Ballast Weight box when???

[Redgoatea]

Okay so my 870 gets delivered this week. It has the 440 FEL and a set of forks. Been reading a lot of posts lately about people making their own weight boxes and I'll probably go that route.

But I'm clueless at to when I would need to put the box on? I've always used the skid steer and it's 10k lbs so never even thought about it.

Anyone have any recommendations as to the the use and need for a weight box on an 870????

 

[kennyd]

Okay so my 870 gets delivered this week. It has the 440 FEL and a set of forks. Been reading a lot of posts lately about people making their own weight boxes and I'll probably go that route.

But I'm clueless at to when I would need to put the box on? I've always used the skid steer and it's 10k lbs so never even thought about it.

Anyone have any recommendations as to the the use and need for a weight box on an 870????

Anytime there is either something in the bucket or on the forks.

 

[Bigfoot62]

Pretty much what KennyD said. You're talking about a tractor that only weighs 2500 pounds. (not counting loader)

You could also add water to the rear tires. It helps a lot, plus it's not in your way.

 

[Redgoatea]

Pretty much what KennyD said. You're talking about a tractor that only weighs 2500 pounds. (not counting loader)

You could also add water to the rear tires. It helps a lot, plus it's not in your way.

Thanks guys. So is that in addition to the weight box or instead of? And how do you put water in a tire?

 

[RoyJackson]

Thanks guys. So is that in addition to the weight box or instead of? And how do you put water in a tire?

You'll want the ballast (weight) box as well as the liquid ballast (might be water, might be something like windshield washer fluid for freeze protection) in the tires. The liquid ballast provides more stability when operating the tractor, but doesn't provide counterweight for the loader. The intent of rear ballast is to keep the rear tires on the ground and reduce the stress on the front axle.
Before you do a lot of research on filling tires, make sure your's aren't already filled. Just remove the valve cap and push in on the core. If there's liquid in there, you'll know immediately. You'll want the valve at 6 O'clock or around there.
If no liquid spurts out, do a search on "Filling tractor tires". There's a large number of threads on doing this (including a few of mine).

The 870 is a great tractor. I'm sure you'll enjoy yours!

 

[Deadman]

I used lead wheel weights from balancing car tires. I melted them down into lead bricks, and they weight like 50lbs each. I throw however many is needed into the box. I think my 2520 has around 1,000 lbs in it. :thumbsup:

 

[stuart]

I filled my ballast box with lead weight lifting weights (metal only).
This way I can add or remove as necessary. Currently keep about 1000 lbs in weight including the weight box itself.

 

[stuart]

Picture should have been posted as well; please excuse

 

[Deadman]

^^^^those aren't lead BTW.

 

[RoyJackson]

^^^^those aren't lead BTW.

Nope...all cast iron.