more weight

[masprong]

I recently purchaesd a L3010 with 481 loader and heavyduty bucket. When I have a full load in the bucket and raise it up to dump, the back of the tractor becomes very light. Sometimes it lifts off of the ground.
I currently have a level 2 box blade atteched. The dealer has recommended I do one or both of the following.
Upgrade to a heavier level 3 box scrapper. This will add about 200 lbs to the back. Add bolt on wheel weights. This will also add about 225 pounds. Do both. What do you guys think. I won't be using the bucket and box plade everyday, but would like to be safe when I move dirt or rocks. The majority of the time, the tractor will have a 5 ft level 3 cutter attached to the 3 point. any thoughts

 

[Bird]

It does sound like you need more counterweight, all right. Either, or both, of the dealer's recommendations and/or liquid ballast in the tires are all good ideas. Another possibility is simply hanging additional weights on the box blade you now have; scrap iron or something similar.

Bird

 

[MChalkley]

I'll ditto Bird's comments. There are a lot of discussions already on this board about this, too. Just use the search feature with the word "ballast".

You'll probably find that the cutter gives you enough counterweight, but they're often lot more awkward to leave on when doing loader work because they stick out so far that they get in the way. A more practical solution, as Bird said is extra weight on the box scraper. Wheel weights are expensive, and less effective per pound, but have other advantages, such as increasing stability. Liquid ballast in the tires has the same advantages, as long as it doesn't hurt in your other jobs - you can't take it back out easily.

Mark

 

[Dick]

Several yuears ago, Mike showed how he made a 3 point weight from an old drum he put a crossbar through and filled with cement. Fairly easy on and off if you get the setup right and lots of compact weight right behind the wheels.

 

[DaleW]

Take a look at http://www.his.com/~msimpson/tractor and look under the tractor hacker section for a photo and description of a rear cement counterweight.
Good Luck
Dale

 

[W5FL]

What are level 1, level 2, and level 3 boxblades and cutters?

I just bought a Gannon box blade. It weighs 1000# and is an excellent counterweight plus the scarfiers are much better for loosening soil than the bucket or bucket teeth and you can move nearly a yard of dirt without having to pick it up until you have a pile scraped up. Nice tool and so far tough enough to use on rocky soil. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

You can look at the Firestone.com Farm Tire book and see how much ballast you can add to your tires.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

The gannon box blade is a good unit, however it seems to cause other problems. I couldn't get the BX to lift the 1000lb one so I raised the three point and held it up with the L35 while I attached the pins. I let go with the L35 an d can't see how you'd steer the BX with the front wheels 2 feet off the ground. And it doesn't have turning brakes. Can I stick a 2x4 out the side like a boat oar to turn?/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.


Is that one of the rotating box blades (used to be called "Earthcavators") I had one one, it was built far heavier than a "normal" box blade and was much more useful, just reach back and pop the lever to reverse or put teeth down. I know where there's a used one and a 6 foot rear blade coming up for sale, am thinking about picking them up just for future uses.

 

[W5FL]

del,

It really works well so far. It cuts where the other one bounces. I didn't buy the roll over blade because the biggest one they had was a six foot. This one has a lever that you trip from the tractor seat and it raises all 8 scarfiers. It is too far to reach without a rope or a slightly revised handle to let them down. We leveled out my son's roller coaster driveway that the old box blade made. It is a couple of hundred feet long. Today, I cleaned up the washout at the drive entrance and leveled out 300 more foot of drive. I can definately do a better job with this one than with the Rhino 6 ft that I had a few years ago.

Yep, I bet 1000# on the 3 point would be a little tuff for the BX. Guess we need to test it on JimBinMI 18.5 hp NH tractor. In addition to the 1000# weight, it carries about 2000# of gravel in the box. You can definately tell it is back there, but the weight really makes a difference in the quality of the cut. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[JimBinMI]

Wen,

If I had a Front End Loader I could lift your blade...maybe since I have a lift cap. of 1265 lbs. at 24" aft the hitch, which by the way exceeds other manufacturers in its class.
I'd rather not try it since I Love my tractor! /w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif
Of course, I'm not saying I could do anything with your blade once it was mounted.

I saw an M6800 like yours at the Kubota dealer yesterday and all in all I'd say it's slightly larger than my TC18! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

JimBinMI

We boys and our toys!

 

[W5FL]

JimBinMI,

I had a Massey Ferguson 245 for about 6 years. When I sold it, the mower was on the rear and it weighed 700 pounds and with a 2100 pound rated Great Bend loader, it was all I could do to load a 350 pound boxblade. The Massey hydraulic system has to satisfy the requirements of the 3 point before it will feed any hydraulic fluid to the loader.

Many of us had a lot of experience in what we did not like or want when we had a chance to buy a new tractor in addition to what we needed. Guess the Kubota dealer is just waiting on someone to need that tractor! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif