Back blades

[Pete in Holland MI]

Hey all -

I need to buy a back blade for my new Kubota 25hp tractor. The ones at the dealership were in the $7-800 range, and noteably pretty stout in design. Are the Tarter, King Cutter & County Line series of blades (around $400 for a 6' blade) a durable blade for general use, or should I be looking to spend more? It'll mostly be used for clearing snow and driveway maintenance.

Just wondering your experiences.

Thanx!

 

[WESnIL]

A 15 or 25 series Land Pride would be my first choice. For your 25 hp tractor their 35 series would be overkill. This is a purchase like many others; you get what you pay for. Consignment sales or auctions would be other likely sources at lower prices if they have the size that you need/want, most likely one with Category I three point.

 

[Blackhole49]

My advice is to buy the heaviest blade you can afford that the tractor will handle.

 

[jacksun65]

Tarter king kutter and county line standard blades are good for only light chores anything close to work and they bend. King kutter does make a heavy duty one that is good, but as the old saying goes you get what you pay for.

 

[WESnIL]

I don't know how far you care to travel but there is a new Land Pride 1560 (15 series and 60 inch width) on eastern KY Craigslist for $400. X 2 on the heaviest you can find advice.

 

[Pitch]

once again, do you spend professional prices on a tool that will get occasional use, or do you buy what will do the job?
For home owner use,leveling the drive once a year,moving snow etc, it is a total waste to spend big money on a blade. King Kutter and Tarter are just fine with a 25hp SCUT. If you tear one up with that tractor, you are not qualified to operate either.

 

[DoubleR]

I have a couple small Kubota's that size and my opinion is you are not going hurt anything on a light duty farm store blade with that small of a tractor. The only time I've had problems is when I put a light duty blade on a 40-50 hp tractor. Although you do have to use a little common sense when using it.

My friend just brought a new JD 24 hp compact and paid 650 bucks for a Frontier blade which didn't look any heavier than a farm store blade to me. Although it was painted a pretty green to match the tractor LOL.

 

[DeltaSteve]

All are good points. Economy,vs better quality. Your little tractor would be just fine with the cheaper,lighter duty blade. But,should you upgrade to a bigger tractor,the heavier blade would be less likely to be torn up.That said,I have owned a cheap 'IMCO' 7' blade for 40 years. Have had it on anything from an 8N ford,to a superM to a turbo 706. It is somewhat bowed. I can see it bend/flex on the bigger tractors. If I pushed it hard,it would litterally fold like a piece of paper.Spend the extra money,get a good blade heavy enough to span the gap. You wont be sorry.

 

[sotxbill]

straight blade? boxblade?

Straight blade can articulate and move spoils to one side,,, BUT,, they get the "hops" and leave the surface choppy.

Box blades can move a lot of spoils, thus filling in holes better for a longer pull. the side panels resist the chop or bouncing better. But can not articulate or move spoils to side or do ditching.

I prefer a box blade as I mostly am working my roadways, and driveways on the ranch.

I have a RoadBoss which is a very long box blade, with two blades running at an angle to stop the chopping problem. This over priced device is about the best thing I have ever used as it leaves all the ranch roads smooth as glass. Every couple of Years I have to run all the roads, as the hunters chew up everything on their buggies, in the dear seasons.

 

[johnofnewhaven]

I look for one that has added reinforcement to the back of the blade. Like a piece of angle iron. I have taken cheap blades and welded a piece of angle iron along the back of the blade. You still have to use them sensibly.

 

[steve_in_mo]

I have to give you a hard time for that comment: If you tear one up with that tractor, you are not qualified to operate either.
Some of us are careful and their stuff can last forever. Others can break an anvil with a rubber hammer. My dad was like that.

 

[Bill(Wis)]

Kubota now owns Great Plains Mfg of Salina, Kansas. Great Plains includes the Land Pride line of equipment. So, the ones at the dealership are probably Land Pride blades which are superior (IMHO) to the brands you mentioned. The brands you mentioned are normally found at Fleet Farm, TSC, etc. I've been using an RB3596 for 20 years doing some pretty heavy-duty stuff including all my snow plowing, ditch maintenance, brush pushing, etc. It has been trouble-free. Whereas anything lesser in quality would have been pretty much toast by now. Helps to have hydraulic angling but that will require a remote hydraulic coupling on your tractor. jm, a frequent poster here, would be the resident expert on these matters as he is a Kubota dealer but I'm aware of him only selling one tractor, that being to fellow poster, Geo,TH-In. Ha,Ha (;>))

 

[bc]

I don't know much about them but I like the ones with a removable cutter bar (held with plow bolts) like they use on the graders. Or go out to the county/township shops and get one of their old bars to bolt or weld on to a light weight blade. They work well to fix up the front edge of a loader bucket also.

 

[MarkB_MI]

The heavier the blade, the better it will work. Find out how much weight your tractor is capable of lifting, and buy a blade somewhat lighter than that.

The better blades will have additional features. Offset swing is very desirable. Depending on what you intend to use it for, tilt may or may not be useful. I use a Woods HBL84-2 with offset swing, tilt and optional skid shoes on my Ford 4000, and it's a great blade. However, it's no longer made and at around 600 pounds I doubt your Kubota could lift it.

 

[M-MAN]

I think you generally get what you pay for. A light duty blade will probably work fine for a long time using it like you said. A heavy duty blade will probably last your lifetime.

I bought my blade about thirty five years ago. Bushog brand and it cost $600 back then. The box blade I bought used about twenty years ago but it sold new for about $1400.

 

[DoubleO7]

Are you wanting a simple one that can only angle or angle and tilt?

 

[bc]

I guess this begs the question for this dummy. What if you welded on a couple side panels on a straight blade? Would that take out the choppiness? Thanks.

 

[Pete in Holland MI]

Wow! So much feedback so early in the day. Cool !

Yes.....looking for a straight blade. Don't think I'd ever use one that tilts.
Yes.....a box blade is in the future for driveway maintenance, but snow removal will be the straight blade's chore.

Think I will keep my eyes peeled for a slightly used heavier one. Money's a bit tight right now.

Thanx all for chiming in !

 

[VicS]

For that size up to 40 ho. I vote for king cutter. Workes for me. A tiller and a box blade. I do have a older JD regular blade for out 50 hp JD. Can't hurt it.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

I bought a cheapie 7 ft blade from RK many years ago. I don't have any issues with it
George

 

[grizz02]

here you go I built this 25 years ago

 

[kencombs]

A rollover blade works much better, if you dont need the angle feature. I hav a tiny Gannon version and the rippers are far superior to a regular blade.
More money, but if you need to move undisturbed earth they are far superior.