Most Useful 3 Point Hitch Implement | Compact Tractor Clears Land with a Box Blade
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- čas přidán 28. 08. 2024
- Today I'm trying something that I haven't tried before. I'm trying to clear my field of wild ferns using my MK Martin 78" box blade. I've used my box blade with great success on a variety of other tasks around my property but never to do something like this. The ferns are nice but they crowd out everything under them and with a nice size field being choked off by them, it's time for them to go. The ideal tool in this situation may be a rototiller or a disk but for me, I'll be using the only three point hitch implement that I have available; my box blade. With the tines set as far down into the ground as they can be and the draft set all the way down on my three point hitch controls, I'm ready to dig. I'm not too sure how this is going to go or if it's even going to work so today will be a learning experience for everyone. Since I'll be towing the box blade around the field, today is a good day to be thankful that my rear tires are filled with RimGuard to add the extra 800 or so pounds of weight to the cause. Well, here goes nothing. Wish me luck!
Box blade used in this video:
mkmartin.ca/pr...
When I first bought my property a decade ago there were a few fields that were overgrown with poplar, thin stemmed trees from one to six inch thick. I just brush hogged everything in the lowest gear my tractor had and left everything on the ground as biomass. Since then I cut it once a year closer to fall time so the wild grasses have had a chance to drop their seed, every year the wild grass gets a little thicker. First year or two the ferns took over, now the grass is starting to choke them out.
I like that idea Ray. I don’t own a brush hog but maybe it’ll be something I look into
I have pretty much the same thing in NE Minnesota. Repeated mowing is the key. Only grass and clover will survive repeated mowing.
Thanks for passing that along. I think I’ll take that advice if it grows back. I sure hope it doesn’t hava
Hey Sandy, this is a great demo on the box blade! Definitely a great tool! Glad that In the long run things worked out with the field there! Enjoyed seeing both you and the DK working hard! Thanks for having us down! Andrew from NB :)
As far as my box blade I welded a hitch receiver to the back of it as well as some grab hooks for skidding trees, I have welded grab hooks to almost every implement I own, forks, bucket, rock bucket. This lets me take a bunch of implements with me if I want for different jobs making my tractor a swiss army knife.
That’s a great idea as I sometimes am switching out implements many times in a day to get the right one
Just saw your video and love it. We have a new box blade and have used it for driveway work but we would also like to reclaim some lightly forested land but leave hard wood. I have bits and pieces of knowledge about how to use our equipment. Getting better with time and experience. Thanks for the video, very helpful.
Reverse camera!😂😂 looked like a fish finder to me!😅😅. Nice land, looks exactly like my place in the UP after a week of fern growth, I like the ferns they hold less ticks than grass.
You did pretty good buddy,🚜 stay safe
Thanks Don
I am glad I saw this I have about 1 acte of kudzu and was thinking about doing what you did. My guess is that it will help alot but I will have to revisit the area often to remove stuborn roots.
Yeah I’m thinking I’ll be revisiting often until I get all the roots oit
Very nice video. I do have a field that looks exactly like that at my farm, but I have brush hogged it and even cut some small trees and would have to get those small stumps out before doing a job like yours. You have two great tools. I think I would have used the root grapple more in the beginning and finished with the box blade. But you were promoting the box blade as the tool. They are a great tool. I have a land plane and use it quite often to dress the long grave drive and also plan humps down in the field at the farm. Enjoyed the video.
Thanks for checking out the video and I agree that the root rake was the better tool for the job
If you can rent a 6 foot tiller, I think that would solve smost of the problem. Enjoyed a full-watch. Have a fine week. 👍🏽🙂.
That’s a good idea too. I’ll have to look around for one. Thanks for the idea
Depends on your terrain.
@@highlanderc Agree, you're right, and what's lying under that soil will determine what implement to use. My terrain is so full of tree roots that it's tough to run a tiller. Have a fine week and a nice weekend.
You wrecked all those perfectly good ferns !
I can’t tell if you’re joking or serious here
@@sawingwithsandy Hard to tell with text for sure but i was just kidding with you. :) Carry on...
Ferns are like Asparagus, roots go down 3 feet. When I get the greenery ripped I pull up the stakes , level the Box and just keep dragging with it full of dirt. Seems to level and spread surface flat.
I’ll have to try that. Thanks again
My camera mount is the same as yours and kept coming loose. I carefully drilled four small holes and put pop rivets in each one of the clovers. It don't come loose anymore.
Good idea. The hot summer sun is causing my mount to become less tacky and move around. Think I may have to secure it like you’re saying
“.. and I’m going to get rid of the ferns, once and for all!”
Famous LAST WORDS!! We’ll see if it’s true next year... ;)
Haha isn’t that the truth
@@sawingwithsandy you will not get rid of them like that.
This is an older video so I'm curious if you have added a hydraulic top link yet? I pieced one together with super cheap components from Amazon. What an amazing improvement it is! The ability to rock it forward or back to engage the the front or back blade from the drivers seat is a game changer. It made my box blade infinitely more useful!
Hey there! Thanks for checking out this video. I don't have a hydraulic top link yet. Been one of those things I 've wanted to get for a while now. My main question is how I do do small adjustments to the top link to hook up an implement with the cab? Do I have to go back into the cab and out af ew times until it's lined up right or is there any type of manual adjustment to the top links? Thanks for your help.
@@sawingwithsandy with the back window open I can reach the control lever on my tractor. You definitely want a piloted check valve on your top link so it doesn’t budge without engaging the control. Without it the ram will drift as you use it.
Good to know about the check valve! My trouble is my rear remote control lever is down beside my right knee so I'd have to go around to the door for small adjustments as I can't reach it from the back window
Pick the fiddleheads in the spring, you can probably sell them and no ferns left.
I like your new video today you did a good jop today
Thanks Travis
What if you puts weights on the box blade?
Not sure if glyphosate works on ferns. but if so right when they start coming back and green up, you could spray. That should kill the roots as well. You could seed with grass seed at the same time.
Theres a lot of regulated chemicals and products here in Canada and so I’d likely not be able to get my hands on it without having a commercial company come in. Worth thinking about though I think
@@sawingwithsandy
Glyphosate is commonly known as Roundup. Roundup is a brand name and I believe they held a patent for awhile. That's over now and you can purchase Glyphosate for cheap. I bought some concentrate on eBay, mixed at 1% it works great. I hate using it though and only use it on invasive Himalayan blackberries, no other way to stop them.
If you can achieve your goals with cultivation, that's way better!
@@glenbreaks5448 carcinogenic!
Why not use the root rake on your loader or use the root rake and scarifiers to cover your foot print with less passes?
About the box blade, how does it do in rocky ground do you have to lift the draft up and just try to avoid then? Will it pull up the small ones but probally stop the tractor if you catch one too large? Thanks for the content, keep having fun.
I think I’m going to start using the root rake to finish up the job. I have found that with the draft set relatively light any rocks I encounter just cause the box blade to rise up without issue. I have pulled up some pretty good rocks before though but normally the tractor tells me by slowing when it hooks a big one
Haha dang, thanks really appreciate the response. I'll admit I'm guilty of not finishing the video at lunch. Upon watching the rest I can see how you've used both and they both lack a little. Box blade goes deep enough but scarifiers are spaced too far, root rake the opposite.
I also ordered r4 tires so I guess traction would probally be an issue before anything would be damaged when I catch a big rock as long as I'm going slow of course. Here's hopin the tractor shows up before snowfall
No worries, some days the light bulb goes off in my brain and I remember there’s two ends to the tractor to use. Think the root rake is definetly working out better
I agree, use the root rake. It has horizontal bar so it won’t sink too deep into the ground.
Another thing to try is to doze it with your scraper in reverse. It won’t go deep but will clean up the top nicely.
Good job tho 👍
Sandy, how are the ticks out your way?
Hydraulic top link on the TPL will give more down force 👍
I’d like one but the thought of running back and forth to the tractor cab to make adjustments to top link length when connecting implements scares me off it
@@sawingwithsandy must be an easy way of gauging it some how?
I hear ya there. I"m hoping one day I"ll come across a setup using the hydraulic top link where I don't have to go back and forth into the cab. Im' sure it exists
@@sawingwithsandy haven't you got a rear view camera Sandy? Possibly set it up on a pallet or two that works to the right height for having it fully closed/raised then you can back up the same each time and keep all the set up the same so no guess work 🤔
A field cultivator will pull that right up
Roundup
Ive done this to get rid of weeds
Sounds like a good idea
Sandy just got a 2020 ck2610 what size hydrolic hoses did you gear up for your root rake.mine will not be hear for five weeks just want to gather up the stuff.
I’ll try and remember to go have a look for ya. I’m not too sure to be honest off the top of my head
I checked out the hoses today and they say 3/8” printed on the outside of the hoses if that helps
Those are called root rippers. Only city folk call them tines....lol
Think the technical term for them is actually shanks 😉
I’m just joking around with ya haha
Scarifiers
@@sawingwithsandy You are correct! The proper term is SHANK. We refer to the "teeth" as "rippers".
A york rake would work pretty good for cleaning up that area as well.
I’m not familiar but I appreciate the info and I’ll look into it
Only costs $15k 😉
Shorten the top link to make it more aggressive.
I’ll give it a try. Thanks Terry
Rent a tiller
You just re seed the ferns again they will not die unless you give them some roundup they are a bulb plant.
I ended up using my root rake in my video after this one to dig up the roots
@@sawingwithsandy I hope it works. I do not think it will.
Sour soil grows ferns. Lime the heck out of it and the ferns won't grow.
Thanks I appreciate the advice
You should get yourself a plow
I was a bit concerned that a plow on my front end loader could cause bending if I hit something. Not sure how true that is
@@sawingwithsandy you can get a 3PT plow
It's soo painful listening to babble when trying to learn
Some people like the explanation