Ballast Box Question

[Deere Dude]

What they said, but if you aren't sure the wheels are in the widest position, I would at least find out and I would get 4" spacers on each side. I am not sure how much that would help with the FEL way in the air, but putting 500# out in the rear a few more inches seems like it would be more stable.

 

[jeff9366]

As tractors get heavier the load on wheel spacers increases fast. The widest spacers by Bro-Tek for the heavier L-series are just 2" per side, which will not do much to increase stability

 

[Deere Dude]

Don't know how beefy the rear end is on that but I put 4" on my 45HP JD3720 that weighs 3500# I think and never a problem and carried lots of weight on the rear end almost all the time.

I was concerned about spacers on this forum before and nobody has ever confirmed that they were bad on tractor, just that was in their mind. Spacers aren't what the OP questioned but I thought it might help his circumstance. It helped my tippiness feel.

 

[varmint]

Having just changed all the fluids and filters on my L3400 (a trip to the transfer station tanks with many gallons of used coolant and oils is in the offing) and re-installing the ballast box and loader, I am thinking about this topic. A loader comes off and goes back on quickly, but ballast boxes can be a pain. I guess a quick hitch might be good for helping with one. My box is about as wide as possible, which compounds installation hassles. Since I normally don't change rear equipment, I don't have a quick hitch. I do have 1.75" solid steel rear spacers, and they are about the best money I spent on my tractor. The turf's wheels only mount one way, so spacers are the only option. Grand L's with R-4's, and likely the R-1's, have reversible wheels for spreading the rears.

Low rear 3 pt weight, spread, loaded wheels, and a loader kept as LOW as possible are all you can do for safety. If you have ever had a tractor start to tip on you, all these factors become very important.

 

[Fallon]

I recently built a ballast box out of my leaking 60 gallon air compressor tank. Filled with scrap brake disks, drums & other steel, then some concrete & some dirt. Works good in my limited testing.

Before this I used my box blade normally or my rotary cutter if I needed maximum stability on my L3200. Over a few months I moved a barn load of what we're allegedly 1,200lbs bales. As my lift capacity is suppose to be 1,200lbs & those bales stuck out a ways, I probably exceeded my rated lift capacity. The loader would barely lift some of those bales to 3-4' before stalling out.

I hit a mole hole once, the back end lifted & the bale fell. Major pucker factor there. I started putting 100-200lbs of random stuff on the back of my rotary cutter & it made a decent bit of difference. Still could barely lift the bales, but was noticeably more stable doing it. Still not something I enjoyed or felt that comfortable doing.

Leverage matters a lot. Adding 100lbs on the back of that 5' rotary cutter (probably 6' back from the 3pt) does more for the front axle than 300lbs on my ballast box.

Keeping the weight low really helps side hill stability. My ballast box probably isn't great here as its kind of tall.

While mowing ditches very slowly I've had my machine way over. I want to say 35-45 degrees over inching along. A couple times I've stopped moving & look over to see the high side tire still spinning. I leave it in 2wd so I have options if I get stuck & an alert that there are problems before better traction gets me in trouble.

 

[sd455dan]

Kubota seat belts are not repairable. They are replaced. I would have seat belt replaced before working more in tippy situations. Farming is the most dangerous occupation in the US. Tractor rollovers are frequent causes of death.

Lower the ballast Box Blade until it just clears the ground and likely obstructions. Objective in these thread replies is to lower tractor center-of-gravity.

If Box Blade is above height of rear axle it is adding to instability.

When low, if the Box Blade contacts the earth, shorten your Three Point Hitch Top Link.

can't speak for all years -but in 2014, counting fatalities it looks more like this...

Logging is #1 then fishing...

 

[sd455dan]

Kubota seat belts are not repairable. They are replaced. I would have seat belt replaced before working more in tippy situations. Farming is the most dangerous occupation in the US. Tractor rollovers are frequent causes of death.

Lower the ballast Box Blade until it just clears the ground and likely obstructions. Objective in these thread replies is to lower tractor center-of-gravity.

If Box Blade is above height of rear axle it is adding to instability.

When low, if the Box Blade contacts the earth, shorten your Three Point Hitch Top Link.

most dangerous is farming?

can't speak for all years -but in 2014, counting fatalities it looks more like this...

Logging is #1 then fishing... but tractors are used in logging

Dangerous Jobs: These Are the Deadliest Jobs in America

 

[PHILIP8N]

1250#, as filled with concrete. I like the compact size, easy to maneuver, not too difficult to attach. Philip.

 

[oldballs]

As an aside, one might think twice before filling the ballast box with concrete, because it is impossible to move after detached from the tractor.
Thus, depending on each one's situation, an empty BB is more user friendly when off the tractor. Having a QH makes a big difference. On BX size tractors, the empty BB doesn't need that much added to be effective. Any ole heavy junk will do. The nice thing about a BX BB is that it is up close and allows for usage in confined areas.............at least that was my experience when owning a BX Kubota.

Now with the FEL up in the air, that's the OP's original question. That's already been discussed.

 

[pmsmechanic]

So I have a question for those of you with 1000 lb+ ballast boxes. How do you dig dirt? I had 1000 lbs on my rear weights and the bucket would just jump over any rock buried in the soil. To get the bucket to dig into the dirt was a chore. It wasn't as bad without the quick hitch but once I installed the quick hitch it made the fel useless for digging. The quick hitch moved the weights 4" further back which really isn't a whole lot. My solution was to remove four 100 lb cast iron weights. I had 10 in total at first.

I would also caution about filling the ballast box totally with concrete. Once it's in there it's hard to remove.