Ballast box substitute

[sandman2234]

I was wondering about people who take the time to build ballast boxes and fill them with concrete or dirt or whatever, if a set of rear forks would be a good alternative. I was wondering how many of us live near a forklift junk yard (yes there are such things!) or a shop that works on forklifts to a point that they end up with junkers out back.
For people who actually want to haul something with their tractors, would taking the carriage off of the mast on a forklift and welding tabs to it to allow the 2 lower 3 point pins to be added. A pair of flatbars with holes drilled into them welded to the side of a piece of 2x2 square tubing for the top link and you have a set of rear forks. I have never acquired one that still had the guard in place, but that could be a safety advantage if picking up stuff that might fall over.
This would allow you to haul something on the back of the tractor as well as hauling something on your FEL. It also should have quite a bit more capacity than your FEL does, as most tractors 3 points are rated for quite a bit more than the FEL.
I build one years ago before I ever had a FEL and it worked great for picking up pallets around the yard, as well as pieces of 1" plate that I had acquired. Most anything on my place can be lifted by the 3 point whereas the FEL won't always handle the weight.
David from jax

 

[EddieWalker]

Might be easier to just build a box big enough to haul stuff around and make the floor super heavy with something. I saw one that had dozens and dozens of sticks of rebar for weight.

I like the simplicity of my 1,200 concrete block on the rear of my tractor. I'm going to add a length of PVC to it so I can put a shovel back there. Sometimes I like to clean out the bucket, and a flat shovel would be very handy for that when I'm moving dirt.

 

[sandman2234]

Might be easier to just build a box big enough to haul stuff around and make the floor super heavy with something. I saw one that had dozens and dozens of sticks of rebar for weight.

I like the simplicity of my 1,200 concrete block on the rear of my tractor. I'm going to add a length of PVC to it so I can put a shovel back there. Sometimes I like to clean out the bucket, and a flat shovel would be very handy for that when I'm moving dirt.

I agree that the ballast boxes are great for hauling a chainsaw, oil, fuel, shovels, beer cooler (did I say that?) and other such things, but if you are hauling firewood from a location 2 miles away, using a 3 point set of forks to haul one tote and another on the FEL to haul even more would decrease your trips by half!
For people who just need to go do a simple job, whatever it is, the FEL is usually all we need, but there are cases where it becomes a time and work saver.
As was my case with my first couple of tractors, I didn't have a FEL and bought the tractor to bushhog. When I got tired of trying to rig up the 3 point boom pole to pick up things that were too heavy for it, I went with the 3 point forks and used them a lot until I got my first FEL.
Just trying to open up an alternative for people that don't want to spend a small fortune for a set of 3 point forks and who could use a set.
David from jax

 

[WranglerX]

Ballast box is my main rear implement as I do mostly FEL work.... But when I made ballast box, I put 4 vertical ABS pipe in it to accommodate long handled tools (shovel, rake, hoes) and added scabbard for chainsaw.........Also put heavy angle iron on rear of ballast box with several holes to accommodate hooks for drug things (homemade harrow ) and ball hitch to accommodate things like log splitter and trailer couplers.... Went so far as to add chains so I don't ever have to worry about 3PH creep down when working tractor.... If you make solid fill ballast box, be sure to put a ring or loop on top of box, because if it is off tractor and falls over you need some way to grasp to ull it upright it...(Don't ask)....