Strength of Ballast Box Receiver?

[Suburban Plowboy]

I have a Titan ballast box on the back of my Kubota L3170. This is your standard Chinese steel box. It has a receiver in the bottom.

https://www.amazon.com/Titan-Category-Ballast-Point-Tractors/dp/B085DPWRJD/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2UTTJ5RKL57BK&keywords=titan+ballast+box&qid=1688079151&s=lawn-garden&sprefix=titan+ballast+bo%2Clawngarden%2C1174&sr=1-5&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.ac2169a1-b668-44b9-8bd0-5ec63b24bcb5

I would like to put a bar with a tow hook in the receiver so I can yank shrubs and so on without removing the box or crawling under it to get closer to the tractor.

I would assume there could be problems if I pulled too hard with a hook attached to a box, but I don't really know. Has anyone here had experience with this?

Most of the time, I would be pulling little things, but I do have some stumps.

 

[WinterDeere]

Wouldn't it be safer, and give you more lift height and capacity, to just put a draw bar on your lower links and pull with that?

https://www.amazon.com/Northern-Tool-Equipment-04010100-Drawbar-Category/dp/B004RQ1PRK/ref=sr_1_1?crid=19D83WBJOWSSM&keywords=3-point+draw+bar&qid=1688079441&s=lawn-garden&sprefix=3-point+draw+bar%2Clawngarden%2C73&sr=1-1

Personally, I find my 3-point fork lift frame most useful, it has a 3/8" chain grab hook mounted near the top link pin:

https://www.amazon.com/YITAMOTOR-1500lbs-Capacity-Adjustable-Category/dp/B09T65G2RC/ref=sr_1_5?crid=HGR7BJD18A2H&keywords=3-point+pallet+forks&qid=1688079514&s=lawn-garden&sprefix=3-point+pallet+forks%2Clawngarden%2C72&sr=1-5

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

I just want a convenient hook for pulling when I'm using the ballast box and cutting trees and brush. I wouldn't be lifting anything. I want to be able to do this without the hassle of removing the box every time I pull anything.

 

[Yander]

I wouldn't be pulling anything that serious with the ballast box receiver. I would pull with the draw bar for safety, regardless of the inconvenience. Use a clevis hooked to the draw bar and a chain and just loop the chain into the ballast box when not in use. This way you don't have to keep hooking the chain to the draw bar.

Use this type of hook to attach to the clevis on the draw bar and it won't come off when not in use.

https://www.amazon.com/Robbor-Safety-Clevis-Capacity-Working/dp/B09KV82PGF/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=Chain+Hooks&qid=1688080866&sr=8-4

 

[WranglerX]

Personally I would just use the low mount drawbar on tractor frame.... I am pulling some pretty big stuff and have concerns about the combination of 3PH, QH and BB ...

I think pulling from ballast box is going to just bend/distort the box unless its full on concrete and you are probable going to break it....

 

[oosik]

Doesn't your tractor have a draw bar? Be safe - use the draw bar.

 

[5030]

Hope the ground is soft and the stump small. Your 3710 really don't have the balls to pull much in the way of stumps.

 

[chim]

Hope the ground is soft and the stump small. Your 3710 really don't have the balls to pull much in the way of stumps.

Sheesh. Everyone knows that for pulling stumps you need something like this as a starting point:

 

[ruffdog]

Personally I would just use the low mount drawbar on tractor frame.... I am pulling some pretty big stuff and have concerns about the combination of 3PH, QH and BB ...

I think pulling from ballast box is going to just bend/distort the box unless its full on concrete and you are probable going to break it....

^^^Yep...have the ballast box raised up and attach your pulling chain/rope/strap/cable to a clevis on the low main draw bar. It would be safer just in case you snag something solid with the tow strap.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

So far, I have managed to avoid the temptation to buy a bigger tractor or a backhoe. I don't think I'd waste money on a big tractor for stumps, since they're the wrong tools for the job.

I don't have any fantasies about pulling out big stumps with an L3710, but a lot of stumps are small enough to pull. I have trees in diameters ranging from about 0 to 3 feet.

I got this tractor for nearly nothing, and I've gotten a lot of good work out of it.