Wheel weights

   / Wheel weights #1  

patrickg

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2001
Messages
1,390
Location
South Central Oklahoma
Tractor
Kubota Grand L4610HSTC
After solving the mystery of why Kubota prohibits liquid fill if you have a L4610HSTC, I ordered wheel weights, all that will fit, three on each side in rear.

Will it jump up and down at speed if only some weights are installed? Since the weight doesn't load the axle, is it reasonable to leave them on most all the time? I realize I will loose a bit of fuel economy and potentially wear the brakes and tires faster but other than these marginal effects, is there a down side I'm not thinking about?

Treat me gentle, please as this is my first time with weights.

Pat
 
   / Wheel weights #2  
patrickg:

All of the tractor wheel weights I have seen were circular rings that bolt on to the wheel around the outside of the lug nuts. They are not like tire balancing weights that clip to the outer rim of the wheel. Consequently, since the weight is evenly distributed around the center of the axle, you should have no trouble with bounce, no matter how many you have on at one time - as long as you have the same number/weight on each rear wheel.

On my ford 1700, I left them on all the time. I never had a situation where I thought the tractor would perform better without them. If there was a difference in fuel economy, I never noticed, because I never took them off. Maybe I am just too lazy /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

You will really notice a difference with FEL work -- the back end won't get nearly so light when you have a full bucket of dirt or rock in front. You may still find that having a box blade or other counterweight on the 3-pt. hitch will be helpful if you are moving heavy material in the FEL and have enough maneuvering room to keep a 3-pt attachment on while you use the FEL.

Curious -- why does Kubota prohibit tire fill on your machine? /w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif
 
   / Wheel weights #3  
Patrick:
In years gone by most of the smaller [ light weight ] tractors had wheel weights. They will give better traction, reduce wheel sligage and hence tire wear. Chances are they may even improve fuel consumption by reduce wheel sligage.

On construction jobs with large rubber tired equipment anything over 10% wheel slippage was considered lost money.

Egon
 
   / Wheel weights #4  
The only noticable effect of wheel weights on the performance of a tractor is to increase the ground pressure of a tractor. This has both the good effect of (generally) increasing traction, as well as the bad effect of increasing compaction / rutting. Your choice of whether to have them or not depends upon your particular needs. For example, if you are mostly MMMing your large lawn, I would probably opt for no weights, but if you are using the FEL and box blade extensively in dirt, I would go with as much weight as possible. Again it is merely a balancing act of where your needs lie.
 
   / Wheel weights #5  
Hi,

<font color=blue>After solving the mystery of why Kubota prohibits liquid fill if you have a L4610HSTC, I ordered wheel weights, all that will fit, three on each side in rear.</font color=blue>

Tried to find out the solution on my own but failed. What was the solution to that mystery? You got me really curious!

Bill in Pgh, PA
 
   / Wheel weights
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Casimir, Thanks for the note. If the correct wheel weights look like the wrong ones they sent me home with a couple months ago, they are big lumps of cast iron which mount about midway between axle and rim. Three would balance but one or two can't. I asked yesterday afternoon when I picked up the tractor if it would hop up and down at max speed with only one or two weights per wheel and was told it isn't a problem. Apparrently you can choose to use 1, 2, or 3 depending on need. Since they goofed up previously AND THEN "accidently" sold my weights when they came in, they will do the install as a customer service freebie to make amends.

My brush hog weighs over 1000 lbs and has leverage as well. Box blade is heavier but shorter coupled. Without one of these on the back the FEL gets pretty "light duty". I frequently lift both back wheels in the air using the FEL with the box blade on. Brush hog is better counter wieght but gets in the way in tight manuvers, much of the reason I want weights. With weights and box blade I should be able to lift the rated weight with bucket or pallet forks (forks are rated to lift 1300 lbs) without getting too light in the back. I have had to quickly drop/lower loads on the pallet forks to avoid a roll over. A bundle of 200 T posts for example. I can lift them but if you turn the front wheels very far the geometry changes and the slightest bump or disturbance will initiate a roll over.

Be careful with your indiscriminate use of the "L" word (Lazy) as I resemble that remark.

Kubota sings the praises of, recommends, and gives full instructions for the use of CaCl solution in the rear tires but in the "fine print" says except with a cab. After considerable research (No dealers knew) I found that it is a ROPS issue. 80% (max recommended fill) exceeds the rating of the cab/ROPS. Liquid fill in wheels is a bit like a free surface in an un-baffled tank and makes a "live" load contribution that weights don't. Wheel weights were not prohibited. I would have thought they would have just restricted fill to 50% or whatever and gone on. I'm trying to comply so I have weights on order, again.

Best to you, and thanks again,

Pat
 
   / Wheel weights
  • Thread Starter
#7  
Bill, The weight of a max liguid fill (and its unbaffled free surface-live load characteristics, i.e. sloshing) exceeds the safety margin for the Cab's ROPS rating. Wheel weights were not prohibited. Had me really puzzled until I finally "Squeezed" the info out of a Kubota guru who shall remain anonymous and employed at Kubota.

Pat
 
   / Wheel weights
  • Thread Starter
#8  
rf33, What is MMMing? I thought maybe mauling, messing, mucking, manicuring...

OOOOOOH, Great! These weights will be portable hernias without handles and you expenct me to swap them on and off to mow versus do dirt work, like twice a week during peak growing season. I don't think so. I'd rather keep goats and dodge the droppings. Well, maybe I'd break one of my resolutions and get a lawn mower. I gave my last one away over 5 years ago (did a low care, no mowing relandscaping at previous house. Maybe a riding mower or a second but itsy bitsy tractor to mow with is waranted or devising a fixture to make changing weights a non-backbreaking job.

Traction, more is better! Pull up to a dirt pile insert FEL bucket and ease forward without premature wheel spin.... What a deal! I can hardly wait for weight.

Patrick
 
   / Wheel weights #9  
Patrick,

When I said MMMing, I meant Mid Mount Mowing... i.e. if you use your tractor primarily as a large lawn mower. I certainly would not expect anyone to take wheel weights on and off on a regular basis, I was merely trying to suggest whether to use them or not based upon your primary usage.
 
   / Wheel weights
  • Thread Starter
#10  
RF33, My Kubota L-4610 doesn't have any kind of mid mount or PTO for mid mount so I guess that is why I was terminologically challenged.

Seems once again I have failed to communicate attempted humor.

I do appreciate your take on the weights. I probably should work out some way to make handling them easier so that I can change them when needed. I get a free initial install but after that they are my responsibility. As you aptly pointed out, sometimes extra weight is good and sometimes not. Until or unless I come up with an easier way to R&R the weights, I'll probably just leave them on and have to be more careful about waiting for the ground to firm up after a wetting.

Tractoring might be just a little less thrilling/exciting with all the wheels on the ground. Without weights it seems I have more hydraulics than tractor.

Pat
 
 
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