55 gallon drum ballast

[meangreenmachine]

Looking for comments/suggestions from your experience in making a ballast for FEL from steel drum and concrete. Thanks. meangreenmachine

 

[JimR]

I have a cement filled beer keg for my tractor. It is fine for small bucket loads. It needs to be twice the size for heavy loads. I would think the 55 gallon drum would work out well for a large tractor. You will need to have the 3ph hookups integrated into the barrel somehow. The lower drawbar can be put right through the barrel. You may need to extend the length of it. The top link will need to be strapped around the barrel. I would think welding it to the barrel might not be enough to hold it on with a full load of cement. My farmer friend has a large block of cement that he just poured into a wood frame. He inserted the drawbar through the wooden frame. The top link bracket was welded to the drawbar using a piece of steel to keep it in place. Then he poured the cement into the box. He removed the wood after it hardened up. I think it is about 3' x 3' square.
An old V8 big block motor would work out well also. I think that would give you around 500 pounds.

 

[jimmysisson]

A full drum of concrete could weigh 950#. Make sure you want that on your 3-point. You probably would want check chains to keep the weight off the lift.
Jim

 

[john_bud]

They work well.

Put the lower bar thru the barrel, and put two 1/2" x 2 & 1/2" steel flats thru the barrel for the top link. Put some rebar thru pre-drilled holes on the cement side to keep them from pulling out. If you want to be clever, add a square tube reciever hitch out the back of the barrel. Weld it to the bottom bar and weld the back of the tube closed (to keep the cement from getting out). It's nice to be able to tow stuff and not have to remove the weight. I also agree on the use of check chains.


Make sure that you position everything so that you can put it on the ground using the 3pt. BUT (!) be sure that with the arms up, the bottom of the barrel is 5-6 inches higher than the bottom of the axle. Otherwise it will rub on the ground going up hills or onto a trailer.

I would also suggest using a plastic barrel instead of a metal one. They stay looking nice and take the incidental bumps better.

Good project!

jb

 

[MrJimi]

A full drum of concrete could weigh 950#. Make sure you want that on your 3-point. You probably would want check chains to keep the weight off the lift.
Jim

950 pounds on the back?
Sounds like allot of weight
Could it fold in the middle?
Too much weight on both ends?
Food for thought.
Jim

 

[deerhunterf350]

A full drum of concrete could weigh 950#. Make sure you want that on your 3-point. You probably would want check chains to keep the weight off the lift.
Jim

How would check chains be attached to keep the weight off the Lift ??

I just dropped off a 55 gal Drum at the Local Concrete Plant , they are going to fill it when a Truck makes a run and has left over mix. They are going to charge next to nothing 5 bucks , they normally have the trucks go around back to empty. After a while they have a Loader bust up the overrun area and then have to hall off the waste. So if your local Concrete mixing plant has alot of "Overrun" pours , they may make you the same deal.

They estimated that it would weigh around 1,100# , not including the Steel that I welded to make the supporting frame. I am interested in the chains to take the force off the lift. If you have photos, please post.

 

[meangreenmachine]

Thanks to all for your comments.....Tractor is JD 4310 with 73" FEL. Manual shows JD Ballast box and ballast box extention with ballast weight reco of 1200 lbs so I'm thinking that if I can get around a 1000 lbs with the barrel/concrete and a 3 pt. quick hitch I should be OK....Do you agree?? (All tires are loaded with methanol). The 3 pt has an adjustable linkage which serves as check chains to limit side to side swaying. Seems to me that JD would not give the 1200 lb ballast spec if the 3 point lift/linkage were not able to manage it well. Do you think I'm wrong here?

This is a great site that my son fishpick suggested.

meangreenmachine (the ole man)

 

[deerhunterf350]

Ok, I though the Check Chains were holding some of the weight once the 3pt hitch had lifted the Drum. But yes the 3pt lift arms does have adjustable linkage for sway control.

 

[JimR]

That is a great idea on the plastic barrel. A steel barrel left outside will eventually rust away. That is a good idea about the rebar too inside the barrel.

 

[john_bud]

Check chains are attached to the tractor, usually in a top link hole, then to the lower arms. They are used to hold up the weight of the implement or to hold the implement at a set height. They were very popular on older tractors that would leak down over time and not self correct. A JD 4310 is a good modern tractor and has specs of about 2000# 3' behind the arms. It shouldn't require chains to hold the weight. Will chains help the tractor last longer? maybe. Is it worth the trouble? dunno.

By the way, DeerhunterF350, great tip on getting over run cement on the cheap.

jb