Ballast almost flipped the tractor, really need some help!

[Artisan]

Hmmm, lets see here.

We have a JD 4105 tractor w/ a 300CX FEL.

The stock bucket weighs 207 pounds.

The OP says his aftermarket bucket weighs 300 kilogram = 661.5 pounds.

Here are the specs for the tractor. HERE are the specs for the FEL.

The lifting capacity at full height measured at 500 mm ahead of pivot is 1005 pounds.

1005 minus 661.5 = 343.5 Pounds MAX you are allowed to put in that bucket.
Did your salesman TELL YOU that you can only load up 343.5 (and lift high)
pounds into that bucket? HE NEEDS TO BE FIRED IMO. He almost killed you
IMO BUT you are definitely partly to blame, lesson learned , we are ALL
GLAD YOUR OK.

Would you have bought that bucket if you were told ahead of time that
little more than 3- 100Lb sacks of cement are alls your tractor will lift,
SAFELY? ? ?


My little BX25 I believe has a lift capacity of something like 625 w/ stock bucket.

IMHO, your dealer took the money w/o discussing the ramifications of the
weight to HP ratios and left you w/ a flipped tractor, BUT, You positively
were in err by carrying so much weight so high especially for the conditions.

EVERY tractor owner needs a good scare, hopefully you LEARN and will
sit down and LEARN more before you decide to play w/ weight and
gravity. DEADLY combo it can be.

I weigh 225 pounds, 343.5-225= 118.5 So my body and a lil over
a sack of cement is alls your suppose to load that bucket with .

I AM NOT A PRO, TAKE ALL MY INPUT w/ SEVERAL GRAINS OF SALT
and can a pro recrunch my numbers for this gent please?

GLAD your OK, CARRY your loads LOW, ALWAYS!

[Bob77064]

Glad that you are ok.

[Loudo]

Gudday Thinggy, You are lucky mate, you've had your first brown trouser moment and I know it won't be your last.It surprises me that your dealer did not ballast the rear tyres as part of the pre-delivery. When I was with MF we had to ballast the rear tyres even without a loader. As others have said you had your loader too high and that ripper is not heavy enough, so that's my 2c worth. Also welcome to TBN. Loudo.

[lilranch2001]

Hmmm, lets see here.

We have a JD 4105 tractor w/ a 300CX FEL.

The stock bucket weighs 207 pounds.

The OP says his aftermarket bucket weighs 300 kilogram = 661.5 pounds.

Here are the specs for the tractor. HERE are the specs for the FEL.

The lifting capacity at full height measured at 500 mm ahead of pivot is 1005 pounds.

1005 minus 661.5 = 343.5 Pounds MAX you are allowed to put in that bucket.
Did your salesman TELL YOU that you can only load up 343.5 (and lift high)
pounds into that bucket? HE NEEDS TO BE FIRED IMO. He almost killed you
IMO BUT you are definitely partly to blame, lesson learned , we are ALL
GLAD YOUR OK.

Would you have bought that bucket if you were told ahead of time that
little more than 3- 100Lb sacks of cement are alls your tractor will lift,
SAFELY? ? ?


My little BX25 I believe has a lift capacity of something like 625 w/ stock bucket.

IMHO, your dealer took the money w/o discussing the ramifications of the
weight to HP ratios and left you w/ a flipped tractor, BUT, You positively
were in err by carrying so much weight so high especially for the conditions.

EVERY tractor owner needs a good scare, hopefully you LEARN and will
sit down and LEARN more before you decide to play w/ weight and
gravity. DEADLY combo it can be.

I weigh 225 pounds, 343.5-225= 118.5 So my body and a lil over
a sack of cement is alls your suppose to load that bucket with .

I AM NOT A PRO, TAKE ALL MY INPUT w/ SEVERAL GRAINS OF SALT
and can a pro recrunch my numbers for this gent please?

GLAD your OK, CARRY your loads LOW, ALWAYS!

Great minds think alike Artisan!

[SPYDERLK]

A bit surprising that the dealer didn't suggest loaded tires and carrying an implement (at least for ballast), if he was familiar with your terrain and experience.

Live customers tend to generate repeat business.

As a comparison, the bucket on my TN70a is 610kg.

A 1300 pound bucket is extremely rare on a tractor.
larry

[tcartwri]

From the manual;

OMW54458


Required Minimum Tractor Ballast?00CX Loader

CAUTION: To help prevent the possibility of personal injury or death caused by tractor/loader roll over, DO NOT operate tractor/loader unless it is equipped with proper ballast.

The amount of ballast listed in the chart is the minimum required for normal loader operation. For some operations, additional ballast may be required to maximize stability.

IMPORTANT: When adding ballast, do not exceed maximum tire carrying capacity shown on sidewall.

REQUIRED MINIMUM BALLAST FOR 4105 TRACTOR
Ballast1
Tire Size
Number of Rear Wheel Weights Required per Wheel
Fluid-filled rear tires and 500 kg (1100 lb) of 3-Point hitch ballast2 and Rear wheel weights per wheel:
14.9-24, 4PR (R1) 2
17.5L-24, 8PR (R4) 1

[Artisan]

Great minds think alike Artisan!

Did I save you 7-800 keystrokes?

This really tics me off. The days of educated salesmen are GONE, once they
have been w/ the company for so long they are deemed too expensive
or let go due to selling off the company and the new owner deleting
all the expensive SMART people in favor of dumb and UNKNOWLEDGEABLE
youngters. Everywhere I go the sales peopel are kids, WHY? BECAUSE
THEY ARE CHEAP TO HIRE. It is SO WORNG on SO MANY LEVELS.

[schweizer]

Everyone has mentioned ballast, including filled tires ("tyres" for the Aussie), but I think it should be emphasized again that 4WD is excellent preventive measure for accidents when using a FEL. Like someone else mentioned, most tractors don't have front brakes. In 2WD, when the back gets a little light you could go careening down a hill. I often skid down our gravel road to the barn in 2wd, but not in 4wd.

Also, often practice in your mind dropping the FEL quickly if you run into trouble. Dig the FEL bucket into the ground to stop and prevent what happened in your pics.

My backhoe is excellent ballast, but I find the box scraper to be too light. I found out the hard way when driving down a hill with a load of lumber on my pallet forks just a few days ago. I had to drop the load in the road to keep from tipping over. I'd rather pick up the lumber by hand than be upside down. The box blade just wasn't heavy enough.

Anyway, we're glad you're OK, and welcome to TBN.

Marcus

[Loudo]

This really tics me off. The days of educated salesmen are GONE, once they
have been w/ the company for so long they are deemed too expensive
or let go due to selling off the company and the new owner deleting
all the expensive SMART people in favor of dumb and UNKNOWLEDGEABLE
youngters. Everywhere I go the sales peopel are kids, WHY? BECAUSE
THEY ARE CHEAP TO HIRE. It is SO WORNG on SO MANY LEVELS.[/QUOTE]

Sir ,you are sooo right unfortunately and it's not only machinery, also what has happened to good old fashioned service??? I recently spent 20 minutes waiting for one of these non assistants,eventually walked out in disgust Loudo.

[k0ua]

Yes it was bad that the salesperson let the rig go with a heavy bucket and no ballast box and no loaded tires. Looks like my estimation of 750 to 1000 and loaded tires was a little light with JD manual calling for loaded tires, AND 1100 lbs on the 3pt AND 1 set of rear wheel weights for the R4 tires.. And this poor guy had none of the above. Oh well, live and learn.

James K0UA