解:$(2)$∵$2b - a-\sqrt 3(a + b - 4)=5,$$a,$$b$为有理数
∴$\begin {cases}2b - a = 5\\a + b - 4 = 0\end {cases},$解得$\begin {cases}{a=1}\\{b = 3}\end {cases}$
∴$a + 8b = 1+8×3 = 25,$$a + 8b$的算术平方根是$\sqrt {25}=5$
$ (3)$∵$a^2+2b+\sqrt 7(b + 4)=17,$$a,$$b$为有理数
∴$\begin {cases}a^2+2b = 17\\b + 4 = 0\end {cases},$解得$\begin {cases}{a=\pm 5}\\{b=-4}\end {cases}$
$ $当$a = 5,$$b = - 4$时,$a + b = 5-4 = 1,$$1$的立方根是$1;$
$ $当$a = - 5,$$b = - 4$时,$a + b=-5-4=-9,$$-9$的立方根是$\sqrt [3]{-9}$
综上,$a + b$的立方根是$1$或$\sqrt [3]{-9}$