Confused about back blade weight

BigTone · Nov 8, 2013

I have a post below asking what size of back blade
for my M, I"ve decided 7ft but then there is the
weight question. I was looking at the WOODS RB84
which weights around 320#, the bush hog and land
pride blades (84") are about the same and the
heaviest is from everythingattchments.com and come
in a 345#. People keep telling me not to go with a
light blade but what is light? The TSC
"countryline" blades are in the mid 250# and are
junk I know. So is the 345# good for a 5,000lbs
tractor(M) or should I be looking in the 450+ lbs
area (they are much more money)? Thanks folks, I
need to buy one but I just don"t want to waste my
money on something that will just break. ~Anthony

caseyc · Nov 8, 2013

I wasn't looking for one when I bought mine (see below topic). If I was looking for one I would be in the same boat as you, not sure which way to go. I got mine purely on luck and now that I have it I'm glad it's heavy. Not sure what it weighs but the front end of my farmall 350 is light when the blade is raised. If I catch something hard the 350 will move sideways if it doesn't stop. If I had bought a cheaper one I would have wrecked it by now, but then again I know the one I have is heavy duty so I do abuse it some.

Casey in SD

rustyfarmall · Nov 8, 2013

You also need to look at the 3 point category. A category one blade, made to fit a small tractor such as an 8n Ford, will weigh considerably less than a blade of the same width, but of the category two 3 point. For a Farmall M, you WANT the category 2. Maybe even a category 3 if you want something that will not disintegrate right before your eyes.

Farmallhal · Nov 8, 2013

These have been great threads with the comments provided so far and feel I have learned something as well from following them. I like what Rusty just said about the category hitch that it is designed for and I think a category 2 would be sufficient unless you are just determined to tear one up. Case in point, in 1954 in my youth dad and I cut some timber on the farm for lumber to build a new barn. The 8N we had at the time didn't have the traction to pull any decent sized log out of the woods. We had an adjoining neighbor with a new Farmall M at that time that came over and after removing the muffler off the tractor pulled everything out of the woods with no effort. The traction between a Ford 8N and a Farmall M is like night and day and those light duty blades are made for those millions of 8N's and similar sized tractors being kept in use by the want-a-bees and weekend farmers on their country properties. I can assure you a Farmall M can destroy one of those light duty models in a heartbeat if caught on an immoveable object in the ground, Hal.

Janicholson · Nov 8, 2013

The issue is not how much it weighs. The issue is how strong it is. A heavy (in pounds) blade with poor design and small angling latch will be torn up by the M"s power.
A light in pounds blade made with substantial pivot strength, structural material instead of mild steel, and good geometry, will be a fine performer.
Weight in and of its self is an advantage when the tractor has no down pressure.
The best option is a "leveling tire/depth gauge wheel" behind the blade that keeps it at a given depth on each cut or pass, with the hitch set to float above a certain depth. Jim

Confused about back blade weight

BigTone

Member

caseyc

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rustyfarmall

Well-known Member

Farmallhal

Well-known Member

Janicholson

Well-known Member

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