Will a Ford 4000 pull a box blade?

[kmacht]

I have a 63 Ford 4000 with a superior front end loader mounted. I am slowly converting some woods by the house into pasture for the horses. Once I get all of the stumps/rocks removed I am going to need to grade the area. To level it out I need to move about 2' of material from the high side of a 100' square area to the low side. A box blade sounds ideal for what I want to do but I am concerned that my tractor may not pull it. Everything I read talks about people needing to put their tractors in 4wd mode to get it to pull the blade. I have AG tires with chains but have had them spin just going up hills it a light load of firewood in the bucket. I would hate to go spend all the money on a box blade just to find that I can't pull it. Anyone else successfully use a box blade on a vintage ford tractor?

Keith

 

[oldnslo]

Do you have fluid in the tires or wheel weights? The loader on the front is taking weight (traction) away from the rear tires. Our neighbor had a 4000 Ford the the used on his farm so yes the tractor is capable if weighted properly.

 

[gb6049]

Use my '67 model 2000 with a 5' grader blade to move gravel around my driveway. I tried to use it to do some grading on my yard to put in a deck and found the problem in compacted soil is the the blade would bite into the soil and the hydraulics does not have enough downward force.

 

[stingray1]

My 3000 does fine with a 5ft box blade

 

[japody]

My 4000 doesn't even breathe hard pulling a 6' box blade.

 

[Birdhunter1]

Do you have fluid in the tires or wheel weights? The loader on the front is taking weight (traction) away from the rear tires. Our neighbor had a 4000 Ford the the used on his farm so yes the tractor is capable if weighted properly.

^^^ THIS
I have a 2wd Ford 3910, not much different of a tractor than your 4000. Wheel weights and fluid in the tires will help alot but you still won't have the traction you would if you take the loader off to do your heavier box blade work.
With no fluid in my rear tires I have 200 lbs of weights on each side and run a low air pressure, it does ok for traction with the loader on.

 

[MitchellB]

My United Box Blade is the attachment I use most often with my old 1958 861D Ford. A couple years before this picture was taken, I leveled about 10 dump truck loads of dirt to fill in where an old church once stood with that box blade and a little 8N Ford tractor that I had then, which is allot smaller than a Ford 4000. The little 8N did not have wheel weights either and only 1 tire was filled as I had just repaired a flat and replaced the inner tube in one rear tire and never filled it back up.

 

[ovrszd]

Yes, it will handle it fine.

It will also add ballast weight for doing loader tasks.

 

[kmacht]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I'm pretty sure the tires are filled on the tractor but have never had to add air or change a tube yet. I found a good deal on a used 5' box blade local to me so I'm going to give it a shot. If it doesn't work I can always sell it for about what I'll have into it.

Keith

 

[Kirk-NJ]

Even my 640 with less HP than your 4000 has no trouble pulling a 5' box loaded with dirt or gravel. Scarifiers will help in new ground.

Kirk

 

[MH8675309]

Definitely need weight in the back whether wheel weights or loaded tires. I had a 1962 ford 2000 with no weight in the back end and traction was definitely an issue from time to time. It would go through a fair amount with A round bale on the back but once that was placed - good luck getting back with no weight. You will find it will just be an all around better machine with some weight. A good used back blade at auction shouldnt cost much more than $400.00

 

[Soundguy]

For sure load the tires, and if needed, put weight on the box blade. a 5' shouldn't even be felt. should pull a 6'.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I have a 63 Ford 4000 with a superior front end loader mounted. I am slowly converting some woods by the house into pasture for the horses. Once I get all of the stumps/rocks removed I am going to need to grade the area. To level it out I need to move about 2' of material from the high side of a 100' square area to the low side. A box blade sounds ideal for what I want to do but I am concerned that my tractor may not pull it. Everything I read talks about people needing to put their tractors in 4wd mode to get it to pull the blade. I have AG tires with chains but have had them spin just going up hills it a light load of firewood in the bucket. I would hate to go spend all the money on a box blade just to find that I can't pull it. Anyone else successfully use a box blade on a vintage ford tractor?

Keith

That is the last two years of the 800 series and Dad wore out one 6' box blade with his 1962 801 Ford.

 

[kmacht]

Got the box blade hooked up this past weekend. It sort of works. On flat ground it works great but on any sort of a hill the back wheels just sit there and spin once the box starts filling up with a little bit of dirt. I haven't tried putting the chains on yet to see if that makes a difference.

Keith

 

[Soundguy]

Well, if you are trying to pull a box of dirt up a hill, then yes.. it gets tough. Do you have loaded rears or wheel weights?

 

[kmacht]

Well, if you are trying to pull a box of dirt up a hill, then yes.. it gets tough. Do you have loaded rears or wheel weights?

I'm not trying to pull the dirt up hill, more across or down it. The problem is that after I make a pass or two and the dirt starts to loosen up there just isn't any grip left on the rear tires as I try to make more passes. My lot used to be a farm field back in the 20's but was let go and had trees take it back over. The plus side is that the dirt is good topsoil down 18-24" deep and is very easy to get things to grow in it. The down side is that type of soil tends to be loose and not great for traction with the tractor. I do have loaded tires but no wheel weights. I thought about taking the bucket off the loader but right now when I do get stuck that bucket is the only way I have to push myself backwards and out. Still haven't tried the chains as it has rained here the past week but how to try them out this weekend.

Keith

 

[Soundguy]

I doubt chains get you much.

Are you trying to drag too much, maybee use a less aggressive angle.

And yes.. a heavy front will de-weight the back.