Grader blade or Box scraper

[OzssieDave19]

Hi Everyone. I have a question. I have a 500 meter driveway and need to crown it a bit, fill the pot holes and grade the track twice a year. Should I buy a 3 point grader blade or a box scrapper with rippers? My thinking is the box scrapper could be used as an implement to smooth paddocks and maybe work ground? But I have never used one. Any advice?

 

[wbvs58]

I think the box scraper though I have never used one either. Linkage grader blades can be a bit difficult to control if the ground is uneven and the tractor pitches up and down and the blade digs in then lifts, you need a lot of adjustment on the lever. I think the box scraper will flow over the ground better.

Ken

 

[sstterry]

For the purposes you describe, box scraper with rippers.

 

[SBMF 2015]

A box blade will do a better job filling in pot holes and smoothing out the drive way. You won't be able to tilt the box blade like you can with a grader blade. You'll have to adjust a 3pt arm when you ready to add your crown to the drive way.

 

[jltrent]

Either as I have both. IMO I would rather have the scraper on the driveway. You can tilt the scraper angle just a little and crown you driveway better than a straight box scraper and it will fill and level as you go.. The box scraper would be better on the paddocks to level. Don't know were you live, but the angle scraper is much better with snow also.

 

[M.Magis]

The box blade does better if your driveway washboards like mine does. The scraper blade just doesn't do a good job of moving dirt unless the moisture is just right. On the other hand, being able to angle the blade is a big plus over the box blade. I've used a scraper blade for the last 30 some years on mine, and there are times I really would like to have a box blade. In an ideal world, a scraper is best for general maintenance and snow removal, and a box blade for filling potholes, fixing washboarding, etc..

 

[Brute 23]

Grade master

GradeMaster Grader Blades

GradeMaster builds road leveling blades that fit the kind of tracter you own.We can build custom blades for tractors or skid steers

grademastersales.com

 

[1982vett]

I've got both also and a quarter mile of road. Box blade has been on the tractor maybe twice since I bought it over 10 years ago. I can do more with a blade and front end loader than I can with a box blade.

 

[jltrent]

Grade master

GradeMaster Grader Blades

GradeMaster builds road leveling blades that fit the kind of tracter you own.We can build custom blades for tractors or skid steers

grademastersales.com

Like both worlds in one.

 

[Brute 23]

Like both worlds in one.

We have one that I use to maintain roads. Only complaint is I should have got hydraulics and a bigger one. It work good for smoothing out pasture ad stuff also.

Like Vett said with a bucket on a tractor the box blade is not needed near as often. I got one with rippers that hasnt moved in 10yrs probably.

It doesnt washboard roads near like some of the other equipment.

 

[skyhightree1]

I use a box blade to grade yards and take crowns off driveways. The road blade is a pain and often digs and cuts way too deep or either will ride over something if you don't add weight to it. The bucket is good to smooth things down but you can dig too much with them. The box blade is made for that type of thing and you dont need the scarifiers most of the time to take a crown down they loosen up too much usually. I use box blade on hard dirt or too snatch roots a driveway crown is usually soft so no need.

 

[skyhightree1]

I've got both also and a quarter mile of road. Box blade has been on the tractor maybe twice since I bought it over 10 years ago. I can do more with a blade and front end loader than I can with a box blade.

vett a box blade is so much easier like that commercial set it and forget it.

 

[Johnnybar]

I've seen box blades that can pivot 180 degrees to serve as an angle blade on the back side of the box. They have two separate blades and already have enough weight to angle grade effectively. One looked factory and another was made with plate steel added to a heavy duty pivoting grader blade. I suppose you could also add additional locations for the lower pins on a fixed box blade's frame to allow angling. Only thing is it would require angle grading in reverse. That's no big deal for small jobs like driveways and would produce more level results anyways with the tractor running on already leveled surfaces. No matter what you do, a hydraulic top link is a blessing for grading work.

 

[Dusty Britches]

Check out Tractor Mike - using a box blade to fix a driveway.

 

[jltrent]

Video on using a scraper to fix a driveway.

 

[M.Magis]

Guess it depends on your soil. That almost looks like sand, a blade is surely all that's needed. Around here it'll just slide on the surface, then eventually bite in and dig, making a big hole.

 

[jltrent]

I have 2 grader blades a light duty to smooth a driveway and a heavy duty to make a road.

A box scraper works great for this.

 

[Lucky]

Get the grader blade. I use mine for pretty much any dirt work that need to be done. It maintains the driveway with ease and can smooths fields or ditches as well. If you are needing to crown the road tilt it a bit with three point arms and the blades are angled to drag gravel back to the center.

Not a straight blade, get one like this pic

 

[bigbluegrass]

I have a grader blade. I have not used a box blade. The grader blade does what I need to do on the driveway with snow and grading.

 

[Brute 23]

You can do those jobs in the videos in a fraction of the time with the grade master.