Box blade or tooth bar for grading grassy area? Or neither?

[BetterThanAShovel]

One of the projects that I want to get done this summer is re-grading of the backyard area. There is a low spot that collects the rain water and turns to mud. Also, we put in a pool last year in the backyard, and I want to grade away from the pool so water doesn't collect around it as well.

That means a lot of grading/scraping. The backhoe on my B2650 will work just fine for breaking up the soil...but I'm not sure what the best tool will be for working in the gradual slope in the whole yard to achieve drainage.

I've attached a terrible picture of the project area. As you can see, the ground is higher than the pool right now, so that has to be removed and the pool has to become the high point. Where the plastic water pistol is is the current low point of the yard. The entire yard slopes towards the trees in the background, so that's where it all has to go.

I've been considering something like a piranha bar for the bucket since the ground here is mostly clay, and pretty hard to dig into with the smooth front bar on the bucket currently. But for so large a project, I'm not sure even a tooth bar will be practical.

At the same time...I'm not sure there's enough OTHER work around here to justify a box blade. I'm almost sad that we paved our gravel driveway, heh. The local store appears to have a 72" box blade I could rent, but ideally I should be using a 60" to keep from getting bogged down.

Any suggestions on the right tool for doing a lot of re-grading of this grassy area?

Thanks.

 

[PortTackFarm]

I'm fairly new to tractoring but the box blade can do some amazing things when it comes to relocating dirt. I couldn't imagine owning my tractor without the BB. Besides its usefulness in moving dirt, it's great ballast for FEL and grapple work. If you can swing adding one to your implement inventory, I'd recommend it. That said, I couldn't imagine my FEL bucket without a tooth bar either. Good luck with your project.

 

[Henro]

One of the projects that I want to get done this summer is re-grading of the backyard area. There is a low spot that collects the rain water and turns to mud. Also, we put in a pool last year in the backyard, and I want to grade away from the pool so water doesn't collect around it as well.

That means a lot of grading/scraping. The backhoe on my B2650 will work just fine for breaking up the soil...but I'm not sure what the best tool will be for working in the gradual slope in the whole yard to achieve drainage.

I've attached a terrible picture of the project area. As you can see, the ground is higher than the pool right now, so that has to be removed and the pool has to become the high point. Where the plastic water pistol is is the current low point of the yard. The entire yard slopes towards the trees in the background, so that's where it all has to go.

I've been considering something like a piranha bar for the bucket since the ground here is mostly clay, and pretty hard to dig into with the smooth front bar on the bucket currently. But for so large a project, I'm not sure even a tooth bar will be practical.

At the same time...I'm not sure there's enough OTHER work around here to justify a box blade. I'm almost sad that we paved our gravel driveway, heh. The local store appears to have a 72" box blade I could rent, but ideally I should be using a 60" to keep from getting bogged down.

Any suggestions on the right tool for doing a lot of re-grading of this grassy area?

Thanks.

No question in my mind that the box blade will be the best way to go. It is what I use if I need to scrape grass/top soil off an area. I do have a tooth bar and suggest you get one as well as a box blade. I have a backhoe as well.

I have never had good luck trying to scrape grass/top soil off with my loader/toothbar. Box blade with the tines down wins every time, for me anyway.

Backhoe is great for dealing with thick amounts of dirt, that you first break free with the backhoe and then can move with the loader...box blade is better for large areas that would be a pain to deal with using the backhoe if you are just skimming some off the top.

Box blade can be used to drag dirt from one place to another, but for me the loader is usually better for that purpose, if the dirt has been made loose by other means.

 

[Crash277]

No question in my mind that the box blade will be the best way to go. It is what I use if I need to scrape grass/top soil off an area. I do have a tooth bar and suggest you get one as well as a box blade. I have a backhoe as well.

I have never had good luck trying to scrape grass/top soil off with my loader/toothbar. Box blade with the tines down wins every time, for me anyway.

Backhoe is great for dealing with thick amounts of dirt, that you first break free with the backhoe and then can move with the loader...box blade is better for large areas that would be a pain to deal with using the backhoe if you are just skimming some off the top.

Box blade can be used to drag dirt from one place to another, but for me the loader is usually better for that purpose, if the dirt has been made loose by other means.

Well said!! that's exactly how I do it. i do not have a tooth bar on my loader. the BB with the scarifiers dropped down can dig up a pile of stuff and break up the ground.

 

[OrangeKrush]

As Henro said I would try to get a tooth bar also if planning on doing FEL work. I purchased a bb last summer and working it in my drive I can already tell that it will do some major dirt work.

 

[fried1765]

One of the projects that I want to get done this summer is re-grading of the backyard area. There is a low spot that collects the rain water and turns to mud. Also, we put in a pool last year in the backyard, and I want to grade away from the pool so water doesn't collect around it as well.

That means a lot of grading/scraping. The backhoe on my B2650 will work just fine for breaking up the soil...but I'm not sure what the best tool will be for working in the gradual slope in the whole yard to achieve drainage.

I've attached a terrible picture of the project area. As you can see, the ground is higher than the pool right now, so that has to be removed and the pool has to become the high point. Where the plastic water pistol is is the current low point of the yard. The entire yard slopes towards the trees in the background, so that's where it all has to go.

I've been considering something like a piranha bar for the bucket since the ground here is mostly clay, and pretty hard to dig into with the smooth front bar on the bucket currently. But for so large a project, I'm not sure even a tooth bar will be practical.

At the same time...I'm not sure there's enough OTHER work around here to justify a box blade. I'm almost sad that we paved our gravel driveway, heh. The local store appears to have a 72" box blade I could rent, but ideally I should be using a 60" to keep from getting bogged down.

Any suggestions on the right tool for doing a lot of re-grading of this grassy area?

Thanks.

I would suggest spraying the area to be graded with "roundup" (or equivalent) a month or more prior to grading.
The grass clumps will then be gone, and you will have much better grading success.

Buy the 60" blade that you want.
You can resell it if/when you decide that you no longer need it.
May be almost similar end cost, as if you had rented one.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

I'd start with making a fairly accurate map of the yard, use 1/4sq paper,say 1 square = 4'x4' ?
Use a pool 'post' as the base reference to put a laser level on it. Now measure the elevations every 8'( 2 squares. The more points you record the more accurate the drawing will be. You know the pool is 'high' the trees 'low', so you'll have to remove 'whatever' to get the slope right so water will flow from pool to trees.

 

[Elliott in GA]

In addition to agreeing with all of the recommendations for a box blade, I would suggest a self-leveling rotary laser kit (Bosch has one with everything for about $550). Stakes, strings and bubble levels take so much more time, and they are in your way when you are working. I leveled two sites 30x30 and 30x16 feet by myself with the laser, box blade and FEL. You can set the laser up on its tripod away from the work area, and you can check your progress anytime in a couple of minutes.

 

[BetterThanAShovel]

In addition to agreeing with all of the recommendations for a box blade, I would suggest a self-leveling rotary laser kit (Bosch has one with everything for about $550). Stakes, strings and bubble levels take so much more time, and they are in your way when you are working. I leveled two sites 30x30 and 30x16 feet by myself with the laser, box blade and FEL. You can set the laser up on its tripod away from the work area, and you can check your progress anytime in a couple of minutes.

Ya, this is definitely the way to go for a project this size. I've made plenty use of my standard laser level and just a stick in the past...but only when it's dark! Works well other than that exception. But when we made the pad for the pool to sit on, I needed a no-kidding way to make sure the ground was level, and fortunately had a contractor friend who let me borrow their bosch rotary laser transit. That worked great. I'll most likely borrow that again for this project.

 

[BetterThanAShovel]

I'd start with making a fairly accurate map of the yard, use 1/4sq paper,say 1 square = 4'x4' ?
Use a pool 'post' as the base reference to put a laser level on it. Now measure the elevations every 8'( 2 squares. The more points you record the more accurate the drawing will be. You know the pool is 'high' the trees 'low', so you'll have to remove 'whatever' to get the slope right so water will flow from pool to trees.

That's a good idea. I only have SOME idea of the lay of the ground, I need to get the whole picture.

 

[BetterThanAShovel]

Buy the 60" blade that you want.
You can resell it if/when you decide that you no longer need it.
May be almost similar end cost, as if you had rented one.

Ya, I'm thinking this may be the way to go. I can attest, based on the prices and availability I'm seeing, that these things definitely keep their value. Now just to FIND one....

 

[NCL4701]

Agree with all of the above. Would add if you have a disc harrow I’d run that over it on a light setting (cutting maybe 1” or so deep) to take out the grass. Leave it for a week or so to dry, then cut it lightly again twice back to back to chop the grass and roots. That eliminates the clumpy grass that won’t want to flow well with the box blade.

A tiller set shallow, just deep enough to take out the grass, would do the same thing (maybe even better) and you can probably rent a tiller.

You could try it with just the boxblade and rent a tiller only if it’s clumping too much with the boxblade. That’s actually what I’d probably do if I didn’t have a disc harrow or tiller laying around already.

 

[fried1765]

Ya, I'm thinking this may be the way to go. I can attest, based on the prices and availability I'm seeing, that these things definitely keep their value. Now just to FIND one....

Among the least expensive (but still good) are the King Kutter brand blades.
The best prices for those are generally from Blain's Farm & Fleet in Wisconsin.

Among the best you can get is from Everything Attachments., but they may have a very long wait.
Blain's may be far away from you, but they usually do have great shipping rates.
I have bought several Blain's items, and I am 1,000 miles from them.

TSC sells Tarter Gate built blades, but they are at the quality bottom of blade options.

 

[fried1765]

Among the least expensive (but still very good) are the King Kutter brand blades.
The best prices for those are generally from Blain's Farm & Fleet in Wisconsin.

Among the best you can get is from Everything Attachments., but they may have a very long wait.
Blain's may be far away from you, but they usually do have good shipping rates.
I have bought several Blain's items, and I am 1,150 miles from them.

TSC sells Tarter Gate built blades, but anything Tarter Gate builds is "low end".

A King Cutter example:
A 60" King Kutter box blade from Blain's, currently shows as $949.99 plus shipping.
Shipping, if it were to me, (1,150 miles) would be $289.
Blain's warehouse is apparently in Rockford, IL., but they have stores throughout the Midwest.
You can have King Kutter box blades shipped to any Blain's store for free.

 

[OrangeKrush]

Among the least expensive (but still good) are the King Kutter brand blades.
The best prices for those are generally from Blain's Farm & Fleet in Wisconsin.

Among the best you can get is from Everything Attachments., but they may have a very long wait.
Blain's may be far away from you, but they usually do have great shipping rates.
I have bought several Blain's items, and I am 1,000 miles from them.

TSC sells Tarter Gate built blades, but they are at the quality bottom of blade options.

Craigslist around here have blades all the time, that's how I got my BB.. reasonably priced!

 

[fried1765]

Craigslist around here have blades all the time, that's how I got my BB.. reasonably priced!

That......all depends on where you are!
I have not seen a box blade on CL within 75 miles, for many months!

 

[BetterThanAShovel]

Among the least expensive (but still good) are the King Kutter brand blades.
The best prices for those are generally from Blain's Farm & Fleet in Wisconsin.

Among the best you can get is from Everything Attachments., but they may have a very long wait.
Blain's may be far away from you, but they usually do have great shipping rates.
I have bought several Blain's items, and I am 1,000 miles from them.

TSC sells Tarter Gate built blades, but they are at the quality bottom of blade options.

Thanks for the info on good/bad quality brands. I stay away from TSC in general because their prices are ridiculous...and their box blades are no different in that regard.

I'm going to assume Lands Pride is a good brand as well?

 

[BetterThanAShovel]

Another question...I've read that you should size the box blade wider than your tractor. The B2650 is right at 54", so I figured a 60" was the right size. I'll occasionally come across a 72" box blade for sale though. Is it better to wait until I can get a 60"? I'd be concerned with a larger blade that I'd start spinning my wheels too easily.

 

[fried1765]

Thanks for the info on good/bad quality brands. I stay away from TSC in general because their prices are ridiculous...and their box blades are no different in that regard.

I'm going to assume Lands Pride is a good brand as well?

You are correct!
Land Pride has an excellent reputation, for all their attachments/accessories!

 

[Crash277]

You are correct!
Land Pride has an excellent reputation, for all their attachments/accessories!

i will attest to the quality of my LP BB... i had the top pin come out of my 3pt. i was in high gear transporting fill and using the BB as ballast. The BB hit the ground and stopped me instantly. zero twist or bends to the BB. the 3pt was a bit mangled. dealer got me all the replacement parts with no problem.