Box Blades & Graders in Kountze, TX

Check the three-point lift capacity in your tractor's operator's manual. Then compare it to the blade's weight, plus the dirt it carries when the box is full. A blade near the top of that number takes weight off the front wheels and makes steering light. Front weights or a loaded bucket help balance it out. Frame size counts as much as horsepower here. Three tractors can share a rating and be built for three different jobs. If your tractor's light for its horsepower, a narrower blade may suit it better. Bring those numbers to our Buna store when you compare.

It does. The sandy loam on top moves easily, so keep your cuts shallow or you'll scrape down to clay in spots. Once you're into the red clay, it behaves differently. Wet clay smears and sticks to the blade, and dry clay breaks off in clods. Grade clay when it's damp but crumbly. Use the shanks to loosen dry clay before the edge passes over it. On a lane, a little clay worked into the loam can firm up the surface. Leave the topsoil alone on pasture, though, since that's what the grass grows in.

Shallow. Set the cutting edge to take about an inch and see how the ground behaves. On a first pass you're learning where the high spots are, not trying to finish. A deep cut overfills the box, bogs the tractor and leaves a wave of dirt at the end. Use the top link to tilt the blade. Tip the edge down to cut more, or back to smooth more. Go a little deeper on the second and third passes where you need to. Finish with the edge nearly flat and the box almost empty, at a slow, even speed.

Yes, for the site work a small building needs. Loosen the area with the shanks, then cut the high spots and fill the low ones until it's close. Pack fill in thin layers as you go so the pad won't settle. Check it with a string line or a long board and a level, not just your eye. On the level ground in the west of Hardin County, there's less dirt to move. In the undulating east, you'll do more cutting and filling. For a slab or a big building, the builder's spec for the pad comes first. The box blade gets the ground ready for it.

Start online with the implement listings on j5tractors.com, then come to our Buna store to look in person. Up close, you can check the edge, the shanks, the side plates and the hitch pins. Ask about the Mahindra box scraper and the IronCraft and Modern Ag implements while you're there. The lot changes, so a listing you saw may have sold. Call the store before the drive if you're after one particular blade. Bring your tractor's make and model, too. That way you can size the blade against your hitch right there.