What sized rear grader blade?

[SI2305]

Hello,

As many of may already know, I just can't shut up about my new JD2038r. At the moment, the only attachments are the loader and a 6' rotary cutter. However, one of the jobs of the tractor (and the 2305 that preceded it) is some driveway maintenance and especially clearing snow. Our driveway is almost 500' long and is gravel for all but 30'. Given that I have used a grader blade for both light gravel maintenance and as my main snow clearing tool, I am wondering what size blade I need for my new tractor. My old 2305 pulled a 5' cheapo blade with no problems and despite being rusty & ugly, it did do a good job at angling and rolling the snow off the the side. I have my eyes set on an everything attachments grader blade for my new 2038r. I intend for this to be the last grader blade I ever buy so I am deliberately getting one that has tilt and offset options as well as being sturdy built. What I don't know is what size I should get. While a 5' option is available I am ruling this out as being too small--once angled it won't even clear the tires of my new tractor (about 5' themselves measured outside to outside). I think the six footer would work, but again, once angled I am afraid that I will just cut out my own tires and no more. EA does have a 7' available and that is attractive as I should be able to angle and still clear a little further beyond my tires. Also, the offset is attractive as I can clear some patches of snow without actually having to drive over it. As for gravel maintenance, I mostly used my old blade turned around backwards to help collect gravel that worked its way to the edge and nudge/smooth it back into the center of the driveway and leave it looking attractive. I am NOT planning on using this blade as a way of cutting new, broad paths in the driveway or really digging much at all into either gravel or the clay soil beneath it. This is NOT a box blade replacement. The only thing I intend to both dig and move is snow, up to about 1' thick. That being said, I would not completely rule out angling the blade severely (maybe offsetting as well), using it nearly edge on as a way of adding just a bit more of a ditch to the driveway (by ditch, think a couple of inches deep & wide, not feet deep and wide).

So, given my needs, is it generally safe to assume that a jd2038r (37hp) would be enough tractor to operate a 7' blade in the snow? I am pretty sure my old 2305 could have handled a 6' blade, but I never actually tried that.

Thanks so much in advance for those who know more about rear blades than me.

SI2305 (Old handle, new tractor)
2018 jd2038r, loader, 6' rotary cutter and hopefully soon to be new EA rear grader blade

 

[beenthere]

Can't offer positive comment on a rear blade for moving snow, as it would be my last choice.

Can only recommend going to a front blade.. my 4300 handles a 7' Western plow with 32Hp with ease on even deep, wet snows.

If you are maintaining the gravel drive by just scooching loose gravel back to the center, then it's a "loose gravel" nightmare for plowing.
Versus mixing the loose gravel in with the fines by working up the drive "grader-like" and then smoothing and packing the mix down tight at least once a year. That will give a firm hard surface that can be plowed with a blade.

However, some locations (don't have yours in your profile) cannot get good packing gravel, and must rely on loose gravel instead. I feel sorry for those members when it comes to maintaing a drive that cannot be packed down tight.

 

[SI2305]

Beenthere,

I do hear you about having the loose gravel. I live in the southern tip of Illinois and just for reference and I did actually have pretty good results with a grader blade for snow in the past. My location is notorious for having exceptionally wet snows when it does snow and my solution was to never even try to clear all the snow right down to the gravel or you are right, I would simply be plowing off my gravel each year.

Sometime in the (I hope) not-too-distant-future I would like to oil and chip my driveway and then I could simply drop my blade and plow snow without any reservations. Until then I plow by lowering my blade to about 2 inches from the top of the gravel and move forward slowly and watch that blade so it does not start to dig up a lot of gravel. In the spring, I can (could) flip the blade around backwards (still angled) and it does a surprisingly good job of flicking that wayward gravel back onto the driveway.

One aspect I did not mention before is that there are times when I need to clear snow from the end of my driveway to the intersection at the end of our road (about 1000'). My wife is a doctor and has to get out to see patients. The county is usually pretty good at plowing the connecting road, but the road my driveway meets seems to be way on their back burner (it is a dead end road and not a lot of people live on it).

Again, for reference, we are the first property on our side of the road as you enter the area and there is no through traffic after a heavy snow event, so when I do have to get out to clear the road, it is unlikely in the extreme that I will meet anyone else on that portion of the road. Also, people around here are generally terrified by even small amounts of snow (my wife and I are very much northerners and grew up driving on snow pack.) and will tend to avoid driving on it like the plague.

I have to admit though, that the oil and chip road is really easy to clear compared to our gravel driveway and I really hope that will change in the future.

SI2305

 

[oosik]

Hey there fella - please - put some paragraph breaks in your posts. My old tired eyes start doing double twists by the time I reach the end of your post - thanks.

Anyhow - I've had two tractors and I use a rear blade to plow snow and, now, do summer maintenance on my mile long gravel driveway. Been out here 36+ years with the winter snows and summer dust.

Couple of things that I've learned 1- weight is your friend when it comes to any ground engagement implement - especially a rear blade. My current blade - Rhino 950 - 96" wide - 1050 pounds. 96" still is not wide enough to cover the width of my rear tires( 80") and offset so I can plow about 12" to 14" wider that the 80" rear tire width. But it does OK - when offset and angled, it will clear a path about 76" wide. In other words - when offset and angled I will drop from a 96" cleared path to a 76" cleared path.

I offset so that it clears from the inside of the far side rear wheel to about 12" beyond the opposite side rear wheel.

2 - do the math to figure out exactly how wide a path you will clear with whatever size blade you choose. Notice - my 96" blade drops to a 76" cleared path when offset and angled.

Rear blade is not the easiest implement to become proficient on. Land plane grading scraper will do a good job on the summer driveway but is a big fat zero for snow clearing. LPGS has almost a zero learning curve - just hook it up and pull.

3- if you will be getting any type of land engagement implement - - do yourself a favor and get a hydraulic top link. Worth its weight in gold. Saves time, makes efficient implement operations much easier and faster to learn.

The really heavy Rhino rear blade was not purchased to handle the snow - - it was needed so I could "penetrate" my driveway after the spring wet spell and when it sets up like concrete. My original blade - Land Pride - RB3596 @ 566 pounds would simply bounce along the driveway and looked somewhat like a kids 4th of July sparkler.

My owners manual has some really radical ideas on their recommendations for implements. Rear blade - max width-72" max weight-1200# A 72" rear blade on my tractor would be about as good as hooking up a slab of bacon on the 3-point. And the only way I know of getting a 72" rear blade to weigh 1200# - - custom order at the local steel fabricators.

So as you can see - my Rhino is 24" wider than Kubota recommends and about 100# less than they recommend. I've used the Rhino for five years now with no damage to the tractor or rear blade. I've graded hard enough and deep enough to bring everything to a complete stop with all four wheels digging.

On a rear blade - particularly when offset - don't hook an immovable object that the blade can't bounce over.

 

[SI2305]

oosik,

Sorry about the density of my posts. I have a new, larger monitor and the length of the post just does not look that large on the new monitor. Once I look at the post on an older, smaller monitor, your point stands out.

So, just to skip right to it, you would seem to favor the 7 footer. I do have two 40# suitcase weights that I used to slide on to the other blade before using and it did make a difference. I might do the same again.

--I will try to get the angled width from EA. I think the 7 footer will be fine, but exact dimensions will be nice to know in advance.

--I don't see myself getting a land planer as this is mostly for snow removal. If I really want to get serious about engaging the ground, I will get a box blade.

--I was pretty proficient with the old blade, but this is a new tractor and a new blade so I am sure I will have a bit of a learning curve to it. If I get really crazy about it, I may see about getting shoes for the blade.

--Lastly, I absolutely drool at the thought of a hydraulic top link, but I don't think one is in my price point in the immediate future, though that may change down the road and I completely agree with you that point.

--Assuming I use this blade the way I used my last blade, I would call it more of a "snow engaging" piece of equipment rather than "ground engaging".

Thanks for the input and suggestions--I will make good use of these regardless of which way I run with this attachment.


SI2305 (Old handle, new tractor)

 

[oosik]

SI2305 - thats so much better - the spacing - thank you. I agree with you - a 7 footer will allow you to blade snow like a wild Comanche. If you have run a rear blade previously on a different tractor - - then this new tractor with a new blade will not be bad at all. So much of doing well with a rear blade is the feedback you get right up thru the seat, to your butt.

For the longest time I thought the hydraulic top link was just an urban sissy attachment. Boy - was I ever wrong. It makes adjustment totally painless and rather that the implement doing just OK after the Nth adjustment you made and the Nth time you stopped and made that adjustment -- you motor along and tap gently on the lever.

Don't fret - I went 26 years on my first tractor without hyd top link and 4 years on my current tractor. And some have the gall to say Norwegians are hard headed..........

 

[Redlands Okie]

Running a Kubota L3560 that needs 6 ft to cover the tire marks. Land pride RBT 3596 which is a 96 inch grader blade on the rear with full set of hydraulics. Works great, blade still covers all even when tilted. I think I would be fine with a 7 footer but really glad I got the 8ft.
I will say if I am doing heavy gravel work and have the blade at max angle its very likely to move the rear of the tractor sideways. Just not enough weight of tractor. Up to roughly 45 degree angle all works well.

 

[oosik]

You know the feeling Redlands Okie - - there are times I wish I had a 120" rear blade. My M6040 is what could be called "heavy". With the front grapple, Rim Guard filled rear tires and Rhino rear blade it tips the scales at 10,100 pounds. And even at that - I've had the rear tires side slip occasionally when blading snow. Never when blading dirt.

 

[Einthewoods]

I have a 7' land pride back blade and love it for clearing snow. I clear my drive and parking areas as well as about a half mile of road. Works well for me.

I'm not sure if I would want an 8' or not. I can do everything with my 7' and it lets me get into a couple tight areas that I have. I suspect if I had and 8' I would like it, though with some of the heavy snows we get it would probably force me to get chains.

 

[oosik]

I had heavy duty tractor chains, all the way around, for my first tractor(Ford 1710 4WD). Did not like the way the chains made the tractor ride - like sliding down a giant ear of corn with every other row of kernels missing. Traction with the chains was FANTASTIC. Could climb right up the wall of a barn.

One of the bennies of the Kubota - 4X heavier than the Ford and with its R1 tires there is never a need for chains.