Ballast Ballast/ Ballast Box question

[RalphVa]

Look. He can puts rocks, lead bars, gold bars, anything he wants into the carryall box. It's an idea. I just told what worked for me. If I'd had rocks in the FEL, I'd need rocks in the carryall.

You guys are a bunch of goofs.

I drove BIG tractors before most of you were born. Plowed whole fields when I was about 8 or 9 years old.

Buncha teenagers.

Ralph

 

[rmonio]

I use my Ballast Box unless I have a use for the Box Blade.. . The HD Frontier BB is usually heavy enough to give me the ballast I need.

Why fabricate the box? I didn't think the JD Ballast Box was that expensive when I bought it. Combine it with the i-Match and it's a pretty weighty setup with the right stuff in it.

-Bob

 

[rmonio]

BTW, Ralph - thanks for calling me a teenager!

 

[johndeere_2210]

Unless you get something other than steel (my neighbor just filled a 30 gallon drum with concrete and placed a rod through it and fabricated a bracket on top) and this is roughly 500 lbs. On a 4400, you need more (if you haven't experienced the power of the loader yet, you will at some point and be glad to have amble ballast. I would look the manual over and see the weight requirements, and then set out to construct something that can support that load on the three point (perhaps a box blade with multiple weight lift weights attached???)

 

[elginfarm]

Thanks for all your suggestions. I like the carryall idea and have also considered making a wood form, running a drawbar through it and using some eye bolts for attaching the top/center link and then filling it with concrete. I'll re-read the owners manual and the FEL loader manual to figure out how much ballast i'll need. I've already used the FEL filled with wet dirt with the cutter attached and everything was fine. I wouldn't try that without something hanging on the back though. I want to keep all my body parts and make it to retirement in order to enjoy retirement. Maybe it might be worth it to get a regular ballast box. That way I can have some control over the weight. What can I expect to pay for a ballast box from the JD dealer? Any other thoughts or ideas, as always, will be greatly appreciated since a lot of this is new to me.
Thanks again all.

 

[johndeere_2210]

elginfarm,

The box should put you back $200 and for that, I would consider a 5 or 6' boxblade by TSC or Rural King ($400) and fab something to accept weight lifting weights for real ballast. Reason for mentioning this, my neighbor has a 5510 much larger machine, but you can only get about 700 lbs in that box unless you are using some very dense like lead weights. Alternatively, the boxblade when altered could achieve great weight (I suspect you want around 1000 lbs on the rear of that machine or a bit more) and protect the entire rear end (i.e., box is as wide as your machine as opposed to a 2 foot wide ballast box) and can be used for other functions.

 

[elginfarm]

Thanks JD2210. Again, The ballst box is an option. I will eventually need a box blade but was hoping to hold off on that purchase since I think I really need a landscape rake first. I'd like to clear all the old broken limbs and small rocks. I ahd hoped to find a decent box blade at an auction but when the time comes I'll probably go with a howse or KK if I have to buy new.
Thanks,
Eldon

 

[rmonio]

The Ballast Box sells for $175-$200 (I paid $150 when I bought mine). I believe it's an inexpensive route to go for getting a good start on the ballast you need - even for small projects. There is nothing wrong with having the ballast box AND a Box Blade or other tool if you can wing it. They both fit a purpose and keep in mind that the Ballast Box is smaller and easier to manuever than having to haul around anything larger when you're doing smaller projects...

-Bob

 

[stuart]

Someone on Ebay sells brackets that attach to you rear wheels and allows the attachment of several round 50lb weights to each wheel. Sorry I do not have the site.

 

[Nuru]

Someone on Ebay sells brackets that attach to you rear wheels and allows the attachment of several round 50lb weights to each wheel. Sorry I do not have the site.

i thought about that and just filled my rear tires, works well with recycled anti-freeze.