BALLAST BOX BUILD

[glc24]

Here are a few pics of my box before paint. I was planning to paint it the way it is,but a friend and coworker who knows bodywork offered to "mud" the welds and spray it for me. So I went to the JD dealer and bought a quart of paint,thinner and hardener.......70.00...ouch! Paint wasn't bad,the hardener was the most...40.00!! Enough for a gallon though.

I made the box out of leftover 1/2"x12" cold rolled. The box tubing is 1-1/2 square with 1/4" wall. The pipes are 2" schedule 40. The pieces of angle are 3"x3"x1/2". I cut 1" off so it would be flush with the edge. The box measures 24" wide,18" deep,and 24" high. The box weighs 380lbs......empty!!

For the side pins, I'm using 1"x5-1/2-8 bolts with a piece of 1" schedule 40 pipe over the bolts for bushings. The OD of the pipe will give me just about 1-1/2". I cut the threads off a bolt and drilled a hole in the end for a 7/16" locking linch pin for the top pin. I also added a piece of 3/4"x3"x4" inside the box to give me 1-1/4" for the threaded side holes.
Comments good or bad are welcome

Greg

[Usta]

I built something similar. A bit smaller with thinner steel. I drilled two drainage holes in the bottom. I then coated the inside with Herculiner roll-on bed liner and filled the box with sand. I use the sand as ballast for loader work in the summer and also use it to sand the walk and driveway in the winter.

[beenthere]

Looks great, but hope you are picking it up with a quick hitch.
Are the pipes in the corners to carry four flags?

Filling it with concrete? or what?

[kennyd]

Filling it with concrete? or what?

With half inch plate and those pipe he can almost leave it empty!

Great looking job GLC, and very nice welding also-what are you using?

[glc24]

Thanks guys
I have a 7/8" hole in the bottom for each pipe.
I saw a few other members,here and on TractorForum who did the pipe thing for
manual labor,like shovels,rakes,sledges,that sort of thing.
Right now,I have a few old metric calibration weights that weight 44lbs apiece,
I'm going to put six in the box for now and see how well 644lbs works.

Ken, We have two older Miller welders at work. I look them every day,and you know I can't positively say,but I think the one I used was called a DeltaWeld 651 with .045 Flux Core wire. Is that what you were asking?

Greg

[kennyd]

Thanks guys
I have a 7/8" hole in the bottom for each pipe.
I saw a few other members,here and on TractorForum who did the pipe thing for
manual labor,like shovels,rakes,sledges,that sort of thing.
Right now,I have a few old metric calibration weights that weight 44lbs apiece,
I'm going to put six in the box for now and see how well 644lbs works.

Ken, We have two older Miller welders at work. I look them every day,and you know I can't positively say,but I think the one I used was called a DeltaWeld 651 with .045 Flux Core wire. Is that what you were asking?

Greg

Yeah, that is what I was asking...

[rambler]

Holy buckets! That's built stout.

I made one, from a $75 carry all frame, and a $15 roack box I bought at a farm auction. I didn't want to go over $100 so I didn't paint it, the original red on the carryall, the creame on the rock box. I think you have more invested in paint than I do in my whole rig.

Wow, well you shouldn't have to worry about denting it.

What I miss most with something hanging on the 3pt is - a hitch. If you were to bolt or weld a 2" reciever on the bottom of it somehow, so it didn't stick out in the way.....

--->Paul

[dwilliams35]

I'm just wondering why so thick on the wall steel?

[GPintheMitten]

Wow, very nice job on the box. Way heavier than I would need.

I agree a 2 inch receiver hitch incorporated somewhere would be useful.

I do think you over did it on the plate, if you are going to fill it with material for weight, seems like it could have been 3/16", but like Rambler said, you don't have to worry about denting it.

That should last 2 or 3 lifetimes.

[glc24]

As I stated in my original post,the 1/2" plate is the only material I was allowed to take. IT WAS FREE!

Greg