I always hear arguments about placing ballast in the back to reduce stress on the front axle. However, I just can't wrap my head around how this can be helpful without MASSIVE amounts of weight? If you put any more weight on the tractor, even off the back, and the back end is still light (ie wanting to lift when the FEL is lifted), then you have only put MORE WEIGHT ON THE FRONT AXLE. Correct? So, if you are going to rely on ballast, then you'll need to do the math to figure out just how much to offset the front and keep the back wheels planted. The only way to actually lighten the front load is to completely offset, and turn the rear axle into the pivot point. At least that's what my simple brain tells me.
Publishing Loader Capacity Numbers That Far Exceed The Capacity Of The Axles
- Thread starter Cahaba Valley Farm
- Start date
dodge man
Super Star Member
Largeone, you are correct. Say the rear tires come slightly off the ground, then the entire weight of everything is on the front axle. If you use enough ballast though, you are taking weight off the front axle.
I can tell when I have my ballast box on. If I have a bucket full and drive the tractor, it rocks back and forth, mainly wanting to rock forward and putting more weight on the front axle. With the ballast box on it doesn’t do this.
I can tell when I have my ballast box on. If I have a bucket full and drive the tractor, it rocks back and forth, mainly wanting to rock forward and putting more weight on the front axle. With the ballast box on it doesn’t do this.
dodge man
Super Star Member
I'll have to do some testing...my Mahindra 4540 is a heavy tractor and is capable of lifting heavy loads with the FEL. But, quite a few people have busted their front axles doing just this. I think I would need well over 600 lbs cantilevered off the back to allow the rated FEL lift? I'm gonna pull out my statics book from college...Haha!
LD1
Epic Contributor
That's a 5100 lb tractor with a loader capable of 3000 lbs.
I can assure you 600# ballast isn't even close to enough. Unless you hang it on a boom pole about 12' back.
600# for ballast is about right for the real small compact tractors that only weigh 1800# and can only lift 800-900#.
For your tractor.....2000# or so wouldn't hurt
Sid Post
Platinum Member
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A lot of posts here and the people behind them are getting wrapped around the axle. 
This is really a physics problem that isn't that hard to understand for most people with a good high school physics class in their scholastic background.
Add to this the fact that most front axles on tractors ARE NOT DESIGNED to support the full weight of a tractor and any load on it like a loader bucket full of dirt or a ballast box on the 3-pt.
Your tractor's center of gravity matters a lot when you are using a loader. You also need to consider the total overall tractor weight as well as part of the tractor stability. A 3,000lb tractor lifting 1,000lbs with a loader is a lot different than a tractor weighing 6,000lbs lifting the same load.
Just because your tractor company puts a 2,500lb rated loader on your tractor DOES NOT MEAN IT IS SAFE TO LIFT THAT MUCH WEIGHT! And this doesn't even touch the ground the tractor is on; whether it is flat and level or whether it is soft or firm and whether your tires are rated for the load as well.
This is really a physics problem that isn't that hard to understand for most people with a good high school physics class in their scholastic background.
Add to this the fact that most front axles on tractors ARE NOT DESIGNED to support the full weight of a tractor and any load on it like a loader bucket full of dirt or a ballast box on the 3-pt.
Your tractor's center of gravity matters a lot when you are using a loader. You also need to consider the total overall tractor weight as well as part of the tractor stability. A 3,000lb tractor lifting 1,000lbs with a loader is a lot different than a tractor weighing 6,000lbs lifting the same load.
Just because your tractor company puts a 2,500lb rated loader on your tractor DOES NOT MEAN IT IS SAFE TO LIFT THAT MUCH WEIGHT! And this doesn't even touch the ground the tractor is on; whether it is flat and level or whether it is soft or firm and whether your tires are rated for the load as well.
WinterDeere
Elite Member
Exactly. My Deere 3303R is lighter than that, and I'm putting 1400 lb. out on the ballast box when doing any serious loader work, in addition to my loaded rear tires. 600 lb. is a joke, on a tractor that size.
WinterDeere
Elite Member
Not to pick nits, but given the litigious society in which we live... yes, it does.
Tractor manufacturers are unlikely to specify a loader for a tractor which exceeds its safe operational parameters. Antiques, for sure, but not today.
Sid Post
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I humbly submit my LA764 (764Kg of lift) loader on my Kubota L-4600 is a combination that is NOT SAFE in my pasture with anything close to its published maximum lift capacity.
The tractor is relatively tall and narrow for its size and it lacks tractor weight in the rear. The front end is also relatively light for that loader lift capacity too!
WinterDeere
Elite Member
Good example. But does the tractor not come with a manual stating a specific ballasting plan for this loader, which includes a ballast box + loaded rear tires + reversing the mounting of those rear wheels for better stability?