Ballast Rear loaded tires
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Usta
Gold Member
I say try it for a while and see what you think. You will probably like whatever you get used to.
My experience and what I got used to.
On my BX 2660 with loaded rears, I usually have a ballast box on (full of sand) if I am doing any loader earth moving project.
One day after I thought I was done, I removed the ballast box. I then desided to dump some large stumps over a steep bank and did not want to bother hooking onto the ballast box.
What a difference!!! When I stopped at the top of the bank with a full bucket of stumps, the rear tires felt extreamly light. Actually kinda scared the bejesus outa me. Probably would not have even noticed if I was not used to having the ballast box.
My experience and what I got used to.
On my BX 2660 with loaded rears, I usually have a ballast box on (full of sand) if I am doing any loader earth moving project.
One day after I thought I was done, I removed the ballast box. I then desided to dump some large stumps over a steep bank and did not want to bother hooking onto the ballast box.
What a difference!!! When I stopped at the top of the bank with a full bucket of stumps, the rear tires felt extreamly light. Actually kinda scared the bejesus outa me. Probably would not have even noticed if I was not used to having the ballast box.
I'm going to order the ballast box. After doing some research from Kubota the manufactuer does not recomend to have the tires loaded with the backhoe in place. Also I found out on a BX24 having the tires loaded only gives you 83lbs per tire of ballast. So guess i'm getting a box
rdsaustintx
Veteran Member
Well done. I just read the whole thread to see if anybody mentioned that.
aa2tn
New member
To my knowledge, loaded tires add NO stress whatsoever to the machine! All the weight is on the ground only. So the only reason I can see to not load the tires is to have a lighter machine that will be easier on the lawn, etc.
jmanatee2
Gold Member
Why would this be? I was considering loading my tires on the L39 however, the manual does say, and I quote...
"Add weight to rear wheels if needed to improve traction or stability. The amount of rear ballast should be matched to job and the ballast should be removed when it is not needed"
"The weight should be added to the tractor in the form of liquid ballast"
"When the BT1000 backhoe is installed to the tractor, rear ballast should be removed"
I thought that loading the tires did not add any weight to the tractor. The weight is sitting on the ground. Why would they want the ballast out when not needed?
Why when the backhoe was on? The ballast would help with digging because you could apply more bucket force down.
What are the negatives to ballast (other then rusting a rim)
jim442
Bronze Member
Sounds like rear ballast may not necessarily mean loaded tires?
When they say "liquid ballast" I would assume that was tires, sounds like a clarification is needed.
When the tires are loaded more strain will be put on not only bearings but the drive shaft and universals. The extra weight of the backhoe plus the loaded tires may be too much for the driveline.
When they say "liquid ballast" I would assume that was tires, sounds like a clarification is needed.
When the tires are loaded more strain will be put on not only bearings but the drive shaft and universals. The extra weight of the backhoe plus the loaded tires may be too much for the driveline.
on these small tractors like the Kubota B's and Bx we are not talking about much weight when you load the tires. I think my B2620 loaded tires weight add about 300 to 400 lbs to the tractor weight. It's nice to have that little extra weight to make the tractor feel more solid and help with picking up loads with the loader. It seems ridiculous to me that little weight would stress the tractor even with a backhoe on. I've got a couple friends that weigh 300lbs, guess I can't allow them to drive it,:laughing:
The answer is maybe not what you might expect. It's because of the design limits of the ROPS (at least, that's what I was told). Backhoe + loaded tires = greater rotational momentum in a rollover situation, creating the possibility the ROPS would not halt the rollover under some conditions.
I think Kubota says the same thing for all of their models. Maybe that's just a conservative manufacturer being overly cautious and protecting themselves from lawsuits. I guess an alternative would be making the ROPS a couple feet taller or whatever.
