[adam_w]

Hello WFM'ers,
I'm in need of opinions from those that use a 140 for gravel maintenance (or 300/312/314). I am wanting to aquire (or make) either a 54" belly blade or run a 4' box blade for my John Deere 140H3. It will be primarliy for gravel maintenance, but would also be nice to screet snow off of the cement pads in front of my shop and garage in the winter. I've fitted robalon HD skid shoes to the 49 snowblower which is set about 3/4" off the ground to reduce the amount of gravel that the blower eats. The only bad thing is that there is still a little snow left over on the cement which gets tiresome shoveling to clean up. I have been very impressed with the capability of this little machine so far and would like to add gravel maintenance to it's task list as well.

Has anyone run a 54C blade on gravel and also a box blade? How do they compare? If I go with the box blade, I am thinking of going with a Ruegg 3pt with a cat 0 4' box blade. Does anyone run a box blade on their 140s? Do they have enough gusto to pull one? I'm running front wheel weights and two sets of rear wheel weights. All opinions/wisdom would be appreciated!


Thanks,
Adam

 

[KB]

I'm a big fan of the center blade, I haven't used a box scraper, but used both a 5" rear 3 point blade and a center blade

 

[adam_w]

Thanks for the quick response KB. Do the 54C center blades have any down force? I would like to run across a nice uncut 54C within a reasonable driving distance, but they seem to be scarce or really spendy.

 

[jeff_kluewer]

The center blade does not have down pressure.

Here is my 318 with snow blower and center blade.

 

[adam_w]

Jeff,
It looks like the center blade does an excellent job of cleaning up the leftovers from the blower! Do you have any pictures of just the blade/blade mechanicals? I do like how much more compact the center blade makes the machine. Is this a JD blade or a welld done home made?

 

[jeff_kluewer]

It is a John Deere 43c blade. It uses the mower deck lift to raise/lower. It does a good job as is, but I might add a little weight to the blade to get it to a great job.

 

[sashiery]

A rear scrape blade is a lot better than a front bladed for gravel, in my limited experience.
Those lucky enough to own a center blade are really impressed with them, and their pictures and videos are impressive as well.
A front blade is just not quite suited to doing a nice job on gravel.

 

[KB]

With a 54c you have adjustable tilt and angle. A 43c only does angle. The tilt was nice to go digging to spreading

 

[coalminer16]

The center blade floats better on rought ground from what I have read. The front moves up and down more with the individual axle movements. I use a rear blade on my 332 while pushing a blower. The 140 can handle a properly sized box blade. The 42 inch gannon earthcavator is what I also have. But for the snow-it is better to have angle so you can push the snow into the next row of snow you are going to blow. My biggest downfall is I don't have adjustable angle on my blade other then manually. Since I am in my cab it makes it harder to get on/off to adjust so I plan my blowing around the blade angle set at one direction.