I'm a real tractor rookie and just wanted something small to do a little work around my .75 acres which is partially on a grade. I found a real nice Shibaura SL1643 (19hp, 1500 lbs, 4WD) w/loader that I thought would work nicely. I got it home and before I even got near the steepest area of the property I **** near tipped it over. It seems to have a loader that is a little too large for the tractor (5 ft. wide) which puts a lot of weight on the front tires along with the fact that the front differential pivots it wants to tip right over. Do these little grey market tractors only work well on level ground or do I need some ballast in back to improve weight distribution and get the weight on the back tires? Do some tractors not pivot at the front differentials? Are the modern Kubota type tractors with the squatty little tires have a much lower center of gravity and perform better for what I need to do? I was thinking about making a big concrete ballast to hang off the back of the 3pt hitch, how much should I make it weigh. Is there an ideal weight distribution I should shoot for (ex. 50/50 between front and back wheels)? Thanks, Mike.
You should probably start with loading all 4 of your tires and then making a concrete ballast for the rear. My 22 hp tractor only has a 4' loader and that is all it can handle. I am sure a 5' is too large to use on your tractor safely. Be sure to keep your loader as low as possible while moving your tractor and be extra careful on slopes and uneven surfaces.
I did indeed have the bucket all the way down, maybe only 6" off the ground when this occured. Someone mentioned to me that not only is a loader that is too large heavier and too wide but usually hangs out front too far. He said it should just clear the front of the tractor when swinging up/down. Mine swings beyond the front a good foot or maybe 1.5 feet. What do you mean by "start with loading all 4 of your tires"? I think I'll see if I can get this loader swapped out for a little one for starters. Is there any reason you can't use extensions to widen the stance of the wheels/tires. I'm a CNC machinist and could easily manufacture some extensions. Here's a pic to get a better idea what I'm dealing with. Thanks for the info, Mike.
That loader definitely looks too large for your tractor. Loading the tires means putting water, windshield wiper fluid or a host of other liquids in your tires for weight and stability. On my Yanmar I reversed the tires around (put left rear on right rear and right rear on left rear) thus turning the valve stems to the inside of the tires instead of being on the outside and this widened the stance. I don't know if your wheels are built the same but if the center is off center this would probably help you out also. You can also get extensions made for the rear wheels for even more stability.
