what should I know about using a box blade?

[bgott]

I tried a little something the other day that worked way better than I imagined it would. This will work if you have draft control. I used the draft control to blade a 100'x100' lot. I set it about four or five notches from the up position and just ran around in circles. After a few trips around I used position control to knock down the really high spots and than finished with three or four more passes in draft control. The only problem I had was the busted concrete in the fill would sometimes roll under the blade and trick the draft control into dumping the whole load in the wrong place. I had heard about doing this before but never had had enough room to watch it work. And it does it's thing without the aid of a computer.

 

[Kodiak]

Brad:

I got to disagree with there. Weren't you using that megagigabyte right behind the eyeballs computer.

 

[bgott]

Actually, I got the idea off of another forum, so it did take a computer. Once I got over my CRS caused by my sometimes semi reliable right behind the eyeballs computer the rest was easy!

 

[Ozarker]

Rooky question? What is a draft control?

 

[ScottAR]

I do somthing similar to this manually. This works best after rough cutting when the dirt is loose.
Set the top link to spread a little near neutral. Raise the hitch till it's about half way up the "slack links" where the blade can float. Then drive around in gentle circles till its flat. Go in several directions for maximum flatness.

 

[bgott]

http://users.netlink.com.au/~fergy/draftcont.html

This explains draft control better than I can. Most tractors are bottom link sensing rather than top link sensing these days.

 

[OkieG]

Rat,
It's good to get input from someone who uses their boxblade alot. I know there are skilled boxbladers who can nicely smooth rough terrain, but I am not one of them. The boxblade seems, by design, to naturally want to worsen irregularities. For example, as the tractor's nose drops (relatively), either cresting onto a high spot or starting to dip into a depression, the boxblade raises, dropping dirt instead of knocking the shoulders off the high spot. And, likewise, when the tractor's nose raises while beginning to climb out of a low spot, the blade bites deeper, instead of dropping dirt. Of course, you can manually adjust the blade on the fly to counteract this counter-productive tendency, but even after practice, I can't seem to end up with anything approaching a smooth surface.
Would skid plates or wheels behind the blade help produce a more "grader" like result, with less operator skill required? Dont get me wrong. I haven't given up on mastering the boxblade, but I would sure like to see some smooth ground leaving the tail end of my boxblade in this lifetime.

OkieG

 

[Ozarker]

Well, I understand the principal now. But how do I use "draft control"? Does it have something to do with the levers and springs on the left side, opposite my lift control? I see there is a position rod but don't understand how it relates, what it does or how it does it.

 

[JATO_RaT]

Your right, it can be a lesson in frustration learning to use a boxblade. While I am no means an expert, I have learned some of the variables that affect the ability of the boxblade and your ability to control it. Soil condition makes a big difference. If its moist and relatively rock free, its going to work well provided you develop an eye while sitting on the tractor for the high and low spots. Its easy to cut the high spots of moist, undisturbed soil. Once you cut it, its a little more difficult to put it back if you over do it and still maintain the same soil structure. When I get a low spot, I like to raise my box while moving to more or less cover the area that is low with a layer(s) of fill. Once doing that, I will use my loader to flatten and consolidate the soil I dumped. It gives me a good idea if I'll need more while helping to get some of the air out. When I first started using a boxblade, I recall driving around with the box in circles hoping everything would happen automatically. For me it SLOWLY became obvious I was making the situation worse. The soft areas were getting deeper, the hard areas getting shiny and glazed. I have to be honest. I rarely use my boxblade for the final finish anymore. Its used for my general leveling and ripping as needed. It can be done, but it takes time and much practice. I use a Harley powered landscape rake. Check them out at harleyrake.com. What they advertise still does not do justice to just how great these things are. A pass or 2 and your ready to plant seed, sod, or just have some beautiful, flat landscape. I use a Harley Pro 8. The Harley boxblade with the solid carbide tips mounted to the roller look like a super way to go, Tags on this forum has one of those. Of course all of this costs so thats where learning the boxblade leveling technique becomes so important. Once you have a powered rake like the Harley, I would think you could quite easily use it to create some income as its ease of use and ultimate result are incredible. In no time your going to look like you really know what your doing. I've got everyone fooled, good luck, Rat...

 

[John_Mc]

<font color=blue>Rooky question? What is a draft control?</font color=blue>

I'll take a stab at it... hopefully someone will correct me if I'm too far off:

Draft control is a means of automatically controlling how much "pull" or "drag" a ground engaging implement (i.e. plow, box blade, etc) puts on your tractor. Unlike "Position Control", which keeps your implement at a constant preset minimum height (it will still let it float upward, unless you have down force on your 3 pt mechanism).... "Draft Control" senses the load (usually through a mechanical linkage) and tries to keep the load constant by varying the depth of the implement. For example, it would let your plow sink much deeper in soft soil, but raise it up a bit if you drove through hard-packed clay to maintain a constant load. This is usefull to farmers because it keeps them from bogging down as they go through changing soil conditions, but still lets them plow as deeply as possible given those conditions.

 

[normde2001]

Okie, I experienced what you are talking about at first. The cure is to raise (and lock) the box an inch or so off the ground on very rough or uneven terrain. That forces it to only cut off the high spots and deposit it in the lows. You have to keep making passes over the same area and be patient. The tractor will dip and rise less and less on each pass. When the box gets too full, gradually raise it and let it empty over a long area. I do this with scarifiers set at minimum depth.

 

[bgott]

The tractors I'm familiar with have the draft control built into the internal hydraulic controls. My TN 65 and most other larger tractors have two levers side by side, one for draft and one for position control. The 8N has a lever up under the seat that you use to select draft or position control. I'm not familiar with your Yanmar. The picture, not really clear, they show of the optional John Deere draft control assembly looks like it might be an external assembly. You might want to ask someone in the Yanmar forum if you even have draft control and if so, how to work it. Once we know for sure you have it than we can work on technique.

Another thing, some tractors only have draft control. The Ford 9N is one and there was a guy who posted not too long ago who had a Kubota that only had draft control. The way I've been able to tell that I'm in draft control on a tractor I'm unfamiliar with is the implement seems to float around with a mind of it's own when you try to set the height. That's not a very clear description, I know, but for me it's kind of a seat of the pants type of thing. Do you have the manual for your tractor? It should be in there.

 

[JATO_RaT]

I forgot to add OkieG that I also have a boxscraper called a barnyard scraper. There are no ripper teeth. There are shoes however that fit on either side of the box and adjust up and down. They are about 2" in width or the "sole". They run the length of the box from front to back. For spreading gravel or dirt, they actually work pretty slick. How high the box is held above the ground obviously is what allows a certain amount of material to get through and thus determines the depth of the gravel or what have you. Rat

 

[Ozarker]

I don't have a manual for my gray market Yanmar but I have a manual for the YN195 US model which is almost the same.

It shows me the feedback rod for position control. There are two holes to attach rods. One marked P for the position control and one marked D. I assume the one marked D would be for draft control but the manual doesn't discuss draft control and warns me not to use that hole.

Thanks for the info. I'll go to the Yanmar forum and see if there is anyone who knows about it there.

 

[OkieG]

Thanks Mark and Norm for the additional input. I'll keep working on technique AND patience!!

OkieG

 

[kch]

reference the Harley Power rake, I check with a local dealer and one of these puppies cost near $7,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW!!! Is there anything similar that does not cost as much?? What about a TR3?? The dealer said it is a box blade, rake and blade all in one for $3000.

 

[JATO_RaT]

KCH, Harley is just one manufactuer. I beleive that Landpride makes powered rakes now as well. I'm not familiar with the one you mention, the Harley boxblade rake is the one that has the studded roller where mine is the double roller with 1" horizontal bars running the full width (mine is an 8' rake). Your right, $7000 is up there. Rat...

 

[kch]

Can you or any other landscapers out there tell me when they grade a new residence do they charge by the hour or by size of the lot or what? And what is the going rates? Thanks

 

[theboman]

Never ever get mad and haul off and kick a box blade.