4' Box blade question

[Bcamos]

I know a 4' blade isn't very large, and mine is a little on the light side (about 200lbs) but it should be doing something!

I made a few passes over my driveway this morning with not much success. First few passes were tilted far forward (really engaging but not burying the rippers) and then I tilted it far back (more blade) and it was barely filling the box at all. I had the 3pt all the way down but it just seemed like it wasn't cutting into the material.

It's a gravel driveway with a very pronounced dirt/grass center crown that probably hasn't been dug up in years. Should I keep on with the rippers until I get a softer mix of dirt and gravel? It's still pretty packed which I'm assuming is the reason why the blade wasn't cutting very well.

In some spots, where there was no crown (the very start of the driveway near the road) the blade cut in nicely, the box filled and I got pretty good results.


Thanks!

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

You could alwasy throw some weight on it to get it to cut better.

 

[85Hokie]

You could alwasy throw some weight on it to get it to cut better.

Exactly what I am thinking, more weight! Those rippers will just "bounce" on the top, adding something like concrete block or anything that has weight will help it bite a little better. Going slower rather than fast allows it to bite better too.

 

[Bcamos]

Exactly what I am thinking, more weight! Those rippers will just "bounce" on the top, adding something like concrete block or anything that has weight will help it bite a little better. Going slower rather than fast allows it to bite better too.

I was in low gear. The rippers went in fairly easy. The issue was that the blade just wasn't doing its job. I'm thinking I need to do more passes with the rippers in deep to get everything broken up.

This my first time ever using a box blade though, so I'm just guessing.

 

[kckndrgn]

I hate posting links to other forums, but this thread has the best advice for using a box blade.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/122762-beginners-guide-using-box-blade.html

I use a 4' blade on my BX and it works great in the clay soil.

 

[bucktail]

Have you tried running the rippers a little more shallow?

 

[Bcamos]

Have you tried running the rippers a little more shallow?

I did one pass with everything kind of level and it didn't seem to do anything at all. It almost felt like the 3pt just wasn't going down far enough. So maybe weight really is the answer.

I'm hoping that breaking everything up more can compensate for the lack of weight. I don't really have anything I could weight the box down with.

 

[85Hokie]

I did one pass with everything kind of level and it didn't seem to do anything at all. It almost felt like the 3pt just wasn't going down far enough. So maybe weight really is the answer.

I'm hoping that breaking everything up more can compensate for the lack of weight. I don't really have anything I could weight the box down with.

Send a picture of the rear 3 point set up, sometimes there are ways to lower and or raise the min/max points.

 

[JackJ]

Can you vary the height of your rippers? On hard packed driveways, I've had to loosen stuff up with several passes using the box tilted forward, and the rippers down. Not doing much with the blade at that point--just tearing up the surface. Then raise the rippers and tilt the box back to spread and level.

As long as you've still got traction, I'd try a more aggressive setting.

 

[Dchemphill1]

Are you doing this work after a good rain? That will really assist you in the process. More weight is your friend as well.

 

[bcp]

The rear of your box blade probable looks like this. If weight is on the rear blade, the front blade does little or no cutting. Tilt the box blade forward so the weight is is the front edge, then it will cut to the best of its ability.

Bruce

 

[Bcamos]

Can you vary the height of your rippers? On hard packed driveways, I've had to loosen stuff up with several passes using the box tilted forward, and the rippers down. Not doing much with the blade at that point--just tearing up the surface. Then raise the rippers and tilt the box back to spread and level.

As long as you've still got traction, I'd try a more aggressive setting.

I've still got one level that I could move them down to. I had the rippers on the middle holes.

That's kind of what I was starting with (tilted all the way forward) and I'm thinking I may have just tried using the blade too soon. Not enough passes with the rippers down.

 

[Bulldog]

My 4' box sucked. I don't believe any of them have the weight to work like they should. One with bolt on edges helps some but just simply not enough weight.

 

[Creature Meadow]

We have 2000' of road I maintain, if it gets out of hand before I can work it I use a disk to break it up first before leveling.

Do you have a disk, could try that?

Jay

 

[Bcamos]

So I went back at it, mainly just ripping and no blade. I made about 6 or 7 more passes and things are looking better. The middle of the driveway was really neglected over the years, so it's just really rooted grass that I'm tearing up. I've been kicking most of it off to the side that I'll have to get with a rake later. Now I'm mostly down to dirt and gravel in the middle and things are cooperating better.

I used the blade a little bit and it started to actually fill the box but there are still some spots that it just doesn't touch. So I'll go back in the morning to see what more I can accomplish. I think the last of weight and just overall size is hurting me a bit, so it's just going to take more time to actually get the results I want. The dealer told me I wouldn't want a 5' blade on the back of my B2301 but I haven't lost traction in the slightest. Even with the rippers sunk into the ground.

 

[Thorny]

bcamos, try to engage one blade at a time. Either the ripping teeth, the front blade or the rear blade. The teeth are angled so that a flat box angle should dig downward. and as one tooth digs in, it'll pull the whole box and blades down with it.

When you decide to use the box blades, they work the same way. the angle of them pulls them down into the ground.

If your ground is really hard, you may need to make many passes with the teeth to loosen the surface. stagger your passes so that the teeth dont just dig 5 trenches.

 

[Lil Foot]

I don't believe any of them have the weight to work like they should.

This one does, but it's only 42" wide. Weighs well over 300lbs, been told it weighs nearer 400lbs, but I haven't ever weighed it.

 

[BadDog]

I've currently got a Gannon 4' tumbler. Not quite as big as I would like behind the B2150, but it's what I've got. It's a name brand Gannon, not a chinese sheet steel box, pretty heavily made for the size, so you (or at least I) would expect it to work pretty well as is. I've run rigid boxes like these back east back east on my beefier tractors of similar size (MF 35 for instance), with no issues once set right, as long as you didn't get into red clay (whole other story). But a lot of the soil out here is hard as concrete once you get through the talcum powder dust. I've read threads and watched videos, but basically no joy, it just didn't want to carry unless it was fully pulverized. Then I took the 2" thick press plates of my 50T press, grabbed a couple of strong arm clamps, and added just under 200 lbs to the box. Now, as long as I've minimally broken up the concrete using a pass or two of the rippers, that thing fills the box just fine, often to overflowing. You have to be sane about the weight the frame can handle, but I've seen wheels with tires, cinder blocks full of concrete, all sorts of stuff used as weights, and I've also seen tractor suitcase weights used.

 

[yoop]

you may want to look at U Tube on box blades, I also am first timer and learned you may need to go over several times, But guys are right about weight making a difference Good Luck

 

[skeets]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxuEDGSGOZA