Breaking front driving shaft on Jimna 284

[Diamondpilot]

I've read all of this carefully and am wondering how much ballast wgt I should add to the rear of my own 284 with Koyker 160 loader?

No right or wrong answer here. I made a ballast weight out of a 55 gallon drum cut in half and filled with concrete. I put a lifting ring in the top and all the appropriate 3 point hitch gear. I only use it when in close quarters. Most of the time I have the 6' Caroni Finish Mower on the rear that weighs about 500#.

Chris

 

[studor]

I'm with Chris -- most times I just put an implement on as ballast. I figure if I am always lifting the rear tires or losing traction, I probably have too much weight in the bucket!

 

[Charlesaf3]

Hi.
Changing to wider tires, did it affect the center to center point between the wheels? (wider stance) Ratio between front and rear tires is correct?

When operating a wheel loader front loader. You level the bucket with the ground and drive in to the pile, while in the pile you curl/lift the bucket small steps at the same time you give the Wheel loader more throttle, this will distribute the down force to front wheels/axle to give more traction.
Wheel loader axles are designed to handle this stress, i dont know if tractor front axels are designed to be operated like this (i dont own a tractor yet) How do you guys pick up dirt in a pile?

When doing loader work in 4WD you must assure you that the ground surface allows the tires to "slip". Driving in a dirt pile on asphalt with 4WD i would consider a no no. There is no differential between front and rear wheels.

Sorry for my english

Your english is very good, and perfectly understandable, you have nothing to apologize for. Welcome to the forum.

A couple of people have mentioned this, but the original poster may not have caught it. Was there a heavy enough counterweight on the 3 point? As I understand it (and a lot of you understand it better than I do) failure to have a sufficient rear weight while doing loader work moves a lot of the stress from the stronger rear axles to the weaker front axles.

Anecdotally, from what I've seen on here, a lot of people (different makes) with front axle problems were using their FEL without sufficient rear weight.

My thought is you can't have too much rear weight. I notice a difference between my 1200 pound box and my 2000 pound backhoe on the back - backhoe is much better.

 

[Charlesaf3]

make that too much rear weigh within reason, if that isn't obvious...

 

[Diamondpilot]

Just to give you a idea how strong this little 254/284 tractors are if properly ballasted. My neighbor struggled pulling out shrubs with is new 320 HP 4 wheel drive truck. He was in 4 low and not really spinning the wheels but just could not do it. My little Jinma 254/284 yanked them right out. He about ate his hat. He could not believe a truck with 10 times more HP could not out pull my tractor. That equals a lot of torque and in return a lot of twisting force on parts. The weakest part broke first.

Chris

 

[Turbo]

I've read all of this carefully and am wondering how much ballast wgt I should add to the rear of my own 284 with Koyker 160 loader?

Your loader has a lifting capability of 1500 lbs and a brake out of 2900 lbs
Your tractor only weight 3000 to 3500 lbs. making the loader to much for this tractor, so your going to need a ballast of 1500 lbs or the load you plan on caring , which will be hard to judge. You could double the weight of your tractor without know it and start braking parts.. be careful

the zl 20 loader is only 880 lbs and 2000 lbs brake out

 

[Brad_Blazer]

My 2c - If you have a loader full of heavy material on firm ground, adding ballast will not take enough weight off the front wheels for them to slip easily but it will allow you to be much more effective in 2wd mode. Let's say the ballast is 4' behind the rear axle and the material in the loader is 12' in front of the rear axle. It will take 3 lb of ballast to remove (the effect of) 1lb of material weight from the front wheels.

I find that the best, most effective counterweight is a backhoe attachment.

In terms of drivetrain stress the techhnique described for the wheel loader where you use the loader lifting force to give the front tires super traction is a no-no on a tractor. Making turns in 4wd with the bucket fully loaded on firm ground is another one and I think that was the OP's scenario.

 

[Eagleview]

Making turns in 4wd with the bucket fully loaded on firm ground is another one and I think that was the OP's scenario.

That's a good point , as a universal joint speeds up and slows down again twice every revolution there's a lot of unseen forces acting on the components . When turning in 4X4 , both front wheels are traveling on different arcs and doing different speeds . The left and right universals are having a tussle with each other , and then there's the rear diff doing it's thing as well and all hooked together with no center diff . If you feel your tractor jogging or can hear the tyres/tires scuffing , do something about it as your experiencing "wind up" .

 

[Turbo]

That's a good point , as a universal joint speeds up and slows down again twice every revolution there's a lot of unseen forces acting on the components . When turning in 4X4 , both front wheels are traveling on different arcs and doing different speeds . The left and right universals are having a tussle with each other , and then there's the rear diff doing it's thing as well and all hooked together with no center diff . If you feel your tractor jogging or can hear the tyres/tires scuffing , do something about it as your experiencing "wind up" .

This why there is a differential to account for the two different wheel speeds in a turn one will lag behind while the other speed up. There is only one wheel driving at a time. They call it a four wheel drive , but in reality it's a two wheel drive one in the back pushing and one in the front pulling or a three wheel drive if you use the differential lock in the rear.
I know that you guy's know this. I put it here for those who do not understand it.

the fronts fail is because your asking one wheel to take on the weight of the tractor and load that has more torque than the part can take from the stress.

 

[TSMART]

I have the Koyker 160 on my 224.. (glad for that, I love it) all I do with it here in florida is to mow the grass with my 6 ft finish mower, and keep laying more crushed lime to our long drive. I leave the mower attatched whenever I am loading/digging into the pile of lime stock. That way I keep her in 2WD and avoid overloading the front end.

But, unfortunately, I must add that I learned this the hard way! Been there!