My take on a Ballast Box

[Rook78]

Needed a ballast box in a bad way.

Didn't want to wait to order one, because you know we need everything TODAY.

Rural Kind has a King Cutter brand carry all for 149.

Some 2x6's and some sand and voila!


Works very well, now if my grapple would just hurry up and get here I could start cleaning up the woods.

 

[RalphVa]

That works. So does carrying around a bush hog (if you can manage the length). I've both.

Ralph

 

[Wagtail]

G'day Mate and welcome to TBN from Downunder.

Yep, that'll work. Perhaps cement, to replace the sand, in the future & to 'lock' the pvc pipes in place. Some eye-bolts so that you can bungy-strap stuff in the boxed area will help out too.

 

[Rook78]

Thanks guys, just took delivery of this B2301 a few weeks ago. I've been putting it through it paces. Nice little piece of equipment

 

[pmsmechanic]

I like your idea though it looks like there is plenty of weight. Just hope the sand doesn't leak out on you.

 

[Fallon]

My 60 gallon air compressor tank recently sprung a leak. The compressor got a tankectomy & is back online. The old tank is now decapitated & has a 3pt drawbar sized notch in the side. Need to get some time to weld thar drawbar in & cut a hole a ways up for the top hook on my QH. Collecting old brake disks/drums & other dense scrap steel. Will probably dump some cement ontop of the scrap. I could just go with dirt or concrete, but I want it as heavy as possible & as low/compact as possible. Especially with a taller tank, I want the weight low to keep the center of gravity low. May not end up filling it all the way.

I started building it because I was tired of the clearance issues with my rotary cutter, that & I got the parts. Would have used a 55 gallon drum otherwise.

The only issue I see with your build is it hangs out a ways. Personally I'm going as compact as possible.

 

[Rook78]

Already thinking that I may trim a foot off of it. The sand is only 19" deep inside. I had filled it all the way up, but it was way too heavy. That was why I went with sand 1st. I wanted to get a feel for the weight and size.

 

[pmsmechanic]

I have 600 lbs for ballast on my tractor. I tried 1000 lbs but couldn't dig anything with the fel.

 

[Wagtail]

Already thinking that I may trim a foot off of it. The sand is only 19" deep inside. I had filled it all the way up, but it was way too heavy. That was why I went with sand 1st. I wanted to get a feel for the weight and size.

I see in your photos that you've got a cement floor in your shed. I highly recommend constructing a wheeled pallet for it to rest on when not in use. It'll make re-attaching it a LOT easier.

I have done this for all of my implements (heavy-duty-wheel pallets) and, combined with my 3pt iMatch quick-hitch, swapping out is a breeze.

 

[Rook78]

Love that idea Wagtail. Was just looking at it tonight thinking it needed wheels, but didn't want them permanently attached. Know a good source for casters that will hold up to that kind of weight?

 

[PILOON]

Well my Ballast is a 300# elevator weight to which I added some 12" high X 6" tubes each side of the vertical that the upper 3 pt arm attaches to.
The vertical also incorporates a 2" X 2" receiver hitch tube.
The whole rig simply has pins to accommodate the 3 pt lower arms.
Nice compact installation.
Width is less than my wheels and it is a mere few inches longer than the 3 pt lower arms.
Added to one of the vertical storage tubes is about 100lbs of old scuba weights that I had hanging around.
Both rears are also loaded with beet juice so I have TRACTION!

 

[Wagtail]

Love that idea Wagtail. Was just looking at it tonight thinking it needed wheels, but didn't want them permanently attached. Know a good source for casters that will hold up to that kind of weight?

Sources aren't known for your 'neck of the woods' but I simply went to a large hardware 'box store'. They had an area for various castor-type wheels and I bought the heaviest duty (blue, in my case) plastic, 360 degree horizontal rotating wheels that they had. One of the four (per pallet) was a locking/brake type.

Most of the implements use regular pallets, a couple I constructed to specifically fit (tiller, fertiliser spreader).

 

[Pixguy]

Love that idea Wagtail. Was just looking at it tonight thinking it needed wheels, but didn't want them permanently attached. Know a good source for casters that will hold up to that kind of weight?

You can easily find good casters at Harbor Freight or Home Depot.
I've made dollies for all my implements including backhoe and fel. Like Wag said, easy to move around to store or roll up to attach when needed.

 

[Rook78]

Off to Home Depot I go tomorrow. If anyone has a pic of their pallets with wheels I'd love to see them. Thanks again guys!

 

[Pixguy]

Off to Home Depot I go tomorrow. If anyone has a pic of their pallets with wheels I'd love to see them. Thanks again guys!

Not a pallet but just a set of wheels added to an extension of a moving dolly. Easy to move.

 

[Wagtail]

Off to Home Depot I go tomorrow. If anyone has a pic of their pallets with wheels I'd love to see them. Thanks again guys!

Here ya go Mate. Believe it, there's a 5' slasher on its own wheeled pallet in the back. Everything just slides around with minimum effort.

 

[Xfaxman]

Off to Home Depot I go tomorrow. If anyone has a pic of their pallets with wheels I'd love to see them. Thanks again guys!

Not pallets, just 2 x 6's:

Even a small furniture dolly works:

Put this together from scraps:

 

[Rook78]

Well I redid the box and made it half the distance off the back of the tractor.

Also had the rear tires loaded with RimGuard

Grapple came in as well. I love this thing.



The boy getting some seat time



Thank you all who helped me think this through!