The box blade will work pretty much the same way as a back blade but it has rippers so it will loosen up more soil in each pass (a back blade will tend to ride up on hard/compacted soil and just slide along the surface...). Both are going to want to dig in as the tractor is going up a hill and will break free of the ground as the tractor crests the rise.

The skids on either side a back blade will help prevent it from dropping into the very bottom of a low spot they won't prevent what I described above completely. The big advantage of a box blade is that the ripper dig in and allow you to move more soil in each pass. The box blade also has sides so it tends to keep the soil within it's path. A back blade will dump soil on either side (which may be an advantage in some cases.)

Technique is probably more important that the implement here. If you are using a back blade or box blade and want to level out a ridge you need to drive along the ridge, not perpendicular to it. If you have mounds (instead of ridges) you drive along the base of the mound and allow one side of the blade to tear out the the edge of the mound. As you continue doing that the soil removed from the mound will fill the lower side. If you have the ability to tilt either implement it helps get the job done faster.

 

You also need to constantly manage the 3 point height. You can't expect to set the 3 point at a given height and just drive around and the land ends up flat, you need to make sure the blade doesn't dig in when you start going up a hill, and try to get it to take off as much as possible from the peaks. When I have to level something, my left hand is on the steering wheel, my right hand never leaves the 3 point lever and is constantly making adjustments.

 

My opinion here, but I am going through a similar thing. places in my yard are pretty rough. I don’t think a rear blade or a box blade is the best tool. If it was bare dirt maybe, but the clumps of grass get in the way of things.

The best tool is a Harley Rake. They are expensive but can be rented at some places. I’ve never used one but have seen them used. The pulverize the soil and level it. A tiller would be my second choice and probably as good as a Harley Rake, just not as fast.

What have I done? None of the above. I got some dirt and filled in some of the obvious low areas. This doesn’t fix the high areas but I rolled it also. Maybe I fixed only 25% of the problems. I didn’t want to completely start over with seeding and watering. A pic of part of the area I did.

 

The best tool is a Harley Rake. They are expensive but can be rented at some places. I’ve never used one but have seen them used. The pulverize the soil and level it. A tiller would be my second choice and probably as good as a Harley Rake, just not as fast.

Interesting. Looks like it's a combination of a tiller and a landscape rake. What allows the harley rake to level? The trailing wheels? Seems it would still require a certain technique, as noted above by @JimR and @The Satch .

That all said, wondering if maybe a land plane splits the difference here? Still requires technique but it seems more suited for leveling, from reading around, owing to it's larger footprint. Sort of like how longer hand-planes can help level a piece of rough wood.

Or maybe a landscape rake as a poor-mans harley rake taken to tilled soil?

 

A rear blade without wheels or skid shoes naturally tends to cut the low spots and fill the high spots. I'd say "ask me how I know," but somebody probably would. Lot's of user intervention required.

 

I think photos of the area Aggressor Blue is trying to work would be helpful in rendering opinions. Also, if the photos could provide some scale or reference of the size of the challenges such as the depth of low areas, etc, that would also add to the discussion.

It very well could be the best piece of equipment to complete his task isn't of the 3ph style or design. This is where pictures would really be worth a 1,000 words.......

 

I think photos of the area Aggressor Blue is trying to work would be helpful in rendering opinions. Also, if the photos could provide some scale or reference of the size of the challenges such as the depth of low areas, etc, that would also add to the discussion.

As far as pictures of the area, this is a pretty good example, with my blade itself as a good indicator of scale:

I’m surprised this hasn’t been brought up yet, but rear blades spin around and you can use the back of the blade. This will not bite as much and will ride along the top just grabbing a light amount. Also, angle that sucker. By angling it, it will behave better and leave a better product behind. Start on one side and wind row it towards the middle. Move over and blade the wind row over agin. Rinse and repeat till you have a windrow on the other side. Flip the blade to angle the opposite or just turn around and windrow it back to the other side. You’ll start to see the whole thing smoothing out and less material being carried along as your compacting it along the way by driving back and forth on it. Don’t give up on you rear blade. Spent some more time with it. You’ll get that sucker trained in no time.

I tried the backwards drag, but not angling, that's a solid tip!. I'll give that a try this weekend and see how it does.

 

The problem with a rear blade is as the tractors wheels rise and fall the rear blade does also. The bigger the tractor tires and the longer the tractor wheel base, this affect is minimized. The tractor I used to have was a Kubota BX, about the size of a 1 series JD. The rear blade was almost useless for getting a smooth finish. The tires were just to small and very short wheel base. My 2025r does much better. A land plane has multiple cutting edges and is longer front to back so that helps keep things flat and level.

 

I’m surprised this hasn’t been brought up yet, but rear blades spin around and you can use the back of the blade. This will not bite as much and will ride along the top just grabbing a light amount. Also, angle that sucker. By angling it, it will behave better and leave a better product behind. Start on one side and wind row it towards the middle. Move over and blade the wind row over agin. Rinse and repeat till you have a windrow on the other side. Flip the blade to angle the opposite or just turn around and windrow it back to the other side. You’ll start to see the whole thing smoothing out and less material being carried along as your compacting it along the way by driving back and forth on it. Don’t give up on you rear blade. Spent some more time with it. You’ll get that sucker trained in no time.

 

Rear blades work better on loose material better than hard packed.

 

For either of these blades, you need to be conscious of your top link length as well. A shorter to link is less aggressive, longer is more aggressive (with the blade facing forward). It's very difficult to do a final grade if your blade is set very aggressively.