Ballast Weight ??

   / Ballast Weight ?? #1  

Harvey7

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Jul 28, 2006
Messages
189
Location
Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia
Tractor
Kioti CK25
I'm in the process of making a ballast for the rear of my tractor, I have a 55 gallon plastic barrel, I mixed five (5) 80 lb bags of cement (with water). That would be 400 lbs without the water, but how much is it with the water ?

Tks
Harvey

PS......... I really don't care but I'm a little curious.
 
   / Ballast Weight ?? #2  
Typically, somewhere between 6-9 pts of water are used per bag. So on the high side, you're water weight is 9*5*1.04lbs=46.8lbs and on the low side it is 6*5*1.04=31.2lbs. So you're total is likely somewhere between 431.2lbs and 446.8lbs...
 
   / Ballast Weight ?? #3  
Cement: Cement (finely ground gray or white powder used to bind concrete mixtures) weighs between 830 kg/m3 and 1650 kg/m3 (52 lbs/ft3 and 103 lbs/ft3) depending on its handling. The weight of cement that has been pneumatically loaded into a cement silo may be as low as 830 kg/m3 (52 lbs/ft3), while cement that has been stored for a period of time exposed to vibration may be as heavy as 1650 kg/m3 (103 lbs/ft3). It is standard practice to consider a 94 lb bag of cement to be one cubic foot when freshly packed.
1 cu ft = 7.48 gal

55 gal / 7.48 = 7.3529411 etc.

7.3529411 cu ft in a 55 gal drum

therefore 94 lbs/cu ft * 7.35 cu ft = 690 lbs in a 55 gallon drum
 
   / Ballast Weight ?? #5  
Cured cement is going to weigh 80 lbs per bag? :confused:
Now I'm more confused than when I first saw your post. :eek:
 
   / Ballast Weight ?? #6  
There is a difference between Cement, Concrete, sand mix and mortar mix.

The 94 lb. bag of cement, is pure portland cement, seldom used by itself, since it will crumble apart if no aggregate and/or sand is mix in with it.
Concrete mix comes in 60# and 80# bags.
Concrete mix is about 10 to 15 percent cement, 60 to 75 percent aggregate and 15 to 20 percent water.


I suspect you mixed (5) 80# bags of concrete, not cement? is that correct?
5 x 80 = 400 lbs.

Some of the water added to any mix evaporates back out of the mix.
For an 80 pound bag, you might figure you'd pick up another 5 lbs.
5 x 85 = 425 lbs.


Let's figure it up one other way, by cubic foot. (5) 80 lb. bags makes 3 cubic foot, right on the button. A cubic foot of concrete weighs between 140# and 150#. Concrete is an inexact science, since mixtures vary.

So, for 3 Cubic Feet, you will get cured concrete that weighs somewhere between 420 lbs. and 450 lbs.




Paul Christenson,
There are approx. 7.48 gallons per cubic foot, as you stated.
A 55 gallon drum is approx. 7.35 Cubic Feet of volume. ( 55 / 7.48=7.351)

Filled with Concrete, at 150# per cubic foot, a full 55 gallon drum will weigh in the neighborhood of 1,100# (7.35 x 150 = 1100 )


Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

.
 
   / Ballast Weight ?? #7  
To toss more fuel on the fire....

If you measure the typical 55 gallon plastic barallel (the more squared off ones intead of the more oval shaped), you'll find that they are closer to 65 gallon drums. They are typically 24" OD by 36" 'ish tall (I can't remember the exact height). Tpically, they are 1/4" wall plastic, so make that 23.5" ID by 35.5 Inside height. A liquid gallon of water is 231 cubic inches.

Volume of a cylinder is pie(r^2)H.
3.14 x (11.75^2) x 35.5
3.14 x (138) x35.5 = 15382.86

15382.86 (cubic Inches) / 231 (Cubic inches per gallon) = 66.59 gallons

So, if I take a full 55 gallon drum and fill it with 65 gallons of water, I'll have 546 lbs of ballast.

Of course, I'd never use that for actual ballast on a tractor because of leaks, etc.
 
   / Ballast Weight ?? #8  
SkunkWerX said:
There is a difference between Cement, Concrete, sand mix and mortar mix.

The 94 lb. bag of cement, is pure portland cement, seldom used by itself, since it will crumble apart if no aggregate and/or sand is mix in with it.
Concrete mix comes in 60# and 80# bags.
Concrete mix is about 10 to 15 percent cement, 60 to 75 percent aggregate and 15 to 20 percent water.


I suspect you mixed (5) 80# bags of concrete, not cement? is that correct?
5 x 80 = 400 lbs.

Some of the water added to any mix evaporates back out of the mix.
For an 80 pound bag, you might figure you'd pick up another 5 lbs.
5 x 85 = 425 lbs.


Let's figure it up one other way, by cubic foot. (5) 80 lb. bags makes 3 cubic foot, right on the button. A cubic foot of concrete weighs between 140# and 150#. Concrete is an inexact science, since mixtures vary.

So, for 3 Cubic Feet, you will get cured concrete that weighs somewhere between 420 lbs. and 450 lbs.




Paul Christenson,
There are approx. 7.48 gallons per cubic foot, as you stated.
A 55 gallon drum is approx. 7.35 Cubic Feet of volume. ( 55 / 7.48=7.351)

Filled with Concrete, at 150# per cubic foot, a full 55 gallon drum will weigh in the neighborhood of 1,100# (7.35 x 150 = 1100 )


Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

.

Density of Concrete

I know the density of concrete within the givien variables...:rolleyes:

I answered what he asked CEMENT...:D
 
   / Ballast Weight ?? #9  
You guys are getting WAY to technical! This is just a ballast box:D
 
   / Ballast Weight ?? #10  
Paul,
I was showing the difference in the answer , given concrete vs. cement.
Maybe he was indeed using 80# bags of cement?
If so, 5 bags at 80# per bag, still adds up to 400#, plus approx. 10% for the water mixed in.

I think his question was: (paraphrased) how much more weight for the water added?

A rough estimate would be add another 5 lbs. or so, per bag, once mixed and cured.

He has approx. 425 to 450 lbs. of weight, no matter whether he used Cement or Concrete mix.

Harvey, it's a good question, and probably a good thing to know, since you are ballasting against what you plan to lift. if it works, great, but if you find you need to add more, you'll know how much you you already have.
 
 
 
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