Box blade question

GunnyIa · Oct 22, 2014

Hi folks,

My first post on this forum, looking for opinions on box blades. I have a ford 8N, and not much $$$. I live in an association with a 3-mile gravel & sand road. Lots of potholes!

Think'in a box blade would be a good investment. I've looked at a dealer's product, $1700. Found one online that looks almost identical, $600. Appears to be a wide range in dollars!

Any opinions? New implement or a used one? Why the huge dollar range, quality or function, or both? Is a box blade what I need, or would another implement work better to fix pot holes?

I'm open to any and all suggestions. Appreciate your feedback and opinions!

504 · Oct 22, 2014

Anything over $500.00 (5 foot)is too much for a blade you can pull with an 8-N

Brendon-KS · Oct 22, 2014

The cost and the weight typically go hand-in-
hand. As was said, with an 8N you'd be looking
for something on the lighter end of the
spectrum. Some models also have a hinged rear
blade that will increase the cost. For
driveway maintenance I'd think that one with
the simple fixed rear blade would be best. I
recently purchased a used 5-footer that I use
with a Deere M and have found it to be a handy
implement. In my opinion there is no better
implement for maintaining a gravel driveway. I
find it works much better than a regular blade
for smoothing things out.

showcrop · Oct 23, 2014

Unfortunately, to fix pot holes you need to "cut" to the bottom of them. If you simply drag a little material from high places and drop it in the holes, the next rain along with all the association traffic, will see those hole mostly back again. In order to cut with anything behind an N you will need to do some loosening first. A friend has a four foot York rake that has a set of maybe five teeth that can be dropped down in front of the rake that will dig in and loosen the dense pack. Something of that nature would work for you, and a used one could be found for probably $250.00 or so. Far and away the most important thing to maintaining a gravel road is that it be crowned so that the water runs quickly to the sides. Perhaps you could convince the other owners to chip in for two three loads of crusher run gravel so that you could build the center up. Crusher run will pack like pavement.

wellmax99 · Oct 23, 2014

box blades are good for drive way work
I bought mine years ago for $300
be sure it has the cutters or diggers, they break up the hard gravel or pan so you can smooth out the rocks.

I have all three blades for drive way work

box blade, rock rake, grader blade.
each has it good points, depending on the job.

Remember: a man cannot have too many toys!

wellmax99 · Oct 23, 2014

this may be beyond your requirements at this time.
but adding a rear wheel attachment to the rear of your leveling device will make your work so much easier and you will do a much smoother job.

this is the best picture of a trailing wheel that I could fine. otherwise, each time the front of the tractor wheels go up, the digger goes down ending up in a job that is not as smooth as you may want.
the rear wheel device will almost stop this action.

Zachary Hoyt · Oct 23, 2014

I have a used 6 foot box blade I pull with a Massey 35 or a Farmall
300. I have also used a 5' on the massey. A 5' would be good for
your tractor and they often come with scarifiers on the front beam
which can be raised or lowered to break up the ground ahead of
the blade if needed. I use mine on about a 1/2 mile of gravel road
and it works well, just takes a little time to get accustomed to it.
Zach

Dean Olson · Oct 26, 2014

Research " Road Boss Grader". Far easier to use than a box
blade and uses a lot less hp. I maintain about 1500 ft of
driveway and a 1/2 acre parking lot, all crushed concrete.
For 3 miles get every one to pitch in. I pd $1400 for a new 6'
Land Pride grader. Saves a lot of time makes a perfect road.

GunnyIa · Oct 28, 2014

Some really good information here! Thanks to ALL who shared their experiences and opinions!

Box blade question

GunnyIa

Member

504

Well-known Member

Brendon-KS

Well-known Member

showcrop

Well-known Member

wellmax99

Member

wellmax99

Member

Zachary Hoyt

Well-known Member

Dean Olson

Well-known Member

GunnyIa

Member

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