New house/driveway. Boxblade vs landplane?

[jimh406]

I thought this thread would be over after I gave my opinion.

Any way, you can use a lot of things to fix this road including just a blade and just a box blade. However, I would take the bet with any of you that I'd be done using my grader/scraper before you would be with a Box Blade.

I don't agree that a blade without any scarifiers is a good choice. I think getting rid of those potholes would be a lot of work, and would be relatively easy with either a box blade or grader/scraper.

As noted, ultimately he'll need gravel, but no reason to focus on ditches in the mean time. Again, the grader/scraper advantage is that cleaning it up after storms etc is very easy. Just put it down and drive. Little skill required.

YMMV.

 

[Dave Ogren]

What 3pt hydraulic system/method are you using to tilt your box blade?

Exactly what I was looking for, Thank you.

 

[fried1765]

Exactly what I was looking for, Thank you.

If box blades could be easily manually tilted, angled, and offset, they would be much more versatile tools.

 

[NCL4701]

If budget isn’t a concern, I suggest a CAT 150, of course with rippers for those pesky potholes.

 

[PRice12]

Let me just say thank you, and holy crap this went way further than I anticipated haha. I don't know what I expected though. Most tractor preferences are closely held and always opposing it seems. I do know that I am going to rule out the Landplane. It just seems that it won't work effectively to rejuvinate a sand base road. At least no one has really confirmed that to me yet.
That leaves me with the Boxblade and the Rear Blade. I do see the merit of both. I am terrified of further screwing up my driveway and yard with the blade. I don't think that would deter me from getting one, just something to add to the pro/con list. I do think the boxblade would work better for fixing the potholes initially, but I also see the rear blade working better for reshaping the other areas.
My best guess at this point: I'm going to find some people at the dealer and at work who have experience with it and ask what they think. Probably leaning toward the boxblade just for simplicity's sake.
I appreciate everyones input, and also the banter. Thank you.

 

[NCL4701]

Regardless what you get, don’t be too concerned about screwing up. First time I used a boxblade I had zero experience and just watched a few YouTube videos most of which were guys who didn’t know what they were doing either. The first hour I had things so messed up screwing around with it, it would have been a challenge getting my 4WD pickup down the road. After about 4 hours of messing around (glad there were no witnesses to heckle me) I started to figure it out and spent the next 6 hours doing a job a competent operator could have done start to finish in probably 4 hours. But by the time I was done I knew how to run a boxblade.

My experience with a back blade was similar but was so long ago I barely remember the details past messing up a lot before I got the feel for it and actually fixed both the original problems and the additional ones I had just created. That was WAY before YouTube and my father was long on expectations and short on explanations so not much training.

When you first start, don’t be too hard on yourself and don’t expect to be a great operator instantly with anything you choose. Be patient with yourself, experiment with it, and you’ll figure it out. If this bunch figured it out, you can, too.

 

[jimh406]

It just seems that it won't work effectively to rejuvinate a sand base road. At least no one has really confirmed that to me yet.

Nobody has a sand base road. . I'm not sure how you figure that a tool that's made for gravel with fines can't work on sand.

 

[old and tired]

...It just seems that it won't work effectively to rejuvinate a sand base road...

I would not try to "rejuvinate" your sand base. Leave the base alone and just add more material to fill potholes. Again, It would be best to add gravel but that me...

 

[jimh406]

Leave the base alone and just add more material to fill potholes. Again, It would be best to add gravel but that me...

Potholes are more dense at the bottom of the hole. You have to loosen it up or anything you put in the hole will come right back out.

You can manually tamp the material to combine with the edge of the pothole, but that's manual work.

 

[Flintknapper]

I'm going to find some people at the dealer and at work who have experience with it and ask what they think. Probably leaning toward the boxblade just for simplicity's sake.

You won't find anyone at work or at the dealer that has any more experience than what can be found right here. But it doesn't hurt to get other opinions. They will be the same as already hashed out here most likely.

I wouldn't buy an implement based on simplicity alone. There is a learning curve for both implements. Starting out....you should shoot for versatility. Again, you need ditches and crowned 'road' more than anything else. Gravel can come later.

Most of the road that was there at one time is now on either side of it.

When you 'ditch' (which is the first thing you should do) you will be bringing a LOT of material back up on the road. Then you'll have something to work with. A rear grader blade will do that easily.

You can fill pot holes with either your front bucket or drag the material from the ditches over it. But you need to reclaim all that soil that has run off the side of the road and the best way to do that is to use something that will 'side discharge'. How you spread it after that is up to you. Can be done a number of ways.

Ultimately its your decision. But don't buy one implement over another just because you think it might take you longer to get the hand of it.

Ideally.....you'd have both and I wish I lived closer to you so you could borrow both of mine and see the differences we are talking about (with respect to what you need to do most).

 

[GreensvilleJay]

re read the OP, got me thinking , again....

Talk to your neighbours ! See what they have, what they use, maybe rent/borrow/buy either a back blade or a box blade. I understand money's tight so ...think what granpa used.... a back blade,no such thing as a box blade let alone a land plane back then !!!
You might find a neighbour that'll sell you a 6',600# back blade, the one in the weeds,over thar..... Or find one in the local 'farm paper', ask at the tractor dealership. Dealers usually do tradeins, have stock of used equipment,I know the 2 close to me sure do.
This low cost back blade could be you best option. The old ones tilt as well as turn, so you can make swayles and ditches all day long. I did a 400' V-swayle/ditch one day. Yes, it might be slower but you'll get faster with practice. Also, get the family involved with the 'road construction' ! There's still only 24 hours in a day, and TIME is often scarcer than money these days. Having the wife or 'old enough' kids help out gets the job done faster and everyone can say 'I helped build it' .
The 'trick' or 'key' to gravel roads is MAINTENANCE ! You NEED to 'groom' them 1-2 times a month,depending on traffic, don't let the potholes form.
If there's any RAP(Recycled Asphalt Pavings) or 'grindings' locally, it'll be cheap or free. See any roadwork being done? Offer to take their extra base or old base materials.Up here they'll PAY to dump on YOUR land....

 

[Anvil HB]

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Done…

Nothing against the back blade or grading scraper. However the idea that a box blade isn’t capable of moving material sideways, crowning, ditching, creating swales… perform actual grading; that idea is just wrong.

If you prefer a back blade, use a back blade. I really don’t care what anyone uses and I am not selling boxblades so I don’t care if anyone ever buys one again. However, the OP asked for information and in regard to what he can do with a box blade he was given incorrect information. Whether that was because the folks that posted the incorrect information don’t have experience with the implement and are parroting bad info they’ve heard or they do have experience that was disappointing because they didn’t know how to get it to do more than move material in a straight line; don’t know, doesn’t really matter.

I’m not planning on getting in some sort of internet slap fight about this, but no one anywhere, regardless of whatever “evidence” or “authority”, is ever going to convince me that the things I have already done and continue to do with an implement can’t be done with that implement. That would be entirely non-sensical on my part.

From the standpoint of those reading this, there’s a judgment of whether I’m full of crap and actually used a backblade, contractor, photos of someone else’s road. Maybe I’m an 10 year old in Vanuatu who has never seen a boxblade; I’m just bored and like stirring up old dudes with tractors. That‘s the dicey part of a forum like this. Y’all have to decide if what I post is worthwhile.

Regardless what you decide, none of you are going to convince me I can’t do stuff I’ve already done.

And then it happened....... Thank you.