What did you do to or on your Mahindra today?

[AchingBack]

Yesterday I hit a pile of rocks buried under some blackberries while using my Bush Hog SQ600. It instantly caused horrible vibration.

Today upon inspection, I discovered the blades moved up and down like when you are checking for a loose wheel bearing and you rock your wheel. It seemed upon inspection, the castelated nut was loose on the shaft coming from the gear box. How it got so loose without destroying the cotter pin is a mystery.

I needed to remove the pin so I could see if an old socket I had in the shop might just fit, and it did. I removed the pin, and started tightening with my old torque wrench until I could go no more. With my brother's Dewalt impact gun I was able to tighten it within a few hairs of being fully seated. The tool is amazing. 1800 psi removal, 900psi max torque.

There is still some vibration, but I feel, and hope a set of new blades will solve the issue. They are 14 years old, and have seen a rough life around my old gravel pit property.

 

[bridge4]

Here's where I got mine.
35pcs M6 M8 M1 Polyethylene Plastic Dust Cover Cap for Zerk Grease Fittings | eBay

Filled tires: My dealer filled the tires as part of the deal, so I've always had filled tires. I've never had to use a counter balance, even lifting 1000# pallets. (but I probably should have for safety) I use the FEL a LOT. Moving dirt, stone, trees, etc. Never really saw the need for counter balance. Rear tires never have lifted up under load.

I think you'll be amazed at how much of a work horse the 2638 is. My neighbor just got a green 38 hp tractor, and I run rings around him with power, lift capacity, lift weight and better hydraulics in general.

Thanks for the link, I ordered a set of those!

Happy to hear your experience with filled tires, I have a few areas on some walking paths that are a little steep I wanted to level out a little bit more, and was waiting on the extra weight next week to do it. Sounds like it should be a good addition to the tractor. Right now I don't have any other attachments but the loader. Trying to figure out what I'm going to do with snow removal, then will get some winter equipment. Next spring hoping for some type of land plane/box blade and a brush hog, which will be some good rear ballast. But until then I'm going to be counting on my filled tires!

 

[Sysop]

Filled tires and rear ballast are not the same thing; they do not produce the same result.

Tire ballast increases weight, which increases traction. Filled tires also lower the center of gravity, making the machine more stable on hills.

Rear ballast (which means something heavy hanging behind the tractor, either on the 3 point or something like a subframe mounted backhoe) does also add weight/traction. Depending on what you are using and how high you carry it, it can also lower the center of gravity and make the machine more stable. But even more important than that, proper use of rear ballast uses the rear axle like the pivot point of a seesaw and reduces the weight carried by the front axle. This is what is required when using your loader for heavy lifts. You want as much weight off the front axle before lifting with the loader so you are not overloading the front axle.

Most tractor loaders will lift more than the front axle is rated to carry. The front axle is definitely not built to handle lifts with the loader that also raise the rear. That puts 100% of the weight of the tractor and load on the front axle (VERY stupid).

You absolutely must have rear ballast hanging off the three point when lifting heavy with the loader or you are risking extremely expensive and time consuming repairs to your front axle. It is a simple application of leverage and mechanical advantage versus senselessly breaking stuff and throwing money in the trash, the choice is yours.

If you want the front axle to last the lifetime of the tractor, you should try to match the weight of your rear ballast to the weight of what you're lifting with the loader. The saying "work smarter, not harder" applies to the use of equipment also...

 

[JerryK]

Mov'n dirt, until my butt is sore. Need a bigger bucket. 76" just takes forever.... with the travel time. Got most of the hill cut down. Have to get this out of the way so I can do some more.

 

[bridge4]

Filled tires and rear ballast are not the same thing; they do not produce the same result.

Tire ballast increases weight, which increases traction. Filled tires also lower the center of gravity, making the machine more stable on hills.

Rear ballast (which means something heavy hanging behind the tractor, either on the 3 point or something like a subframe mounted backhoe) does also add weight/traction. Depending on what you are using and how high you carry it, it can also lower the center of gravity and make the machine more stable. But even more important than that, proper use of rear ballast uses the rear axle like the pivot point of a seesaw and reduces the weight carried by the front axle. This is what is required when using your loader for heavy lifts. You want as much weight off the front axle before lifting with the loader so you are not overloading the front axle.

Most tractor loaders will lift more than the front axle is rated to carry. The front axle is definitely not built to handle lifts with the loader that also raise the rear. That puts 100% of the weight of the tractor and load on the front axle (VERY stupid).

You absolutely must have rear ballast hanging off the three point when lifting heavy with the loader or you are risking extremely expensive and time consuming repairs to your front axle. It is a simple application of leverage and mechanical advantage versus senselessly breaking stuff and throwing money in the trash, the choice is yours.

If you want the front axle to last the lifetime of the tractor, you should try to match the weight of your rear ballast to the weight of what you're lifting with the loader. The saying "work smarter, not harder" applies to the use of equipment also...

This is good stuff, thanks for going over the differences. It all makes plenty of sense, as a newbie though it sometimes needs to be spelled out for me I guess (literally in this case). Right now I'm just doing 1/2 yard of compost which is about 6-700 lbs of lifting, while not nothing, it is certainly not pushing the limits. In the future I will be cutting into the hills and working with heavy dirt and rocks, which it sounds like to do that, I should get some ballast on there.

I have thought a good heavy box blade/land plane might do a pretty good job, without sticking too far out the backend. What's your thoughts on that? Or would a ballast box be the best bet?

 

[JerryK]

Multi-month project nearly done. Gravel/clay fill in front of barn. Covered with Afton stone. 15 trees wacked down. Stumps removed. Hill removed. Raked and dragged for many days. Sloped for drainage away from barn. Many rocks/roots picked up. Seeded. Watered.... Look Ma, I have more to mow.... !!!!! Spent many days on my tractors until I was sick of it... My butt is sore ...

 

[bridge4]

Multi-month project nearly done. Gravel/clay fill in front of barn. Covered with Afton stone. 15 trees wacked down. Stumps removed. Hill removed. Raked and dragged for many days. Sloped for drainage away from barn. Many rocks/roots picked up. Seeded. Watered.... Look Ma, I have more to mow.... !!!!! Spent many days on my tractors until I was sick of it... My butt is sore ...

Looks nice! Do you have a before picture to compare at all? How did the tractor hold do?

 

[JerryK]

Looks nice! Do you have a before picture to compare at all? How did the tractor hold do?

Here is a picture from 2016 that shows some of the trees I had to take out to lower the hill. I'm sure there are others, somewhere...

 

[bridge4]

Here is a picture from 2016 that shows some of the trees I had to take out to lower the hill. I'm sure there are others, somewhere...

Thanks for posting that, can definitely see you had some stumps to move!

 

[AchingBack]

Today I moved Andy out of the tractor shed where he has been spending a few days while my brother and I beat the living snot out of the blade bolts on my SQ600 Bush Hog. It took a big lump of dry ice to finally shrink the last bolt enough to pound it out. I had to use a 10lb. sledge hammer head on the threaded end of the bolt, and smack it several times with the blunt end of my T-post driver.

Even after 15 years of use, the blades were still in pretty decent condition. However, because my brother is visiting, and owns a Dewalt impact gun, I decided I would take advantage of its use for the job. The easy part was removing the nuts. Driving out the bolts almost drove us nuts. A good source for Bush Hog, and other parts is German-Bliss in Illinois. Quite a bit cheaper than my local dealer, even after paying shipping.