# Push Box Steel vs. Rubber Edge



## RGATES (Sep 7, 2005)

Buying my first push box. Would like some input on rubber vs. steel edge. The box will be on my Cat loader and will be 16 foot wide.

Thanks


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## Metro Lawn (Nov 20, 2003)

RGATES;1126621 said:


> Buying my first push box. Would like some input on rubber vs. steel edge. The box will be on my Cat loader and will be 16 foot wide.
> 
> Thanks


You would prob. want to go with rubber. Your box won't have much tilt action and the rubber edge will help on high spots and other things that would lift the entire box and cause poor clearing.


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## RGATES (Sep 7, 2005)

I have used rubber edges on my dump trucks, they do not clean that well especially when it is cold. If the temp. is around freezing they do well, its like a squeegee. You can not beat a steel edge when you are dealing with packed snow. I was thinking about a sectional to make up for all of the ups and downs but I am concerned about all of the moving parts, just something else to deal with. Boss has a new box out with floating sides and a sectional trip edge. That looks like the ticket but they only make it 12 feet wide. Decisions,decisions.


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## snocrete (Feb 28, 2009)

Urethane is another option for edges. I have been running rubber(1.5 in thick) on my pushers since new, with decent results..the type of lot and how much salt is used/tracked onto it can effect performance.....when the rubber wears out, it will be getting replaced with urethane(1.5 in thick)....longer lasting and better scraping than rubber. 

UHMW polyethelene is another option. I installed some of this on one of my Dads pushers last season(1.5 in thick). The pusher it was on didn't get much time in last season, but some of that time I got on it myself. I was very impressed with how it performed. Scraped just as good as steel, and seemed to wear well.....but dosent contour like rubber or urethane. Depending on how that edge holds up this year, I may consider doing one of my pushers up that way, instead of urethane.


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## joester (Dec 3, 2006)

I have been asking myself this same question as I have been contemplating adding some pusher boxes this season. I currently own 7 rubber edged pushers varying from 8'-14', and have had numerous instances where I have not been satisfied with the cleaning ability. Based on what I have read on here, it seems that a lot of guys are switching to the steel trip edged pushers to get the pavement cleared better.

I am currently comparing the following steel trip edged boxes - Avalanche, Pro-Tech, and Daniels. They all have their differences.


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## JD Dave (Mar 20, 2007)

Buy steel trip you won't be disappointed. After we got one steel trip we had to get rid of all our rubber edged blades. There is no comparison anyone that says rubber is better has not used a steel trip before.


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## Lbilawncare (Nov 30, 2002)

Spend the extra dough and get a Sectional from Arctic. I'm assuming you are doing wide open lots, if not then 16ft will be a pain to maneuver.


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## Brad3403 (Sep 8, 2008)

I've got 2 Pro-Tech steel edge pushers. To be honest, I am really not impressed with the pushers overall. No matter how we adjust the cutting edge, it does not scrape down to pavement. They were new last season.


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## JD Dave (Mar 20, 2007)

Brad3403;1128660 said:


> I've got 2 Pro-Tech steel edge pushers. To be honest, I am really not impressed with the pushers overall. No matter how we adjust the cutting edge, it does not scrape down to pavement. They were new last season.


We run Horst pushers and a couple Arctics and I'm guessing since our side plates float on all of them instead of being fixed makes our blades scrape better. Steel will always scape better then rubber except that once a year where you get a really wet sloppy mess and the rubber would be better for that.


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## mrsnowman (Sep 18, 2010)

RGATES;1126621 said:


> Buying my first push box. Would like some input on rubber vs. steel edge. The box will be on my Cat loader and will be 16 foot wide.
> 
> Thanks


I have said it before on here, rubber and steel have no place on pushers. Urathane is garbage too. We tried everything before switching to blades made by Cutting edge poly. They are pretty expensive, but you won't be sorry. I can't speak of trip edges, having never used one. I could never justify the added expense after finding our poly edges. Look them up. It's worth it if you ask me.


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## snocrete (Feb 28, 2009)

snocrete;1126884 said:


> UHMW polyethelene is another option. .





mrsnowman;1128985 said:


> I have said it before on here, rubber and steel have no place on pushers. Urathane is garbage too. We tried everything before switching to blades made by Cutting edge poly. They are pretty expensive, but you won't be sorry. I can't speak of trip edges, having never used one. I could never justify the added expense after finding our poly edges. Look them up. It's worth it if you ask me.


is this what your talking about?


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## mrsnowman (Sep 18, 2010)

snocrete;1128991 said:


> is this what your talking about?


Yes, I believe it is. I know there are different variations of polyetheline, so make sure you get the right stuff if you don't order it from a supplier. We spent a few grand in the past trusting our local plastic guy to make our own and got screwed that's why we started buying from a cutting edge supplier. Their stuff is unbreakable. The other stuff we had wore too fast and chipped like crazy.


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## snowtech (Sep 18, 2010)

Mrsnowman is right, we got ours from cuttingedgepoly.com last year and its been great. good luck


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## creativedesigns (Sep 24, 2007)

JD Dave;1128922 said:


> We run Horst pushers and a couple Arctics and I'm guessing since our side plates float on all of them instead of being fixed makes our blades scrape better.


The sideplates float on the Horst blades too? ...hmmm didn't know that!


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## kcress31 (Sep 20, 2009)

We have 2 pro tech switch blades. They have both rubber and steel in one pusher. They work pretty well for us. Rubber is nice for the gravel parking lots. Another added bonus is that if you were ever to tear your rubber in the middle of a storm you can always flip it over and keep plowing. We also have a 10 ft Kage on our Bobcat A 300 and it cleans really well because all of the weight is on the cutting edge instead of the box. I think my next pusher will be another kage if it is for a 35,000 lbs or smaller loader.


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## tymwltl (Oct 25, 2014)

joester said:


> I have been asking myself this same question as I have been contemplating adding some pusher boxes this season. I currently own 7 rubber edged pushers varying from 8'-14', and have had numerous instances where I have not been satisfied with the cleaning ability. Based on what I have read on here, it seems that a lot of guys are switching to the steel trip edged pushers to get the pavement cleared better.
> 
> I am currently comparing the following steel trip edged boxes - Avalanche, Pro-Tech, and Daniels. They all have their differences.


Just bought an HLA by Horst Welding with a trip bottom edge reversible two piece cutting edge. Very well built. 10 ft wide with back drag blade up top (rubber on that because it doesn't see all that hard scraping). Well under 6 grand. I'll put it to the test soon.


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