would rather have to fix up a blade than the rear end on my machine.

I think they meant 35 engine gross Hp. Also they really should rate these things based on operating weight its probably just as important as HP if not more. The heavy duty ffc box scrapers list max gross operating weight.

 

[spruce Deere]

I have done the same thing to my box blade ripper and I just fixed it and I may beef it up a little. Your ripper shank will bend sometimes instead of ripping the tubing. It happens o all of us and the reason a lot of us learn to weld.

Welders, scrap iron, equipment and tractors have a symbiotic relationship....

On my frontier boxblade, even with just a measly 27hp I bend rippers now and again....... Maybe I should have also mentioned a shop press in the first line also

 

[RDrancher]

After seeing your post, I checked out my MBX. I have a couple that are starting to tear, but not as bad as yours did. After banging down and reweldiing the tears, I think I'll take a length of #5 rebar, grind it flat on one side and weld it across the bottom.

 

[Drsmile]

Welders, scrap iron, equipment and tractors have a symbiotic relationship....

On my frontier boxblade, even with just a measly 27hp I bend rippers now and again....... Maybe I should have also mentioned a shop press in the first line also

I have a 120 MIG, but I think I will need more heat for this. As such, I was going to take it to a fab shop and have them work it over for me.

 

[Ken45101]

I'm at 38 on the pto. I'm chalking it up to being a novice and working soil I was not really familiar with. It did great ripping out roots and grading a dirt road that hadn't been touched in 7 yrs. That tractor stopped so fast my neck must have grown an inch when I hit that stump.

THERE is your problem, IMO: going too fast (along with a light duty bb on a big tractor). I usually just let my tractor idle along, maybe 1200 rpm at most. Many a times I've come to a gentle stop with the wheels spinning when the BB hangs on something.

The other thing that may help is to have your draft control set so that the 3pt lifts if it encounters a difficult spot.

I have the heavier rated MBX on a 55 hp tractor.

I would not significantly beef it up, that is probably the best failsafe point in the possible chain of other things you could break, all of them more expensive to repair.

 

[L355SS]

THERE is your problem, IMO: going too fast (along with a light duty bb on a big tractor). I usually just let my tractor idle along, maybe 1200 rpm at most. Many a times I've come to a gentle stop with the wheels spinning when the BB hangs on something.

The other thing that may help is to have your draft control set so that the 3pt lifts if it encounters a difficult spot.

I have the heavier rated MBX on a 55 hp tractor.

I would not significantly beef it up, that is probably the best failsafe point in the possible chain of other things you could break, all of them more expensive to repair.

I agree that you need to go very slow at least till you find all the hidden dangers. I bent a couple of rippers on the outside catching on tree roots but they only bent even though the tractor stopped dead. Go slow.
Dennis

 

[blueriver]

The worst thing (my opinion) is that cut out in the frame to put the ripper teeth thru ... weakens that main frame. Take the rippers out lay a 1/2" flat strap from one end to the other underneath ... cut some 2x2 angle to go across ( 2 for each ripper) weld them to the 1/2" and put the ripper teeth in with two bolts to serve as shear pins.

Clear as mud (right)

 

[Drsmile]

Well I was in range 2 gear 3 not going very fast. I was told the blade was a medium duty when I bought it. It was new on the lot, just had been sitting for year, so I got a fair deal on it. The root was massive, the root ball was around 3' after we dug it up. Someone must have cut it down at grade a year ago and grass / leaves covered it up. Everyone tells me this McCormick is a big tractor, but it seems tiny to me with the big Case and NewHollands around that my neighbors have (granted they raise cattle and such)... 43hp and 38 on the PTO just does not seem like to much for a 6' BB. The ripper tooth frame just seems like a weak design to me.

I have the BB at a shop right now; will post up picks of the repair / beefing.

 

[Ken45101]

Well I was in range 2 gear 3 not going very fast. I was told the blade was a medium duty when I bought it. It was new on the lot, just had been sitting for year, so I got a fair deal on it. The root was massive, the root ball was around 3' after we dug it up. Someone must have cut it down at grade a year ago and grass / leaves covered it up. Everyone tells me this McCormick is a big tractor, but it seems tiny to me with the big Case and NewHollands around that my neighbors have (granted they raise cattle and such)... 43hp and 38 on the PTO just does not seem like to much for a 6' BB. The ripper tooth frame just seems like a weak design to me.

Third gear on road gear? That's fast for a box blade.

As someone mentioned, your tractor is more powerful than the rated specs (35hp) for the blade. I think many of us have found that it's best to overbuy on implements rather than just marginally meeting the specs or under buying. I got tired of being a frequent customer at the local weld shop

It's not a weak design, it's designed for what it is spec'd for. Everything has a failure point. Beef it up and it becomes heavier and more expensive. I have the medium duty version on my Kubota M5040. Th heavy duty RBX blade is rated for 60 HP, the medium duty for 55 PTO HP tractors. Your blade is only rated for 35 HP.

The RBX blade is 300 pounds heavier than your SBX blade.

 

[jmc]

The ripper tooth frame just seems like a weak design to me.

Impossible to tell the wall thickness from that picture but my sense is that it's only 3/16 or less, the way it seemed to curl up. If so, I agree with you.

 

[jenkinsph]

That is a heavy tractor for that grade of a boxblade imo. A 5000+ lb tractor needs to be coupled to a medium duty boxblade. I agree with the others suggesting you go slower until you find everything in the ground.

If it were me I would make the simple repair and reduce engine and travel speeds.

 

[Herkypilot]

I have the same BB and it was sold as a medium duty. Behind my 50 hp MX it's performed fine. I have stopped the tractor with it several times without problem.
I believe what the OP said was that he was in 3rd gear LOW, which I have done also while clearing an old logging road and spreading gravel.


HP

 

[allen in texas]

I've torn my box blade up in exactly the same manner. My blade is not tough enough for my tractor but I'll fix it and keep using it.
It happens.

 

[KYDan]

I have the Dirt Dog 72" rollover box blade and I have bent the shanks by hanging them on big rocks, but have not had any issues with the box itself. Bushhog blades are made by Dirt Dog. The 72" rollover box is rated at 45 PTO horsepower and weighs 710 lbs. I don't have any experience with the MBX box blade series. However, the MBX series Dirt Dog is rated at 65 hp 2WD and 55 HP 4WD. It does not specify PTO HP on their website, however, since it does specify PTO HP on the RO series I would think it is the same for the rest of their blade ratings. I also have R4 tires which will slip more readily than R1's.