Ballast Rear Ballast

[TLyleJeep]

Hi Guys,

Just purchased a XR4040C with the shuttle shift and love it!

I have a question about constructing some rear ballast using a 55 gallon steel drum. Can I just buy a draw bar and poke a hole in a barrel about midway up for the lower lift arms and then fill the barrel with concrete? How many bags do you think it would take to fill it up?

Here is a picture of my new tractor. Of course my wife was the first one to jump in and drive it around.

 

[amarsh64]

Great looking Tractor !!! Enjoy yourself sir :thumbsup:

 

[LD1]

Yes, you can just poke a draw bar through there, but I would suggest having something to attach the toplink to as well. Otherwise the barrel likes to spin and flop around sometimes.

And given the way a barrel is round and how your lower arms are made, You might want to cheat the drawbar/hitch part a little forward so it hooks up easier and the sides of the barrel dont get in the way of the lower arms.

As to how many bags....a 55 gallon drum filled clear to the top is actually closer to 60 gallons. And 60 gallons is 8 cu ft.

So if you buy 60lb bags, those do 1/2 cu ft each so you would need 16 of them.

IF you buy 80lb bags (2/3 cu ft) you would need 12 bags.

All that should give you ~1200lb counterweight.

 

[TLyleJeep]

Yes, you can just poke a draw bar through there, but I would suggest having something to attach the toplink to as well. Otherwise the barrel likes to spin and flop around sometimes.

And given the way a barrel is round and how your lower arms are made, You might want to cheat the drawbar/hitch part a little forward so it hooks up easier and the sides of the barrel dont get in the way of the lower arms.

As to how many bags....a 55 gallon drum filled clear to the top is actually closer to 60 gallons. And 60 gallons is 8 cu ft.

So if you buy 60lb bags, those do 1/2 cu ft each so you would need 16 of them.

IF you buy 80lb bags (2/3 cu ft) you would need 12 bags.

All that should give you ~1200lb counterweight.

Thanks LD1, those are good suggests on moving the draw bar forward a bit so the barrel will not be in the way and adding a top link to keep the barrel steady.

I'm sure glad someone is good at math, I was looking at a barrel and trying to figure out how many bags it would hold with 1 gallon of water per 80lb bag and kept guessing between 10 and 15 and your answer of 12 seems spot on. Thank you! :thumbsup:

 

[George2615]

I made my 1st ballast the same way. A 55 gallon plastic drum, 10- 80 lb. bags redi mix, 50 lb of steel framing inside. Not sure of exact weight but figure at least 850 lbs.
Then I made a 2nd ballast out of an old safe. That one weighs at least 1200 lbs.

 

[TLyleJeep]

Thanks for all the help guys, between the pictures and the estimated amount of concrete I would need to fill a barrel my rear barrel ballast went very smooth today. I used 11 and a half 80 pound bags of concrete and it filled the barrel up to the rim.

 

[stephan]

Thanks for all the help guys, between the pictures and the estimated amount of concrete I would need to fill a barrel my rear barrel ballast went very smooth today. I used 11 and a half 80 pound bags of concrete and it filled the barrel up to the rim.

View attachment 395376

Made the same ballast barrel today using advice gleaned from TBN. Looks the goods lets just hope I reenforced the concrete enough.

TIP: Don't use rapid set, just use general purpose

 

[BarnieTrk]

NICE ballast drum examples, Fellas! :thumbsup:

However, unless you plan to store it inside out of the weather, I'd add a sealed lid for them. Here's an example:
In an effort to keep rain water or snow melt from seeping down between the drum and the concrete - which if allowed to seep in would cause a steel drum to rust out & fall apart or (if located where it freezes) a plastic drum to be subjected to the powers of expanding ice - I'd lay on a liberal coating of roofing tar on the top of the concrete, sealing around the drum edge and around the lifting arm. Then I'd locate a couple of short wood 2x4 sections or similar spacers to lay on the top of the tar, but not on the drum lip; this would act as a framework to give a slight pitch to the top, above the drum lip. Then with some aluminum roof valley material, I'd cut sections of the aluminum to construct a roof to be fitted over the top, around the lifting arm and over the top edge of the metal drum about an inch or two. Once all the aluminum pieces were cut, I'd put a coating of tar on the top of the 2x4s, giving them a type of cushion/gasket between them and the aluminum sections. I'd then secure the aluminum sections to the wood via small, large headed roofing nails and bend the outer edges of the aluminum over the outside of the drum, acting as a drip edge/eve. The peened over edge and the roofing tar on both sides of the 2x4s would keep the aluminum secure to the drum. Once secured, I'd lay a healthy smear, 1/4" thick or so, of roofing tar over the heads of the roofing nails, sealing them to be waterproof.

BarnieTrk :thumbsup:

 

[stephan]

NICE ballast drum examples, Fellas! :thumbsup:

However, unless you plan to store it inside out of the weather, I'd add a sealed lid for them. Here's an example:
In an effort to keep rain water or snow melt from seeping down between the drum and the concrete - which if allowed to seep in would cause a steel drum to rust out & fall apart or (if located where it freezes) a plastic drum to be subjected to the powers of expanding ice - I'd lay on a liberal coating of roofing tar on the top of the concrete, sealing around the drum edge and around the lifting arm. Then I'd locate a couple of short wood 2x4 sections or similar spacers to lay on the top of the tar, but not on the drum lip; this would act as a framework to give a slight pitch to the top, above the drum lip. Then with some aluminum roof valley material, I'd cut sections of the aluminum to construct a roof to be fitted over the top, around the lifting arm and over the top edge of the metal drum about an inch or two. Once all the aluminum pieces were cut, I'd put a coating of tar on the top of the 2x4s, giving them a type of cushion/gasket between them and the aluminum sections. I'd then secure the aluminum sections to the wood via small, large headed roofing nails and bend the outer edges of the aluminum over the outside of the drum, acting as a drip edge/eve. The peened over edge and the roofing tar on both sides of the 2x4s would keep the aluminum secure to the drum. Once secured, I'd lay a healthy smear, 1/4" thick or so, of roofing tar over the heads of the roofing nails, sealing them to be waterproof.

BarnieTrk :thumbsup:

@BarnieTrk I see your point and once it's cured I'll be painting it. The finished barrel:

 

[jblac197]

@BarnieTrk I see your point and once it's cured I'll be painting it. The finished barrel:

View attachment 410645

I know this is a really old thread but I just made my ballast barrel today and the weather is not cooperating here up north. We have a cold snap and it's in the upper 40s during the day and upper 30's at night. I was dumb and did the concrete outside instead of possibly making a mess in the garage not thinking about the cooler temps. How long do you think it will take to cure in the lower temps? I do have a tarp over it to keep rain out