Ballast It must be a conspiracy.

[sbakf]

Bu going by that then the manual shouldn't be giving the maximum lift capacity especially without saying with proper ballast. A lot of new people (I know a few) who got a tractor with a FEL for the first time and used it without any weight on the back and ended up in a bad situation very fast. They said they were under the max weight the loader can handle and can't figure it out cause it doesn't say max weight with counter weights. They see big tractors with nothing on the rear using a FEL with ease and not tipping so the little ones should as well. We of course know different but we were once all there and could have used that bit extra info. From the manual.

You're seeing my point - and I must also agree with TripleR, though I see some of it as a mixture of salesmanship and CWA on the part of Kubota (in my case). My L5740 is the first tractor I've owned. I didn't buy it bear - I got implements for both ends and from the beginning I operated (by default) with a near balanced machine.

The BX2660 I'm about to buy, is another story. I really only wanted the base tractor with a 60" MMM and 42" Land Pride rotary cutter - FEL was to be added later if I could figure out how to attach a fully functional grapple to it. The weight of RC (402 lbs.) is well under the stated lift capacity of the BX's 3-pt hitch (670 lbs.).

Considering what happened when I stood on the raised RC, perhaps it would be best to define 3-pt lift capacity as, such weight necessary to lift front wheels off ground.

 

[corey9212]

That's weird cause when I asked my dealer how much weight I should put in the ballast box he said to not go any more than 200 lbs. If that's the max I should put in then why does it say it can lift way more? Shouldn't I be able to put more in if I need too or am I missing something? By the way the BX2660 is a great tractor lots of power for a little machine.

 

[TripleR]

It does later on in the manual. But at the beginning where it gives the specs it should say with proper counter weights. To cover their butts for legal issues. Some people don't read the manual till it's too late and an incident has happened (it was the case with my neighbor) she bought a tractor and FEL the dealer showed her how to use it, she got it home and started using it and tipped it forward cause of too much weight and no counter weight. She looked at the specs and it said it can lift that much so she called the dealer and they couldn't figure it out why it tipped (they presumed she knew about counter weights so never mentioned it to her) I talked to her and told her about them and showed her in the manual where near the end it talked about using them.

The bottom line is no one should operate a tractor before reading the manual thoroughly. I have been driving tractors for over fifty years and still won't get on new one until I read the manual. I got the manual a week before my M8540 was delivered so I and my sons could study it.

Oh and I agree with another poster, you just can't beat the BX2660, we love ours.:thumbsup:

Gota get back on the tractor now.

 

[corey9212]

I completely agree. I research the tractor and attachments on the net before purchasing so I know what to expect and I read the manuals thoroughly before operating (the manuals actually never leave the tractor and if I'm doing something new or unsure of they are right there to pull out and go through.) plus it helps to have someone experienced to go to for advise (manuals help but nothing beats experience)

 

[jesseb3@att.net]

That's weird cause when I asked my dealer how much weight I should put in the ballast box he said to not go any more than 200 lbs. If that's the max I should put in then why does it say it can lift way more? Shouldn't I be able to put more in if I need too or am I missing something? By the way the BX2660 is a great tractor lots of power for a little machine.

That sounds like a limit imposed by the ballast box itself. What was the explanation from the salesman?

 

[corey9212]

No explanation just said he would not recommend going over 200lbs. I know the rear can handle more cause I have a 60" box scrapper and had it full of clay/gravel mixture and it handled it just fine. Plus I know the box can hold more than 200 cause I had all 4 front weights in it (220lbs) plus 4 cement pads in it (100lbs) and it was fine with 320lbs.

 

[rjkobbeman]

That's weird cause when I asked my dealer how much weight I should put in the ballast box he said to not go any more than 200 lbs. If that's the max I should put in then why does it say it can lift way more? Shouldn't I be able to put more in if I need too or am I missing something? By the way the BX2660 is a great tractor lots of power for a little machine.

In your manual, you should find a section called "Implement Limitations". In that section, the manual states how much weight you can put on the 3-point hitch.

The reason for different weights for different implements in because some implements put some of its weight way out behind the hitch. A bush hog is a good example.

You certainly can use a ballast box equal to the heaviest implement allowed in your manual. (I don't know if a ballast box is listed in the implement list.)

In reality, you can go heavier than most because the ballast box is close-in to the hitch. I would look at your specs and see what the lift capacity if your hitch is and stay at or below that number.

The tractor/hitch does not know the difference between a bush-hog, box scraper or a ballast box. The weight limit your dealer imposed is flat-out wrong -- unless of course that really is the limit of your hitch.

I would say all ballast boxes are designed to be filled with sand or concrete, so there should not be any limit to the ballast box itself... unless you fill it fuller than full.

 

[funwithahoe]

I am no expert - but I would listen to Triple R over a dealer any day!!

200lbs in a ballast box? Must be some sort of miscommunication!

 

[corey9212]

I am deffinately listening to all the information on here. Obviously the dealer left out a lot of information that I should have known. I asked the dealer what the max weight I can put in the ballast box and that was his answer.

 

[jesseb3@att.net]

If the engine shut off or a warning light illuminated because the tractor had an implement attached without a counter weight, then the complaint would be that the safety system was intentionally designed to be too conservative. That would be immediately translated into, "They want to sell more attachments, i.e. conspiracy!"

 

[TripleR]

I would not be interested in such a "safe machine" as I believe the parameters would be way too conservative and compromise the utility for experienced users. I can only imagine the cost and personally am not interested in paying more than these things already cost. In short, I don't need it and don't want it.

 

[johnrex62]

My immediate fear of a machine smart enough to recognize such a problem and shut off before I could react is that it would leave me in the dangerous position, ie perched on the edge of the collapsing bank with a shut off engine. It would eliminate any option I have for removing myself from the scenario.

 

[TripleR]

My immediate fear of a machine smart enough to recognize such a problem and shut off before I could react is that it would leave me in the dangerous position, ie perched on the edge of the collapsing bank with a shut off engine. It would eliminate any option I have for removing myself from the scenario.

I can pretty much guarantee that during the last five days of mowing, pushing trees over, digging dirt both my L5030 and M8540 would of had warning lights flashing and engines killed and both are still on all four feet and will be when we finish today.

 

[ovrszd]

I agree with TripleR, I don't need or want my tractor to stop me in the middle of a situation. I also don't need or want my manual or warning stickers to set my parameters of operation. That's just silly to me. I'll use my experiences and knowledge to make those determinations.

I use my JD2210 for mowing, snow plowing, 5' box blade work and use a quick hitch to carry a tote box full of wood. I use ballast weight for everyone of those tasks including mowing w/filled rears.

I use my L4400 for FEL work, 6' box blade, 6' brush cutter and 8' rear blade. I have 900lbs of liquid ballast in the rears.

I guess I don't quite understand the issue or problem?? Ballast is not restricted to "new CUT or SCUT" tractors. When was the last time you saw an AG tractor, new or old, doing it's work without ballast weight?? I'll even include the old Fords as mentioned above. My Dad had three, 8N, 641 and 861 they all had filled rears and were worthless without that added weight.

I prefer my tractor to be minimally weighted from the factory. That gives me the versatility to add weight when needed and remove it when not.

 

[corey9212]

My fiancé's dad is a farmer and never used ballast on any of his machinery. When I asked him about ballast his response was "you don't need any of that stuff I have been farming an using my front end loader for 50 years and never used anything for ballast, they just sold you something you don't need to make money." Boy was he wrong I'm always countering the weight on one end or the other. As for the safety devices the part that I would pay for is the gauge that tells me how much weight is in my bucket and what angle my tractor is at not the ones that shut the whole machine down.

 

[ovrszd]

My fiancé's dad is a farmer and never used ballast on any of his machinery. When I asked him about ballast his response was "you don't need any of that stuff I have been farming an using my front end loader for 50 years and never used anything for ballast, they just sold you something you don't need to make money." .

Hmmmmm,,,, so his tractors have no wheel weights or suitcase weights or fluid in the tires?? I doubt that. I think he's referring to a ballast box.

 

[corey9212]

No he has none of those on his tractors (trust me I've looked being the typical son in law that's still trying to prove himself in the family) there was nothing in terms of weights. No wheel weights, no suitcase weights, just air in the tires. There was nothing but a tractor and front end loader. The tractor with the loader was John Deere 6400

 

[jesseb3@att.net]

My fiancé's dad is a farmer and never used ballast on any of his machinery. When I asked him about ballast his response was "you don't need any of that stuff I have been farming an using my front end loader for 50 years and never used anything for ballast, they just sold you something you don't need to make money." Boy was he wrong I'm always countering the weight on one end or the other. As for the safety devices the part that I would pay for is the gauge that tells me how much weight is in my bucket and what angle my tractor is at not the ones that shut the whole machine down.

Do a Google image search, and you'll see pics of them with weights on the front. Based on the size of loader versus that tractor, I can imagine possibly not needing counter weight, depending on what was being lifted, what terrain he was on, etc. Same decisions as are made today.

I wonder if he read his manual...