I have a smaller tractor (B2910) - the FEL is an LA 402 - the 402 number is the capacity (in kilos) to the bucket center ... in other words 885 lbs more or less. To the pivot pin, it's 1060 lbs.
Until I built my
ballast block I used to use my box blade which is around 514 lbs or so. It was really too light (IMO)
(Additional note: My rear tires are unloaded, as I use the tractor as our primary mower and don't want to be rutting up and compacting the lawn)
I suspected that the PRV on my loader was set low and when I checked it I found that it was low by 200 psi. So I shimmed it and bumped it to 200 psi over the factory spec. Don't really know what my loader's lift capacity is now, but when I built the ballast block I wanted something beefy to take the weight off the front axle - especially having read of multiple instances of the front stub axles breaking on this series tractor.
The 3PH has a rated lift capacity of 1655 lbs I believe at the pins, and 1300 lbs 24" behind the pins.
When I built the ballast block I used enough concrete - 7.6 cu ft - to give the block a weight of 1140 lbs. In reality, it probably weighs closer to 1200 lbs, due to the amount of steel used in it's construction.
When I initially tried to pick it up with the 3PH it wouldn't lift it ... at least not without pulling the top link in all the way, to tip the block forward. And even then it would just barely pick it up.
Did some more checking and found the PRV for the 3PH was also set 200 psi below the factory spec. I added one 0.4 mm shim to the 3PH PRV and that allowed the 3PH pick up the ballast block easily with about 2000 psi (factory spec on this tractor is 1992 psi)
When I pick up the ballast block on the 3PH you can feel the tractor really squat down ... very noticeably ... probably from the tires squashing down a bit. I don't believe I'd ever noticed that with anything else on the 3PH.
It feels solid and really well planted on the ground now ...
I take it pretty easy when I have the ballast block on and don't go tearing around at speed over rough terrain.
I haven't used the tweaked up loader or the ballast block all that much yet ... but I know I can pick up the ballast block now with the loader using the pallet forks. Assuming my calcs on the weight are correct, it appears that the loader is capable of picking up more than it's rated capacity.
I also know I've picked up some logs with the pallet forks that I probably could not have before I added the ballast block and did the mods to the PRV's.
Having had the experience of almost flipping the tractor several times while doing loader work in my early experiences with it, I really like the idea of
a little more ballast rather than
a little less ballast. And the fact that the front axle is seeing less stress, as a consequence of being unloaded far more than it ever was with just my box blade is somewhat reassuring as well.
