Do You Have a Tractor Shed/Barn?

[WinterDeere]

Yes. The blower is light, 450 lbs or so. The chipper is more of a load, 950lbs. We put the blower up on the shelf yesterday. Chipper will come down in the next couple of weeks. My Montana tractor front end loader is rated to lift 1600lbs to full height. Not sure I would attempt that. At 950 lbs the back end gets really light, even with an 800lb concrete weight on back. Maybe I need a lot more rear ballast. My Montana has a 28hp 4 cylinder Mitsubishi engine.

My loader is rated only 1600 lb, and even at that, Deere’s recommended rear ballast is more than triple what you’re running. Total ballast of 800 lb is almost into cat.0 SCUT territory.

Check your manual, but they probably recommend more like 1500 lb on rear hitch + loaded tires + wheel weights, for a loader with that capacity. Usually overkill if you’re on a flat garage floor, that accounts for terrain. But even if you go half that, you’re under-ballasted by maybe 3x with nothing but 800 lb on the 3pt.

 

[pmsmechanic]

If I had 2400 lbs ballast on the three point of my tractor the front end would be in the air. Even with the front end loader attached.

I used to have 1000 lbs of ballast for the three point. It was too much as any little rock would lift the loader out of the ground while digging. 600 lbs is more than enough for all of the front end loader work I do with my tractor.

 

[WinterDeere]

If I had 2400 lbs ballast on the three point of my tractor the front end would be in the air. Even with the front end loader attached.

I used to have 1000 lbs of ballast for the three point. It was too much as any little rock would lift the loader out of the ground while digging. 600 lbs is more than enough for all of the front end loader work I do with my tractor.

Machines and loaders vary. For my 320R on 3033R, they recommend fully-loaded tires + 2 pairs of wheel weights + extended-height ballast box. I think it adds up to somewhere near 2250 lb., IIRC.

I never actually run that heavy, as I'm not doing max loader capacity on anything but totally flat ground. I have my tires filled about 60% with bio ballast, and vary the weight on the ballast box 750 - 1500 lb. by use of suitcase weights. So, a total of up to 2000 lb, but about 400 lb. of that hangs off the back of the ballast box, COG easily 30 inches past pins of hitch, so it has a longer moment arm to act upon. Even with all of that, I've had the rear get a little light when lifting right at max capacity and rolling over a small swale in my yard.

Boylerman's machine is of similar size and capacity, and I stand by my opinion that running nothing but 800 lb. on the hitch is too little for that machine, if lifting near max loader capacity at full height, which is how I read his post. It's a recipe for a bad day.

 

[Oaktree]

As old as I am and not much money here's what has worked for me...........12 x 24 ShelterLogic

I have a couple of those myself for storing smaller equipment like a rider mower, ATV, etc. as well as an antique car plus general stuff you want to keep out of the weather. One thing I learned is to put a sacrificial tarp over it so the fitted cover doesn't deteriorate from UV (even this far north). Also gotta be diligent about keeping snow cleared off it.

I also discovered that leaving the ends open greatly minimized the mouse problem.

 

[Bearsixty7]

If I had 2400 lbs ballast on the three point of my tractor the front end would be in the air. Even with the front end loader attached.

I used to have 1000 lbs of ballast for the three point. It was too much as any little rock would lift the loader out of the ground while digging. 600 lbs is more than enough for all of the front end loader work I do with my tractor.

I agree, I can't see needing any more than what the loader lift capacity is for rear ballast. In actuality probably only needs to be 50-80% as you already have the weight of the tractor engine, rear axle and all the fluids behind the fulcrum of the front axle to counter the loader leverage. Then if you have filled tires you have even more weight.

I weighed my concrete ballast box and it's 990lbs, my loader lift capacity is 2150 and have been able to stall out the loader lifting and the rear wheels did not come off the ground and I don't even have 50% for ballast.

 

[lcalverson13]

I do have a drive through tractor shed for my tractors, and a more closed barn for my welding trailer and CTL.

Have to admit that if everything is dusty, I'm prone to pull them all out to get washed off by an impending rain though.

I've not built anything to house my implements yet... That would take quite a bit of cover to put a roof over harrows, discs, batwing cutters, and on and on...

What do you guys use? (If anything)

I am finishing a SteelMaster Quonset. They said I was out of warrant so a missing piece was going to be another $126. I bent one myself to finish the job. The sent plenty of bolts. Seem knowledgeable, however the price they wanted for the baseplate was crazy high, like 6k. I designed and built my own for $1700. The dimensions are 30’ X 48’. Closing the ends with drive through sliding doors 12’ X 15’.

 

[bigtiller]

I like to vary the weight in my ballast box. For just about every loader job I keep it on the light side. It is 2/3 full of a mix of concrete, scrap steel and some granite boulders.

For heavy pallet fork work I add old wheel weights and suitcase weights. When the rear tires are squatting is how I judge when to stop adding weight.

 

[WinterDeere]

I like to vary the weight in my ballast box. For just about every loader job I keep it on the light side. It is 2/3 full of a mix of concrete, scrap steel and some granite boulders.

For heavy pallet fork work I add old wheel weights and suitcase weights. When the rear tires are squatting is how I judge when to stop adding weight.

Same. That's why I welded bars to mine, to carry suitcase weights. Easy enough with most boxes, mine just happens to be the Deere brand version.

 

[wolc123]

Close call here, I’m thankful that I replaced my worn out 6 ft light duty bush hog with a 5 ft medium duty. I only had a couple inches to spare in my new tractor shed:

Sometimes, you got to size your equipment to fit your shed.

One other nice thing about the 5 footer, is that my old Ford 8n can lift it, while it couldn’t quite put the 6 footer up. Maybe, I’ll have to get an overrunning coupler for it, and see how it runs it. Gasoline has been way cheaper than diesel quite a lot lately, and it might be more economical, cutting with that.

 

[pmsmechanic]

I agree, I can't see needing any more than what the loader lift capacity is for rear ballast. In actuality probably only needs to be 50-80% as you already have the weight of the tractor engine, rear axle and all the fluids behind the fulcrum of the front axle to counter the loader leverage. Then if you have filled tires you have even more weight.

I weighed my concrete ballast box and it's 990lbs, my loader lift capacity is 2150 and have been able to stall out the loader lifting and the rear wheels did not come off the ground and I don't even have 50% for ballast.

One thing I didn't mention is that I have a quicktach which puts the weight out an additional 4". Those 4" makes quite a difference.