Box blade or just rear blade?

[HungarianHippo]

Trying to prioritize implement purchases as we finally embark upon our Glorious Tractor Shopping Extravaganza. We have a gravel lane and looking for the right tool to maintain it. It’s currently in dire need of renovation, with some significant puddle holes that have developed over the years. DH is thinking it makes more sense to just hire someone to do the initial repair-- pull it all up, grade the base, and put down proper layers of driveway rock-- and then we could just maintain it with a simple rear blade.

I don’t disagree with that, but would appreciate others thoughts on box blade vs rear blade. Other tasks we need to be able to do: scraping the barnyard, pushing snow, leveling pocket gopher hills.

When I look at these tasks, kinda seems like all we need is a simple blade, but let me know if you find the box blade more handy.

[SusanO]

I’ve got a 4 foot box blade I will sell you cheap. Ooops - you are in Iowa. :D:D It came with the tractor and I tried to use it once or twice and not worth the trouble. The previous owner of the tractor used it to level a gravel road. Maybe you are better with the tractor than I am but this thing is in the way and needs to go. This goes on the back of the tractor and I am not sure what a rear blade is.

[HungarianHippo]

Lol! A rear blade is just a simple grading blade with no knives.( Picture scraping a flat spreader across toast.). (”‹ But you can angle it like a snowplow)

[Aces_N_Eights]

Grading is an art itself. Hence why road graders have a single blade, a long wheel base and now use GPS. An earth mover has a big box scraper to move large amounts of material and in most situations is used before the grader.

As an amateur grader with a small tractor and a 3 point attachment for the rear I’d be more apt to use a single blade for driveway grading. I’d start very shallow and practice with angle and depth. Its not as easy as setting an angle and dragging it down to the end and back. I was taught to build a crown, not to dig and use the material on the road which requires a few passes depending on how bad the road is and what material is available to fill.
A box scraper is pretty handy for scraping pens but it is a bit tough for putting a good slope on driveways or floating arenas.
In my opinion.

[Bluey]

A blade you can angle several ways is way better for all you want to do in all kinds of odd corners and hard to get to places.

Box blades are fine if all you will want to do is grade a road, will save you extra passes to smooth edges and can carry more material in each pass.
It won’t work so well for leveling pens, against buildings and troughs, etc.

Most anyone I know uses regular blades because they do so much more.

[Mango20]

I’ve managed just fine with a regular rear blade. I have occasionally strapped a couple of 60lb sandbags to it to give it a little more muscle.

[goodhors]

You can do an amazing amount of things with the back blade, though there is a learning curve to it. Make sure tractor hydraulics work well for lifting the blade as needed. We jhave a box blade with teeth you can put down for ripping things up or lift the teeth for scraping only. Haven’t used it much yet, hoping it lives up to everything we hear about them. So far did NOT work trying to pull up pumpkin sized rocks for field rehabbing. Maybe not enough tractor? We will be going back there with the backhoe, digging them up to move. We will then try using it on tree roots, making field edges straight for planting later. Way too agressive with teeth for paddock scraping. We may be reselling it, got it with the tractor.

[Bluey]

@Mango20

I’ve managed just fine with a regular rear blade. I have occasionally strapped a couple of 60lb sandbags to it to give it a little more muscle.

There may be a rockshaft lever in your tractor to add more downpush to your 3 point hitch and so your blade?

Generally those are right by the 3 point hitch lever.

Setting that to heavier keeps the blade from floating along, lets it grab better.

[hosspuller]

All of the tractors I’ve been around do not apply down pressure on the 3 point. Gravity only. (Hence the sand bags) A rockshaft control is specific to the amount of implement pull or pressure on the top link. That pressure raises the draft arms of the 3 point reducing the load pulled.

[jawa]

My one dislike of a box blade vs a rear blade is that the box blade drops a lot of excess material out the side of the box. My husband LOVES to grade the driveway. I rather like a packed driveway, he likes the gravel on top. The loose gravel that gets dropped into the potholes gets through out by tires with a few passes. The potholes really need a bit of crush and run packed into them. The sides of the driveway have become higher than the middle due to the way the box blade lets extra material leak out the sides.

An appropriately sized land plane would be the best way to maintain a driveway, especially one with curves and hills.

[kande04]

I leave the potholes in the driveway because they slow everyone down. Some have to practically go airborne a couple of times before they get the message, but they do get it before they come into the yard.