Being quite the part-time hack on my lil' 3130 Kubota, I'll defer to those of you who have the experience...but I've become quite proficient with the box blade.

Couldn't do it without hydraulic top and tilt, though - how anyone gets by manually adjusting tilt on the smaller tractors is beyond me.

Also, a good way to "cheat" with a box blade - pick up a landscape rake w/gauge wheels. If I've an area I want perfectly smooth/level, I just drop the rippers all the way down on the box blade, go over the area a couple times, then swap out for the landscape rake with the gauge wheels set a few inches above the rake tines. Perfect every time.