Project 2 by redbeard: Modular Box Blade/Ripper

[redbeard]

After I got my tractor, I decided that a few implements would be in order. Rather than spend money I don't have to get them, I figured it was time for some building sessions. First one: the box blade.



This one with the hinged back blade looks cool, and there are plenty of pictures to draw from on the website

Since I have a big hole to dig for our greenhouse, I decided to make it so that the box was detachable from the scarifier so that I wouldn't need to worry about bucket teeth for the front loader. Plus, I can probably build a couple other things to attach to it as well. So first up, the ripper section:



The main cross support for the shanks consists of a 3x5 piece of angle welded to a 2" tube, mostly because that was what the scrap yard had on the day I went shopping.



This is the progress to date, all parts of the ripper portion have been cut out and the holes on the shank brackets are completed to the point where the belt on my drill press broke.

Tally so far:
Angle and pipe $15-20 (guestimate as I bought quite a bit else that day)
Scarifier shanks $60+shipping from agrisupply.com
5/8 pins $15 from HF
Total to date $110 (incl shipping)

Further progress will be updated as it happens.

[redbeard]

Finally got it all welded up, I probably burned more rod on this one project than I have in the past 3 years. (I really need more helmet time don't I?) Still need to bore the 3PTH holes out to full size, chip slag, and clean off all the spatter (too bad I just couldn't wait for the shiny new DC welder ).



This should make planting the wife's tulips a breeze!

[todmorg]

The scarifers are great for busting up soil, but instead of using a hinged box, I added hydraulic tip and tilt to the 3point. This allows you to roll the entire box forwards to get the scarifiers in contact or roll it back to a point where the scarifiers are out of contact and the 2 blades work like a block plane ( there are 2 blades, one mounted forwards and one mounted backwards ). It also allows tilting the box left or right for making crowns. Its really not that tough to add the tip and tilt, a couple rams and electric solenoids from surpluscenter.com, tap into the loaders hydraulics. Flip the electric switch and control the box with the loaders control lever. Its about the best impovement you can make to a tractor with a 3-point.

Another great project with the scarifiers is a single tooth for a cable trencher using a sweep 90 degree elbow mounted behind the tooth to lay the cable in the trench. I can get about 14" depth with this setup and I dont think there is a faster or better way to trench moderate size wires or cables or even small piping. I've trenched up to 5/8 PEX but you could do a larger diameter with a larger sweep elbow.

You get unbelievable ripping power from a single tooth, the down pressure loads the tires for traction and because there is an upward pull on the tooth, you can rip out almost anything that gets in your way. Here again, the hydraulic tip/tilt helps for fine tuning the attack angle and cable depth.

What kind of a tractor is that?

Todd

[redbeard]

Lots of the stuff you mentioned is on my dreams list, I already have hydraulics available at the back, it is just hard to justify the extra expense of spools and cylinders for 2.5 acres and less than 1000' of driveway. A hydraulic top link does look like it would be pretty useful for lots of different implements though.

I kind of thought having the rear blade hinged would be an advantage, automatic back-blading as it were.

That is a Massey 2410TLB. http://www.masseyferguson.us/product...pact-tractors/ I've had it since July and have about 85 hrs on it so far. For only 23HP, it is a pretty impressive little machine.

[dennis]

Looking good. I built all my little tractor implements too. My hydraulics were simple and cheap. Cold can of beer and a rope to the implement being used at the time. That worked until a few years ago. I changed it to a 12 volt screw lift off a tread mill. Worked great!

[redbeard]

I changed it to a 12 volt screw lift off a tread mill. Worked great!

Had I known there was something useful inside, I would have been keeping an eye out to score one.

So what little tractor do you have?