Ballast/Counterweight

   / Ballast/Counterweight #41  
<font color=blue>...I've wondered about in the past is how do those little birds find that food ...</font color=blue>

Bird,

With our crazy... warmer than usual weather this season... Mother Nature has everything confused... in December, some plants are starting "buds", the birds are flying "south", bears are not hibernating...etc.

18-35197-JD5205JFMsignaturelogo.JPG
 
   / Ballast/Counterweight #42  
Glen,

I now have Superflex filled Ag tires on my B2400.

I am clearing saplings from part of my land, uncovering the old stone wall, and preparing the future garden site. I was uncomfortable looking down and seeing the calcium filled tires stretched by the ground clutter (sapling stumps, sharp rocks, etc.) Since I have owned the tractor punctured front tires have been common, annoying, but not much of a problem. The tractor was basically self jacking, the FEL makes a more than acceptable jack I was worried that I would puncture a filled rear tire while back in my woods. This could tip the tractor and ruin an entire day.

I decided to get Ag tires (and wheels) and fill them with the Superflex while I was making tractor upgrades.

The ride on the new tires is bumpy compared to the turf tires, as expected I can feel the Ag tire tread. I can't compare directly to Air filled turf tires since I never used them.


The stability of the tractor seems to have improved considerably. The trail into my woods seems less 'tippy' with the new tires. The tires are not set at maximum width, the dealer used a mid setting for rear tire width. This was a surprise when the tractor came back, I had expected them to be set for maximum width. The service manager explained that he was worried setting that much weight out further on the axles and he wanted to make sure that the implements cover the tracks. This is not something I could change now. The service manager said that changing it would require reversing the tires on the rims, a problem now that they are Superflex filled.


I have not done much mowing after the tractor came back but in the little I did, I see the tire imprint in my turf. The imprint was much larger with the Ag tires when I was tilling under the garden compared to turf tires. As expected the Ag tires did not track in the huge amount of mud the Turf tires would pick up whenever driven in the dirt.


I kept the turf tires (now without calcium fill) and so it is possible to change back to turf tires (I don't know how often I actually will). I was warned by the mechanic that it took two men to handle the Superflex filled tires when they installed them on the tractor. I don't know how practical it will be to change the tires for mowing. If it took two tractor mechanics, this sedentary computer programmer is in trouble attempting the change solo. I will have to come up with a way of handling the heavy Ag tires. Has anyone used a truck wheel dolly for changing heavy tractor tires? I see the dollies in the Northern Tools catalog (with the bottle jack to adjust the tire height off the floor) and they look interesting.


The other upgrades included the installation of my Gearmore top-and-tilt, a heavy duty alternator and chain hooks on my FEL bucket.
 
   / Ballast/Counterweight #43  
I'm not familiar with the rims on a B2400 but if they are like any other tractor wheel you swap them from side to side to keep them pointed in the right direction while setting rear wheel spacing. Sounds like someone didn't want to mess with them again. Are the wheels two piece or one piece?
 
   / Ballast/Counterweight #44  
The wheels are one piece. I don't see anything to prevent swapping them, I didn't question thie point.

The dealer also said that the very heavy superfles tires farther out on the axle would be a bad idea. Does this reason make sense?
 
   / Ballast/Counterweight
  • Thread Starter
#45  
Neat, talking to Bird about birds... On topic comment folows...Ballast/Counterweight: My bird feeders are mounted on a rebar version of a cross. Couple 2 1/2 -3 ft driven in ground with 2 ft above ground and a washer welded at top and near ground level. Cruciform feeder holder is traditional cross shaped and fits into the two washers on the rebar driven in the ground. There are washers with a "bite" out welded to the ends of the crossbar to hold the feeder bale/handle. Additioinal feeders can be hung on the crossbar but need to be "twisteed" (wired) to the crossbar to prevent them moving against another feeder or the vertical bar which in a wind could pinch a bird between them. Have one thistle seed feeder and two for sunflower seeds. Just recently a pair of cardinals started visiting the feeders along with 20-30 goldfinches (up to 15-20 on feeder perches and feeder holder at a time). We are begining to get a small flock of something else, larger than the goldfinch and has about three distinct shades of grey. Sleek good looking bird. Haven't got out the field manual To ID them yet. (Here comes the ballast counterweight part) You have to position the third feeder on the crossbar such that it ballances the assembly or it bends over a bit sideways and looks less than aesthetic. Of course, taking into considation the density of thistle versus sunflower and the remaining quantities of each.

With tax I paid about $9 for 50 lbs of black sunflower seed. I enquired about thistle at a large feed store and they wanted $36 for 50 lbs, I declined, thinking I better check it out, feeling the Scotch part of my Scotch/Irish/Indian background.

We had 7 Canadian geese stop for an hour or so at one of our ponds this morning. Most of the ponds froze over last night. It was 17 degrees at 0800 this AM. There were about 40 mallards concentrated in a small area that was not frozen. The geese were fun to watch land and slide across the ice. They just hung out near the mallards for an hour or so and left.

The ducks don't let me get very close before they wing it. I'll have to dig out my hand warmers and throw up a blind to get any decent shots with my wifes digital camera. Her Kodak DC4800 has a telephoto and my RCA $50 special doesn't. I could get a decent shot with one of my 35mm but don't have access to a lab where I can do the cropping/enlarging. The attachment is as close as I have been with a camera in hand.

Patrick
 
   / Ballast/Counterweight #46  
I do not understand why you cannot slide the tire/wheels in and out as normal?
Also, could you post a pic of your bucket hooks. I am about to get some welded on both my BX2200 and my B2410--just wondering how you did yours.
That Superflex sounds to heavy to fool with too me--hope it works out for you--what is wrong with air?
J
 
   / Ballast/Counterweight #47  
The weight in the loaded rear tires tires adds enough weight that I Know I can't lift one of the rear tires in place the way I change a car tire or change the unloaded turf front tires on the tractor. With a car tire I would lift up one of the tires and balance it on the wheel studs while threading a lug nut on by hand.

The Liquid filled tires would be lighter than the Superflex tires but not enough to matter.

I assume that the conventional way to change tires loaded with liquid (e.g. Calcium solution or antifreeze) is to drain the tire before removing it from the tractor. This doesn't work for the superflex, its inside forever.


I decided on filled tires based on the recommendations I had when I bought the tractor.

The weighted tires provide the weight for traction, counterweight for the FEL and are less strain on the tractor since the weight is in the tires and does not need to be supported by the frame (unlike say suitcase weights). The weight was also well below the center of gravity of the tractor further improving stability.


I bought the superflex because I was afraid of puncturing one of the rear tires. I punctured the turf tires in front frequently (and never found whatever punctured them). My record was three punctures in one month. I went with both the Ag tire and the Superflex fill. I suppose that either of them alone would have been enough but I wanted to be sure that I didn't get flat in the woods.
 
   / Ballast/Counterweight #48  
> The wheels are one piece. I don't see anything to prevent
> swapping them, I didn't question the point.

Directional tread...you can't swap wheels side-to-side.
Who is the dealer who installed the Gearmore T&T for you?

Timd (also in NH)
 
   / Ballast/Counterweight #49  
<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>


> The wheels are one piece. I don't see anything to prevent
> swapping them, I didn't question the point.

Directional tread...you can't swap wheels side-to-side.
Who is the dealer who installed the Gearmore T&T for you?


<hr></blockquote>




That was my answer until I read bgott's message, thought about it and realized that the tread would be reversed if I reversed the tires on the same axle but the direction of the tread direction would be preserved by mounting the wheel on the other axle.


The Top-and-Tilt was installed by Chappell tractor in Milford. (Talk to Andy in the shop.)

I ordered the valve, cylinder and valve mounting bracket direct from Gearmore. Chappell made up the hoses and installed the parts.

I talked to Chappell about ordering Top-and-Tilt before I ordered the parts from Gearmore, but they told me that Top-and-Tilt is not available for tractors the size of the B2400. The service department was willing to install the parts I provided.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
 
 

Footer Links 1

Top