What kind of box blade did I just buy?

[Vigo327]

Its slow going and very dependent on technique.. for example in the below pic the box is full and pushing a column of dirt that extends almost between the rear wheels, BUT the box is tilted all the way to the rear via the power top link, and the 3pt is not in float, it’s lifting some of the weight, just not enough to lift the box and let the dort fall out. You can see how much is spilling around the sides, some but not much. I can also put a lod in the bucket to increase front wheel traction if needed.. I cant pull a full box at all in 2wd..

Anyway, i just like to share my techniques and optimism but most times a bigger machine would still make the work way faster and easier, cant argue that!

 

[BadDecisions]

Unless you are really good and quick with the hydraulics and don't take on too big a bite your little Ford isn't going to do much with this attachment.
Use my 3pth blade all the time. Mine can be offset to the side, the entire blade turned upto 45 degrees for ditching and the blade turned either way to push material to the side I chose.
I find it so much more useful than the box blade.
Just saying.

It's already proven to be MUCH more useful than the 3pt blade even without the functional rear blade on the box. People who have never worked desert ground often don't understand - this stuff sets up like concrete when it's dry. It's not all that heavy, relatively speaking, but is insanely hard. My 6ft 3pt blade is nearly useless for breaking up the top layer by itself, and adding weight to the blade just bent the snot out of the pivot the few times it got a good hold on the ground. I've already gotten this box pretty full of dirt, and it's done pretty darn good at it. Better than I had thought it would be.

I once tried to dig a hole by hand out back in the summer. Took me all day to break up a 3ftx4ft hole approx 2 feet deep by hand, mostly spent swinging a pickaxe in to the ground to break it up a small bit at a time. The 3pt blade mostly just bounces over the top. Having a considerably heavier box structure without a pivot has done wonders in this regard

I don't have a single ditch here, though the wash that cuts through the property could be considered to be similar, there's really no need to drag a blade through it. For me, 90% of this is just occasionally running down the long driveway and dirt road here to break up the washboard and rutting that develops. The rest of it will be land leveling to prepare for some buildings I'm putting up later this year. Probably would have been fine with a land plane, but I figured the box blade came in cheaper and could be more versatile in the long run.

 

[Vigo327]

Glad its working for you!! Hope your angle blade is repairable, or at least, you dont need it anymore either way?!

I relate to the hard ground stuff.. Here in San Antonio the stuff cant really be cut into well by a typical cat1 angle blade. Ive seen some 1000lb* cat2 blades that would probably do it and hold up but i dont have the tractor to use em, so the box blade is my favorite 3 pt tool.

 

[BadDecisions]

Yep, already did most of the repair. Typical undersized chinesium hardware, lol. The hole drilled for the main pivot bolt was a bit over an inch, with something like a 19mm class 8.8 bolt ran up through it. To say it had excessive slop was an understatement. I welded in a chunk of DOM tubing with a 1" ID, and replaced the bolt with a 1" grade 8. It's much mo' betta now. I'm also planning on adding a couple thrust bearings in there later, and putting one of those 5th wheel friction plates in too to tighten it all up a bit more...I just didn't have the bits on hand when I did the repairs.

I talked to some of the local DOT guys, and they said they've had issues cutting through this ground with the big CAT road graders too, so overall I think I'm doing pretty darn good with my wee little toy tractor

 

[Vigo327]

The hole drilled for the main pivot bolt was a bit over an inch, with something like a 19mm class 8.8 bolt ran up through it

Jeez, with those tolerances they might as well skip the drill bits and just do all the holes freehand with a plasma cutter! My 5' blade seems decent quality but it just doesn't weigh enough to break any hard ground and by the time i weighted it down im sure id be finding all the weak points just like you did.. I just got lucky that i bought my tractor in a 'package deal' that had the angle blade AND the box blade from day 1. So it's only by accident i didn't end up in the same spot as you. But your box blade is cooler than mine.

 

[BadDecisions]

I was joking that they must had run out of drill bits, and just handed the parts off to the local junk yard dogs to chew the holes open

 

[Squirrel Tooth Alice]

Bingo. I think you got it. Landscaper

It appears to me that there is an extra "r" in there, as in "landscRaper".
I did a web search, and I did find some implements with that name made by Durabilt and Westendorf, although I couldn't find your exact model. If you have any old school implement dealers in your area, they may be able to solve the rest of the puzzle.

Anyway, I think that's a good score. Looks like it's built to handle anything you could throw at it.

 

[jenkinsph]

Have you hooked it up and pulled yet? First thing I would do is try and see what it will do. Then decide where to spend money.

 

[BadDecisions]

Have you hooked it up and pulled yet? First thing I would do is try and see what it will do. Then decide where to spend money.

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