Ballast JD 3320 Ballast Weight Concern

[letour93]

I hope some of you out there can help me out with this question regarding ballast weight...I own a JD 3320 unit with a 300cx front loader, a wallenstein chipper, 72" frontier rear blade and a 72" frontier bush hog. The 3320 currently is running with no added weight and no loaded tires. During the summer months whenever I was operating the loader I would always have one of the implements attached to the rear...but the unit was still quite "bouncy". I am now in the process of purchasing a rear mount snow blower (72" puma) and would like to have some weight added to the unit since it will be going back to the dealer for the rear hydraullics to be mounted...my question is this....

1. Loaded tires - yes or no...the dealer is not keen on doing this for me he feels that wheel weights would be the better route. Read the owners manual and if I am not mistaken they suggest all three for this model being fluid filled rear tires and 1100 lb of 3-point hitch ballast and three rear whell weights per wheel...is this what everyone is using out there?

I would appreciate everyones comments as I just want to do the right thing here as I am very confused at this point...

Also, I will be clearing approximately 1100' of gravel driveway that runs up a 10% grade. My JD is running R4 industrial tires.

Thx in advance for your feedback.

 

[WH401]

I think filled tires will give you more weight for the money. I paid 175.00 last month to have my tires, (normal R4's), filled with RimGuard. What does your dealer use for filling tires?

The manual states those things but that much weight is really over kill IMO. I mean don't get me wrong you can never have to much ballast, but I don't think you need to go out and spend all that. Either filled tires and an implement on the back or a ballast box filled with portland cement should give you around 1000 lbs to the rear, which is pretty sufficient. Filled tires would definately help eliminate the "bounciness" you describe.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

Me....I'm not a believer in Fluid ballast...yes its cheap & effective, but for genuine "pulling power", nothing beats Iron for ballast.
I put 110 lbs of Iron in each wheel (2 55's on each rim)

Another thing to consider....500 lbs on your 3pt is better then 500 lbs in your tires....on the 3pt hitch, you got some "leverage action" which uses the rear axle as a pivot effectively "REMOVING" weight off the front end...which translates to less wear & tear on the front end.

Between the 220 lbs of Iron, Factory Cab and whatever implement I use (680 lb box blade mostly) I've had no problems on my 3520

 

[JDeerekid]

I would add the rimguard. I have a tractor a little larger than yours and dont have any rear weight besides and implement I have on. Implements will give you ballast but I dont believe it helps the traction and the bouncing. The reason I say this is that when I have my 6' bushhog on I cannot mow a field that is slighty wet without 4 wheel drive. My neighbors got a tractor about the size off yours maybe a little smaller and he has fill tires and can go just about anywhere in 2 wheel drive.
Also you cant put as much iron wheel weights on to give you the same amount of weight from filling the tires. I actually just called today about filling my tires. I got a quote of $192 a tire for the rim guard. That is 55 gallons which gives me around 600lb per rear tire.
Filling the tires also dont put any stress on the rear end. Putting weight on the 3pt hitch will lead to premature faliure because of all the weight bouncing around on the back.

 

[DrainPondDesign]

Currently it is snowing outside with over 12" predicted so if you need the tractor now consider raising the rear blower off of its skid shoes so the 500+ lbs is on the 3pt hitch.

We only maintain our driveway & do light loader work so our dealer too advised against loading the tires or wheel weights.

In late winter If your ground freezes steel hard like ours & gets a coating of hard ice then more weight may not be enough, we use tire chains for traction on ice.

Stay warm.

 

[orlo]

My .02

I had a 3320 (now a 3720 cab) and had the 'Large' R4's. The large R4's hold 900lbs of Rimguard per pair (It's over 11lbs/gal) so you can add a lot of weight easily. This will definitely help tractionwise and will help keep the rear on the ground but it won't 'unload' the front axle any however it doesn't add any weight to the rear axle/bearings (load that is).

A combination of the both is good. Weight rear of the rear axle (Read: Implements or a BB) take weight off the front axle which is a good thing if you are using the loader.

Weights or loading? I've loaded 3 tractors and maybe slightly regret the last load (3720 with R3's) just because it ruin's some of the ride quality. By reducing the air volume in the tire to about 10-20% of what it was you don't get the 'suspension' quality of as much air (fluid doesn't compress). Not a big difference. However on the other hand the fluid helps traction tremendously. Having wheel weights that you can take on and off is nice also but you'll never put as much weight on as fluid will add.

One last point, fluid will make it less 'tippy' than wheel weights (Both will help). With wheel weights the weight is within a few inches of the axle. With fluid you have some weight all the way down to the inside bottom of the tire.

If you want traction without additional wear on the rear then liquid or wheel weights is the way to go, if you want more of a ballast effect 3pt weight is the way to go but it will put that weight on the rear axle. My preference is some of both.

FYI: On hard packed snow and especially Ice, R3's kick butt on the R4's.

 

[KennedyDiesel]

I have the large R4's filed with rimguard. Even with this weight I also hang my Harley rake most of the time for ballast. My 72" blade does so-so and my splitter is too light. Hate to think about how it would be with dry tires. The way I see it is that it's tough to hang weights when you have an implement hanging. It also puts the weight on the ground and not on the tractor axles. Also, an implement can be cumbersome so the time you need to work without it, you still have ballast. I plan to build a ballast box as well.

Alos, remember that hanging weight helps to lighten the front end.

 

[Nuru]

My .02

I had a 3320 (now a 3720 cab) .......
FYI: On hard packed snow and especially Ice, R3's kick butt on the R4's.

I can attest to that, and the Turf Specials are way better than the Normal R3s.

 

[joed3320]

I have loaded r4,s on my 3320 and after the last tip up on a slight grade the weights will be added soon !(log on forks not a good choice)

 

[RoyJackson]

I'd suggest the filled rear tires and chains.
I don't use wheel weights and they might be great, but weight is weight (meaning liquid will do as good a job). Filled would be the first course of action. Add the wheels weights if you still need more.
The reason I'm suggesting this is the hassle of handling wheel weights (I've got a bad back and wouldn't want more stress on it). If you intend to install them and leave them on...well, the dealer will have the lifting equipment to do this task.
Anyway, there's my humble opinion...
Good luck in your decision!