Operating loader without rear ballast

[Don87]

OK! Here's my question. Want to use my EX450 for truck garden farming. If the rear tires are loaded, will this tend to compact the soil and negate the tilling process? Would it be better to load the rears or to fabricate a load box that could be picked up on the 3 point when using the FEL and dropped when farming?

Yes, loaded tires will compact the soil more.

I prefer loaded rear tires all the time because it gives more traction. But you could use a ballast box and drop it when not using the FEL.

Any activity in the tilled ground will cause compaction, even walking. So space your planted rows according to your tire width if possible, that way you 'straddle' the rows.

 

[ilander]

I just Googled a pic of your EX450, very nice looking and a fair size.

Driving over a tilled area will compact it. If the soil is very moist, my experience is with a rear tiller, just driving over it ahead of the tiller compacts it so little clumps are made instead of a fluffy soil. We have a very heavy front end dozer on our DX25E, and remove it before tilling which prevents much compaction and gives us a more aerated fluffy soil.

I would advise shedding any removable weight before tilling, unless that weight is needed for traction.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Dont overthink the compaction issue with these little tractors or any tractor for that matter. You will have compaction regardless of what you use whether it be hand tools and walking, mules or tractors. Some compaction is a good thing as it seals the dirt to prevent loss of moisture, ie packing wheel on planters. Yearly compaction is one of the reasons we do soil aeration with disc, tillers, plows, sub-soilers etc. As discussed, keep your tires in the middles and the planted row will be fluffy and you wont hurt a thing for your garden as the feeder roots dont extend to the middle. Fall tillage to turn under all the foliage will help keep the soil aerated also in addition to adding the organic matter back to the soil. Most plants only use the top 8" of soil at most so super deep subsoiling is not needed unless you are dryland farming and need to soak up some winter moisture. I have read that a human foot puts as much pressure on the soil as a tractor tire due to the small area and if you have ever had a foot stepped on by a cow, then you know how much pressure is put down on those hooves per sq inch for a 800 lb. animal. Total weight divided by contact area= pressure applied as compaction. Tractors with industrial tires compact less than Ag tires. Dozers compact the least due to such large area for the tracks even if you consider that they may weigh in excess of 50K lbs.

 

[Rockgod]

I am posting late in this thread. My dealer won't sell a new tractor with a FEL unless the rear tires have ballast. Just a thought.

It's either one or the other here. Tires filled or ballest box. Must be a legal thing..

 

[Redneck in training]

I didn't read all the posts so I might duplicate what was already said. When the FEL is on and no ballast on rear engage front wheel drive unless the ground is flat. Tractors have brakes only on rear wheels and if those lose traction (and they will without a ballast) going downhill you will have very exciting ride to the bottom. If you make this mistake drop the FEL to stop.

 

[LD1]

It's either one or the other here. Tires filled or ballest box. Must be a legal thing..

Thats odd. And definatally enough to make me not give them the sale.

I can understand "advising" to fill the tires and/or ballast box, and if not signing a waver, but refusing to sell a tractor with FEL without making them purchase one or the other sure seems like a good way to loose a sale. I have no use for a ballast box. My current heavy implements are just fine. And I like to save $$ and fill the tires myself if I so choose.

Mine are currently filled now, but my next tractor most likely will not be, if it is of similar size. When I got my machine, my heaviest implement was ~500# and wasnt enough, so I made the decision then to fill them. I now have a 700# rear blade, and an 1100# bushhog. IF I hade these before, I doubt I would have had the need to fill the tires. And again, no need for a ballast box. I am going to be extremely dissappointed if my next purchase is going to be denied if I refuse to pay for a box or tire ballast??

I wonder if they treat the big farmers, buying 100+hp tractos that way if they want a loader??

 

[Gary Fowler]

Recommending is one thing but I would definitely tell them to stick it where the sun dont shine if they told me I had to buy a ballast box with the tractor or let them load my tires with beet juice. GO Fast to another dealer as this sounds like forcing a sale of more equipment. Why not just throw them a couple of $100 bills as a bonus for selling you a tractor. Would you buy a hamburger from a place if they told you you must also buy a malt with it or they wouldnt sell it. I dont think so.

 

[joshuabardwell]

I am posting late in this thread. My dealer won't sell a new tractor with a FEL unless the rear tires have ballast. Just a thought.

This is odd because, as others have pointed out on this thread, loaded tires increase traction and reduce the potential for rollover, but the do NOT unload the front axle, which is an important part of the purpose of ballast. In my tractor's owner's manual, they list various use cases for loader capacity, depending on ballast. They show rear ballast with loaded tires and rear ballast by itself, but they do not list any capacity at all for tires alone or no ballast at all.

 

[CobyRupert]

Redneck IT says "Tractors have brakes only on rear wheels and if those lose traction (and they will without a ballast) going downhill you will have very exciting ride to the bottom. "

...but, even if the back tires are completely off the ground, wouldn't pressing the rear brakes still stop you if you're in 4WD?

 

[RaydaKub]

...but, even if the back tires are completely off the ground, wouldn't pressing the rear brakes still stop you if you're in 4WD?

Yes they will. At the risk of turning the tractor seat into a human catapult. Depending on the hill, what's at the bottom, how seriously over balanced the tractor is, etc, you may be better off doing the joy-ride than hitting the brakes.