Inexpensive Box Blades... Are They Worth It?

GT48DXLS

GT48DXLS

Tractorologist
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As I explore greater capabilities for my GT, and with limited experience with tractors (though increasing all the time), I decided to purchase an inexpensive box blade/ rear blade implement. Like the Johnny Bucket JR purchase I made with the tractor in 2017, I figured I would find out how many uses there are for the box blade after I buy it and start using it.

The two most common box blades I could find were Brinly Hardy, and Agri-Fab, in the Garden Tractor market for Sleeve Hitch attachment. They have some similar or same components between them but offer some differences in their package. Price range $100- $150. I realize many of you in this forum have 3 point on heavy GT's with plenty of experience, but for those like myself or if making an overall purchase decision, I figured I'd show what you get in the box, the minor modifications I did to it, and overall thoughts after using the box blade a few times.

I'm interested in thoughts from the 3-point experience too, did you start here also? was it an Agri-Fab? or Brinly Hardy? Also, tips for gaining skill with this thing in general.

I'm still thinking, if someone is buying a GT with implement use thoughts for the future, a bucket is still by far the most valuable tool. A bucket can do a little of everything, the SUV of implements, not the most specialized in much but can get many different jobs done as an all-in-one package.

Between the two brands offered, the reason I went with the Brinly Hardy was because it was available to purchase when I made the trip to a far away local Northern Tool. The Agri-Fab had a back-order on it. It was that simple. So here is what I bought,

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More in the next post,
 
The hardware that came with it is fine when evaluating the whole picture on an inexpensive blade, but the longer is what I went with. I like the larger thicker washers and nylon lock nuts for extra clamping power on something that is to be beat in the ground.

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I'm setting up for initial fitting, keeping things loose, making sure it will go together. It also has many points of adjustability for alignment.

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I also used Gorilla tape to act as a mount between metal. This is not needed, but has worked fine and easy to do.

This is the part that is for holding a concrete block for adding weight, The hardware without the washer is theirs, the one with the washer is mine, small difference but worth it.

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Again, theirs,

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Mine,

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I do want to make clear, I think it will perform fine for what it is without any mods, the mods add some extra expense, and I think they are worth it for a bit more performance from the unit overall.

These are the washers I used, there are many brands, some better, these are easily available.

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I used the smaller on top, and the larger on bottom,

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More in the next post,

 
Time to aligned the blade,

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The level is for being a straight blade,

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Side view of the bottom bolted to blade,

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This could have been wrenched down but that would have been a lot of force for 3/8" bolts and it would not clamp flat against the blade. The most support would be in an even, flat clamp against the blade, so I filled the gap with a washer,

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More coming,
 
The draw bar had 4 small bolts to hold it together in a potential high pinch point, they looked like this,

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I found some thick, round steel bushings so the clamping would be supported on both sides of the metal, inside and out, offering more resistance to potential twisting,

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Fitting is good on the blade,

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Now for the box,

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More coming,
 
Overview so far,

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Now the scarifier. I know it's not much of one, there's a complete lack of adjustability and replace-ability, but remember its inexpensive and not advertised to be used like a full tractor box blade that is 3 point supported, heavier than can be picked up, and welded.... but.... it does serve some function and my only concern with it was how loose it attaches to the box sides. The box sides are getting support from the scarifier by design, so I did a small modification here that tightened the unit up,

Time to drill a small hole,

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Two holes, Two extra quick release pins so each side is supported and can still be taken apart quickly for rear blade conversion, The side I drilled the two holes in was just supposed to be supported from the other side only. I had a vision of the sides bending out under drag. Maybe it would, maybe it wouldn't, but this is a bit more solid,

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Theirs is on the right, they had a pin for the left,

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So far, it's coming together well,

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More coming,
 
My next concern addressed,

I removed the back support plate with main pin from the blade and drilled the hole out that the adjustment handle attaches too. When I attached the handle the blade had so much play in it that I figured I would tighten it up a bit. I drilled the hole slightly small for my new bolt and had to freeze the bolt before inserting it.

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Here it is on the tractor,

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In order to use my weights without removing the rear actuator I made these,

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I put the box blade together 07JUN2019.

I have used both the rear blade and box blade. The rear blade is fast and can move material with very little effort, I have also concluded it takes a lot of practice to use it well.

The box blade is more user friendly and with a float capability on your sleeve (I have a Johnny Power Sleeve that has a float setting, works well) is easy to pick up with reasonable results.

I don't have use for the weight bracket, so it's removed. I have had on occasion used a couple suit case weights by attaching it to the top of the blade close to the center, easy. I think the weight might be better for someone with a manual rear sleeve?

Scarifiers should be adjustable at the very least (my opinion), I have ideas for using combine blades on the tips to break up surface roots, but maybe not necessary when adjustable?

If I had hard soil with rocks, the blade might wear out quickly and this would be a good modification, adding a 3/8" steel wear plate? Soft soil, sand and clay are very easy for this blade.

I now have this on as much as possible just for the added counter weight but also it helps to make fast work of leveling ground. I have been using my bucket but this requires a lot of constant operator attention to detail, now I get it close enough and finish with the box blade in float and it's almost effortless and much faster.

The Brinly has a 38" wide blade, the Agri-Fab has a 42" wide blade. Which is better? If I could have the 42", I would. The blade would be a better fit if it was as wide as my wheel track but.... with lesser than a K66 or with a K66 in harder soil the 38" might be easier on the transaxle (some things worth considering) so that answer is truly individually answered.

Is it worth it?

I think so. It's a very light tool at 70lbs, but so is the tractor it's built for comparatively. You might make extra passes but it does a decent job.

The next level up requires a 3 point (I think of heavier transaxle too) and starts at $400 with scarifiers that are still not adjustable, and without a wearable blade edge, but is significantly heavier.

As a note to Agri-Fab, the draw bar is shorter and that would be easier to maneuver with.
 
The pin bolt whatever, that holds the handle to the blade will bend/fail, weld it solid.
No need to angle a box blade.
Add your weights to the blade not the hitch.
Use blade on a gravel driveway after it rains.

Edit spelling
 
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dh1 said:
The pin bolt whatever, that holds the handle to the blade will bend/fail, weld it solid.
No need to angle a box blade.
Add your weights to the blade not the hitch.
Use blade an a gravel driveway after it rains.
Click to expand...

Great feedback, this is what I was hoping to get.

I was concerned about pin, still am. I get the box blade not needing to be angled, but the rear blade use does benefit from the 30 degree angle from side to side. I may be re-looking at this in the near future to re-design it. Maybe the combination use of rear blade/ box blade is one of those good idea's on paper but impractical actual practice?

The issue of weights,

I have used the weights (2) on the blade a couple of times just to test performance. If using weights for the blade I preferred using them on the blade. What I'm observing in practice is that the weights on the blade have offered a slight improvement when breaking grass root while leaving the sleeve in float. Why did I leave it in float? Being lazy, but it proved to be a valuable test. I have to remove the actuator bottom connection (free of implements) from the float bracket and install the actuator in the power sleeve part of bracket to choose between the two modes.

Now for the spec side,

The weights are kept within 18" from the rear axle with these brackets, similar in position to the original weight bracket, and when thinking "arm" takes 162lbs (4 weights) to 252lbs on the K66 axles. I use the weight for counter balance on the bucket. The small upgrades I have on the bucket put me into the 300lb range of capability, now. (I'm not advocating 300lbs in the JBJR without proper reinforcement to the support structure and such)

The box blade is 70lbs total with approximately 40 lbs on the end (blade and pin). The blade is 4' from the center rear axle, giving 160lbs of counter weight. The two 42lb weights add 336lbs of "arm" to that 160lbs when hanging on the back of that blade. Am I doing this math right? This clearly exceeds the max limits of the K66 and power sleeve.

The blade is 30" from the sleeve hinge and the rating for the power sleeve is 300lbs up or down.

Because of the power sleeve's 300lb down force, I have concluded adding weight to the blade is unnecessary, this is why I'm thinking it's for a manual operation? (Using gravity verses power)

So in practice when the primary use for the day is the bucket with mixed box blade use, I like having the weights on for the bucket and though unnecessary for the box blade I'll keep the weights on helping with traction and steering.

When using the trailer, the weights come off, it has a heavy tongue weight.

All this thought and math for a 1/4 tractor, I have great respect for the people using full size tractors with serious consequences for getting weight and balance wrong, seriously.

So keeping the weight at the hitch is a built in margin of error or safety for my K66, but.... If I had a heavier transaxle I get where your experience is saying on the blade, more weight-more work accomplished, did I get that right? (I have ideas for that too, but later)

For the gravel, using the blade is all about speed leveling right? I'm prepping a drive for gravel and right now the sand gets out of sorts in no time, I used the blade only, and after many ruts I created figured it came down to practice, practice, practice.
 
I have used both Brinley straight and box blades.
I find them to be light, they bounce around alot not doing much on the driveway, making them heavier to to point where your tractor struggles to pull them is when they work best.
And I always use them in the float position so they push down as hard as they can on the ground. I have used them with someone standing on the blade.
In wet or softer conditions, everything works better and not as much weight is needed on the blade.
IMO for what it's worth.
 
GT48DXLS said:
The hardware that came with it is fine when evaluating the whole picture on an inexpensive blade, but the longer is what I went with. I like the larger thicker washers and nylon lock nuts for extra clamping power on something that is to be beat in the ground.

View attachment 20881

I'm setting up for initial fitting, keeping things loose, making sure it will go together. It also has many points of adjustability for alignment.

View attachment 20882

I also used Gorilla tape to act as a mount between metal. This is not needed, but has worked fine and easy to do.

This is the part that is for holding a concrete block for adding weight, The hardware without the washer is theirs, the one with the washer is mine, small difference but worth it.

View attachment 20883

Again, theirs,

View attachment 20884

Mine,

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I do want to make clear, I think it will perform fine for what it is without any mods, the mods add some extra expense, and I think they are worth it for a bit more performance from the unit overall.

These are the washers I used, there are many brands, some better, these are easily available.

View attachment 20887

I used the smaller on top, and the larger on bottom,

View attachment 20888

View attachment 20889

More in the next post,

Click to expand...
Don't use lock washers with unlocks.
 
Since the main purpose of the box blade is to remove material from high spots and drop it in low spots and since you like add things on I'll suggest building and attaching 2 height adjustable casters behind the blade. This way you can use the float or power down positions without cutting too much at once.
Mike
 
I just added a strip to the bottom of mine, don't really use the blade much, I flip over the 4X5 trailer, add a couple cement blocks and drag it. Does a better job.
 

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Nice summary, thank you for taking the time to critique and compliment.

The newer style, I believe the thing that is going to give you fits the fastest is the scarifier bar.
You're probably just as far ahead to make your own and make it adjustable

One other upgrade to consider.
If using blade to contour ground, placing weight to one end will allow that edge to cut in faster.
If that is a use for this attachment, a pivot on the hitch may be useful.
If all you're ever going to do is flat, then it would be completely unnecessary.
 
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