Poor man's shallow ditch witch using a 24" shank on a boxblade?

icehorse

Member

Equipment
L3901, FEL, box blade, tedder rake, mini round baler, rotary cutter
Aug 10, 2022
78
8
8
98261
I've got quite a few 6" deep or so, 2" wide or so, 10 to 16 feet long ditches to dig.

I was thinking of getting one 24" shank and putting it on my box blade.

thoughts?
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user

Edke6bnl

Active member

Equipment
B7800 Kubota, case 1840 Skidsteer Ford 3500
Mar 31, 2022
187
89
28
Agua Dulce, California
I had an extra box blade tooth that I attached to a 2 in receiver shaft and with a little weight will make a trench
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user

D2Cat

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L305DT, B7100HST, TG1860, TG1860D, L4240
Mar 27, 2014
13,047
4,414
113
40 miles south of Kansas City
Might take a look at a sub-soiler. A simple, inexpensive tool. You could make a foot to go over the one that's already there to make as wide as you prefer. You could even bend a piece of conduit on the back side to use to bury wire, if needed.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users

ctfjr

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L3800HST
Dec 7, 2009
1,713
1,935
113
central ct
This ^^^

I used one to trench for my video camera wires in the woods more than 500'
This is what it looked like after assembly, before use - dirty now. It has a shear pin jic.

assembled.jpg
 
  • Like
  • Dislike
Reactions: 4 users

fried1765

Well-known member

Equipment
Kubota L48 TLB, Ford 1920 FEL, Ford 8N, SCAG Liberty Z, Gravely Pro.
Nov 14, 2019
6,693
4,235
113
Eastham, Ma
Might take a look at a sub-soiler. A simple, inexpensive tool. You could make a foot to go over the one that's already there to make as wide as you prefer. You could even bend a piece of conduit on the back side to use to bury wire, if needed.
The complete tool is available from Agri-Supply.
Not terribly expensive.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users

icehorse

Member

Equipment
L3901, FEL, box blade, tedder rake, mini round baler, rotary cutter
Aug 10, 2022
78
8
8
98261
This ^^^

I used one to trench for my video camera wires in the woods more than 500'
This is what it looked like after assembly, before use - dirty now. It has a shear pin jic.
I think a subsoiler would be great to have, and I like the idea of the shear pin. Which bolt is the shear pin?

Sometimes, I'd really like to have the shank mounted just wide of the tires. The thing I'm trying to do now is make shallow ditches between fence posts so that I can bury electric fence cables under gates. So the standard subsoiler you showed, I wouldn't be able to get it in between (and in line with), the fence posts.

I've seen subsoilers with left and right shanks, but those seem like overkill for me. I was thinking of making a mount on the outside (a few inches left or right), of my box blade and being able to attach / detach a long shank. I think adding a shear pin is a good idea!
 

D2Cat

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L305DT, B7100HST, TG1860, TG1860D, L4240
Mar 27, 2014
13,047
4,414
113
40 miles south of Kansas City
I think a subsoiler would be great to have, and I like the idea of the shear pin. Which bolt is the shear pin?

Sometimes, I'd really like to have the shank mounted just wide of the tires. The thing I'm trying to do now is make shallow ditches between fence posts so that I can bury electric fence cables under gates. So the standard subsoiler you showed, I wouldn't be able to get it in between (and in line with), the fence posts.

I've seen subsoilers with left and right shanks, but those seem like overkill for me. I was thinking of making a mount on the outside (a few inches left or right), of my box blade and being able to attach / detach a long shank. I think adding a shear pin is a good idea!
Since need to get up close to and between fence post get a tooth bar for you loader. You can then easily loosen and remove material for a buried wire. Here's the style tooth bar you need.

1665328263682.png
 

icehorse

Member

Equipment
L3901, FEL, box blade, tedder rake, mini round baler, rotary cutter
Aug 10, 2022
78
8
8
98261
Curious....
Why do you want a 24" tooth when you're going down 6" ?
On my Land Pride box blade, the shanks are about 18-20" long, but most of that length is above the grade. They can only go maybe 4 to 6 inches below the level of the back blade. So I might be able to get a deep enough ditch with my existing shanks, but it seems like it's going to be close. So I thought a single 24" shank isn't a lot of money.