[AT] Spam> Box blade tips

[Cecil R Bearden]

About 50 years ago or longer, I worked for a grading and mowing 
contractor while going to college.   He would cut a 3 inch slot in the 
top link of the box blade so it could float.  that way you could fine 
grade and if you wanted it to cut, you lowered the lift until the link 
was compressed.  When fine grading, you raised the arms until the link 
either floated or was in tension.  It really worked great.

Cecil in OKla


On 5/14/2013 3:17 PM, k7jdj at aol.com wrote:
> Great info Alan.  I am having trouble with email.  I think they are going through but I never get anything that is sent from an AOL account to ATIS. Use to.  For a while message were going to spam folder, now nothing.
>
> Gary
>
> Renton, WA
>
>   
>
>   
>
>   
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Alan Nadeau <ajnadeau1 at myfairpoint.net>
> To: ATIS <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> Sent: Tue, May 14, 2013 1:08 pm
> Subject: [AT] Spam> Box blade tips
>
>
> I tried sending this a few days ago but my ATIS-foo was weak and it went into
> the great beyond.  Since I just had a successful test message make the journey
> I'll try it again.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> There is a fairly steep learning curve involved in getting a box blade to
> work efficiently.  The top link is your friend in this.  Every box blade I
> have seen has had two blades, back to back.  The rear blade acts as a depth
> gauge for the front one.
>
> If you have a concrete floor you can start on, adjust the center link so
> both blades touch the concrete.  Now lengthen the link and you will see how
> the front blade comes off the ground.
>
> With the front blade raised, in varying amounts you can cut the top off high
> spots and spread the material in the low ones, on the go.  Very nice for
> filling potholes in the spring, when the gravel is mushy as the frost is
> coming out.  Moisture content is important for that process and what is best
> varies with the type of gravel, it a learning process all by itself.
>
> As you shorten the center link from "level" the front blade becomes more
> aggressive,  it will keep going down as there is nothing for the rear blade
> to ride on.   Then you raise the 3 pt. just enough to take the slack out of
> the linkage.  It takes a while to get the knack of it but it works.
>
> If you're trying to cut a flat across a slope or put a crown on a road you
> use the adjustment built into the 3 pt arms on one side, I think it's
> normally the right one that has the adjustment crank.
>
> If the blade isn't doing what you want, or you're not getting the desired
> results, CHANGE SOMETHING.  I watched one bozo trying to grade a gravel
> parking lot and after two hours he hadn't accomplished anything.  He was
> griping about how the blade was no good or needed some sort of skid shoes.
> I watched him quite a bit as I was working across the street and he never
> once got off the tractor to adjust anything.  At that time I had never used
> a BB and had nothing to offer, not sure I would have tried to help him
> anyhow, the man was a total klutz and unable to understand just about
> everything concerning machine operation.
>
> If your tractor has remote outlets, and you do quite a bit of BB work, and
> you can afford a couple hundred dollars, get a hydraulic center link.  It's
> an absolutely Cadillac accessory for any sort of 3 pt mounted grading
> equipment.  It makes it possible to change how aggressive the blade, or a
> landscape rake, is, on the go.
>
> I had to make a hydraulic link for my Cat "0" tractor with a 5' rake.  I use
> it for just about everything on the 3 pt now.  Even the garden plow, where
> the suck of the share can be changed to very aggressive to get the plow in
> the ground and then backed off to lighten the draft once it is riding on the
> gauge wheel.
>
> The Ford 4000 at our shooting club doesn't have a free rear outlet, both
> valves are tied up with the loader.  At some point I'm going to try to get
> the money for a diverter and hyd. center link.  It is a major PITA grading
> almost a half mile of entrance road and two parking areas having to stop
> every few minutes to tweak the center link as conditions change.
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