Who actually manufactures Frontier Box blades

[GreatWhitehunter]

As some may know from my thread in JD forum, I'm in the process of purchasing an industrial hydraulic box blade for my 110 TLB. I was leaning toward Gannon due to the solid reputation and rugged construction. My local dealer offered my a competitive price on an 80" Gannon. I asked that he inquire to Woods about Quick Hitch compatibility.
Woods reply was that none of the industrial boxes are Quick hitch compatible. Since the pricing was the same and the Frontier is QH compatible I opted to cross the Gannon off the list and go with the Frontier.

I assumed like a lot of us that the Frontier was built by Gannon to Deere spec, however I just found out that Gannon doesn't make the Frontier blade, it's manufactured by Monroe Tufline. So now I'm not sure the Frontier is the best choice, I believe the Monroe Tufline are a bit lower in cost than the identical Frontier.
My gut feeling is that the Gannon is abit heavy duty than the Frontier and although the Frontier is a well known brand I feel the Gannon likely has more name recognition for quality. One thing I didn't really care for on the Frontier/Tufline was the scarifier pins and as noted by the Oracle the shanks seem to be less robust compared to the Gannons.

What do you guy think? I was about to complete the purchase this afternoon.

Matt:confused3:

Here's a link to the Frontier manual which references Monroe Tufline as the manufacture.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...SWFvmJUaJ7_Sd5lpou45lsQ&bvm=bv.96782255,d.eXY

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

Yes, I think the Monroe Tufline is built somewhat lighter than the Gannon. For example, the 72" Monroe Tufline weighs 815 pounds, and the 72" Gannon weighs 1100 pounds.

Are there any Cammond dealers in your area? Their 72" hydraulic scraper weighs 1150 pounds (versus 815 for the Monroe Tufline) and has 1/2" side plates (versus 3/8" for the MT) and looks very sturdy, so it should be as heavy duty as the Gannon or close to it.

 

[jd870]

Have you taken a look at Landpride box blades.

 

[RickB]

Nearly 50 lb/ft weight difference between Gannon and Tuffline? I'd forgo the convenience of the quick hitch if necessary.

Frontier isn't a well known brand name to those that know it is a collection of implements sourced from the industry, primarily manufacturers with excess manufacturing capacity who are willing to wholesale to their own competition.

 

[GreatWhitehunter]

I ordered the Gannon 80 HB in construction yellow this afternoon. I felt a bit let down by the manufacture of the Frontier, I read some less than stellar reviews online. It looks like the telescoping draft links are about $300 so if hooking up the Gannon becomes to big an issue I buy those. It's 15 days to build the gannon and then shipping so my dealer said about 4 weeks is the average.

Matt

 

[GreatWhitehunter]

Have you taken a look at Landpride box blades.

I did indeed, local dealer was $600 more for a comparable blade.

 

[jenkinsph]

I suspect that Frontier has changed suppliers since I bought my box blade. The bb1284 Frontier I have is the same as a Gannon (spitting image) and the Monroe Tufline models look way different. Here is a link to a Monroe Tufline TB30 and TB40 Series Hydraulic Box Scrapers | Tufline

Here is a link to the Gannon http://www.woodsequipment.com/ceLandscapeEquip.aspx

 

[GreatWhitehunter]

Steve there's no doubt that yours was made by Gannon. But Deere likely found a cheaper manufacture and moved away from woods/Gannon.
I can't wait till my new Gannon arrives and will likely take your advise on the telescoping links you suggested.

 

[bullbreaker]

Heres a Frontier BB1184 maybe 10 plus years I use to own . When I bought it in the plastic tube mounted on BB it said it was a Woods manufact .
Nowadays I counld'nt tell you.

 

[jd870]

I think the early Frontier implements were mostly manufactured by Woods,now I think Deere has sourced out the Frontier line to a dozen or more manufacturers.