I have a 2U 8S blade on my 14A and it has ripper pockets but they were empty when I bought the blade at an auction. When I was back in Pennsylvania at Chum Duffy's Play Day, he had a military 14A sitting there with the heads off the engine but it had all four backup ripper shanks in their pockets. I told Chum how my blade had pockets but no shanks and low and behold, he said I could "borrow" two of them! A little less than a week later, they arrived by UPS at my doorstep in California and are now on the blade of my tractor. Thanks a lot Chumley!

I have not used them yet but have used a 13A and with a cable blade which had them and they came in handy. While going in reverse, the blade does build up dirt behind it and causes the rippers to ride up so that you are not getting a full cut, but in hard pan, they help a lot. If one has hydraulic tilt, I would say tipping the corner bit down would be quicker and more efficient than using backup rippers.

JanM