What should my rear ballast weigh ?

[k0ua]

Well I can tell you this, on my new L3400 a 750 lb ballast barrel was not enough to keep the rear tires on the ground when going backwards up a hill with a big ole rock chained into the bucket. yes I know the rock was just too big, but the loader lifted it. It was fine on level ground
I bought 48 gallons of RV antifreeze tonight, and it is going in the rear tires this weekend. and I am going to be more careful what I latch on to in the way of big ole rocks!:thumbsup:
James
K0UA

 

[glc24]

Duffster
I don't know if you're being funny,or serious.:confused2:
You understand what sailorman stated,but questioned my response in agreeing with what he posted. I did find out what I needed with JD's ballast calculator.
So I don't go over the (roughly) 2000lb front axle cap.,I need 800 to 900lbs hanging on my 3pt.
Like I stated,I don't know if you're playing around or not with the fact of needing weight behind the pivot point (rear axle) to lighten the load on your front axle. It's common sense,and anyone with a FEL needs to understand this.

Greg

 

[Duffster]

Duffster
I don't know if you're being funny,or serious.:confused2:
You understand what sailorman stated,but questioned my response in agreeing with what he posted. I did find out what I needed with JD's ballast calculator.
So I don't go over the (roughly) 2000lb front axle cap.,I need 800 to 900lbs hanging on my 3pt.
Like I stated,I don't know if you're playing around or not with the fact of needing weight behind the pivot point (rear axle) to lighten the load on your front axle. It's common sense,and anyone with a FEL needs to understand this.

Greg

Dead serious.

I must apologize, I don't have the front axle rating of my loader tractor handy. But I am quite positive I don't need counterweight to properly ballast it.

 

[glc24]

Whatever you think is right.

Greg

 

[Duffster]

Whatever you think is right.

Greg

Not think...know.

 

[montejw]

Dead serious.

I must apologize, I don't have the front axle rating of my loader tractor handy. But I am quite positive I don't need counterweight to properly ballast it.

explain what you mean by "properly ballast it" in reference to your front axle rating.

 

[wvpolekat]

ok, lets think this through.

If you put all your ballast on/in the rear tires:
You can do this until you are able to fully use your loader capacity. Because you are putting the weight behind the fulcrum (front tires). This WILL NOT remove load from the front axle. The same weight is still being carried by it. Possibly more if you are at the extreme of your loader capacity, because more of the weight from the rear axle is being carried on the front axle. IF your front axle capacity is enough to carry the load, this is acceptable. It likely isn't.

If you put all your ballast on the 3pt:
You now have TWO fulcrums. The first is the front axle. The second is the rear axle. The weight you put in behind the rear tires will reduce the weight on the front tires and increase the weight on the rear axle. The more weight or the further behind the rear axle it is, the more weight you will transfer from the front axle to the rear axle.

The "normal" situation is to put weight in both the rear tires and on the 3pt. This gives you the best of both words so to speak. You remove load from the front axle, make the machine more stable, increase traction. You also get the flexibility of being able to remove your ballast on the 3pt while keeping your weight on/in the rear tires.

If your goal is to remove weight from the front axle, putting weight on/in the rear tires will not get you there. You can gain stability and loader capacity this way.

The ONLY way to remove weight from the front axle is to put weight BEHIND the rear axle.

 

[Marveltone]

It's just like putting a real tongue-heavy trailer on your truck without a load leveling hitch. If it gets heavy enough, your front end comes off the ground. That's because the load is behind the rear axle. The more weight behind the axle, the lighter the front end. The same holds true with a tractor with FEL and 3pt ballast. More ballast behind the rear axle will lighten up the load on the front axle. It's a complex teeter-totter!

I know this isn't a perfect comparison, but the principle is the same.

 

[Duffster]

explain what you mean by "properly ballast it" in reference to your front axle rating.

I don't need to take weight off the front axle, therefore don't need counterweight.

 

[LD1]

Boy this thread really took off. I had quite a few pages to read to get caught back up this morning.

Duffster: IMO your ramblings are meaningless unless you can give a little more verifiable detail as to which tractor you have etc. Some larger 100+ HP farm tractors may indeed be able to not overload the front axle without ballast. But we are talking CUT's and SCUT's here and there is a big difference. SCUT's are built light so they can mow and tread lightly across lawns. Working a FEL to the max DOES require rear ballast not only for saftey but for the longetivity of the front axle.


I did dig out my L3400 manual and I was dissappointed to find that there wasnt a rating for the front axle anywhere. It is not listed online either. I think JD is the only one that lists that spec online. So who knows if its 2500lbs or 6000lbs???? But 2600lb tractor + 900lb FEL + 260lb bucket + 500lb fluid + 300 lb blade = 4560lb tractor weight. And at that weight, I can still lift the rears. That means I have all 4560lb on just the front axle PLUS whatever weight is in the bucket ~1000lbs:confused2: I try not to do this because I cant help but think that it cant be too good. Plus the 7x16 AGs up front say Max load 1100lbs:confused2:

But What I did find in my manual may be of interest to those who disagree with putting weight on the 3PH. This is word for word

"For tractor stability and operators saftey, rear ballast should be added to the rear of the tractor in the form of 3-piont counter weight and rear ballast. The amount of rear ballast will depend on the application.