What to use in Ballast box

[stuart]

I just used some old lead weights that folks had lying around.
Four JD weights came with the 4300.
Easy to manipulate the weight. $$$ was right.

 

[Ford tractor]

While we're on the subject; does any one have a table as to how much weight to use in the BB in conjunction with the weight of the tractor?

Should the BB weight equal the front loader capacity/weight?

4wd tractor should have 1x to 1.5x the loaders capacity in total ballast. That's tire fill, wheel weight and counter weight, ideally 1/2 to 3/4 of the lift capacity on the 3pt to help unload the front axle.

2wd tractors need more total ballast on the order of 2x+ the lift capacity and 1x on the 3pt. But with 2wd tractors, you have to balance it more closely. Too much behind the axle will unload the front too far when the bucket is empty.

Naturally, each tractor needs to be fine tuned individually based on tires, terrain, use, etc.

 

[nyen0004]

Thanks everyone for your ideas. I am considering everyones Ideas:thumbsup:

 

[gwjd]

concrete weights 150 pounds per cubic foot when cured on average depending on mix

 

[mjncad]

Why Ballast Box for weight?
For the life of me why would anyone want to put a usless box on three point hitch that you can not use? Why not a Box Blade or a back blade? At least it could be used for doing something besides rear weight that has no other use except to hang there.
DevilDog

For me, my box blade and rear blade extend much farther off the back and out to the sides than the ballast box. The ballast box fits close to the tractor and well inside the rear tires and I don't have to worry about it sticking out or snagging on anything.

I often use it when taking FEL loads of large firewood rounds out of the woods. There are many places that I wouldn't fit (or it would be a PITA not to get snagged on anything) with a 6' implement on the back.

A ballast box is not a useless box; it provides weight (ballast) -- which is exactly what it is designed for. A ballast box is also compact in size. You cannot navigate your tractor with a box blade or rear blade in the same situations that you could do with a ballast box (unless you have a tiny blade). A ballast box can also be a lot heavier than other implements.

My ballast box weighs approximately 1,800 pounds. That is at least 800 lbs heavier than my heaviest implement... and is miniature in comparison.

But to answer the original poster's question... I filled my ballast box with concrete.

Ditto, I use the ballast box for its compactness.

Not only that, but some of us do not like the idea of filling our tires with liquid and use the ballast box instead of filling tires.

I'm in the camp of not wanting filled tires.

As for what's in my ballast box...sand and a folding Army shovel. Both have come in handy during winter months for extra traction.

 

[jimmyj]

DevilDog, "Why Ballast Box for weight?"

Because a ballast box is (usually) a lot more compact than other 3-point attachments.

True, if you have the attachment on, you have immediate use of it when necessary.

You could fill the box with water, which has a density of 1.0.
You could pour Aluminum into the box, but that only has a density of 2.698
Iron has a density of 7.874
Copper has a density of 8.96 and Silver has a density of 10.501 but they're kind of expensive a the moment.
Lead melts easily and has a density of 11.342. Used to be you could get lead shot for reloading your shotgun shells, which would be as easy to pour in and take out as sand.
Mercury density is 13.5336, can be poured out, but is toxic as all get out.
Gold at 19.282 is better than spent Uranium at 18.95; however Platinum is best at 21.46 and it's not going to corrode on you. Good luck finding that much platinum at affordable prices though.

What about Kryptonite?

I have a bunch of steel plates, about 2" thick that stack on top of each other. I don't have a proper box but my plan is to make on and fill it with the plates. That way I can remove them if I want. Plus they were very cheap. I love the ideas here though.

 

[RoyJackson]

Why Ballast Box for weight?
For the life of me why would anyone want to put a usless box on three point hitch that you can not use? Why not a Box Blade or a back blade? At least it could be used for doing something besides rear weight that has no other use except to hang there.
DevilDog

Due to the weight (box blade or rear blades don't weigh over 500 lbs) and compactness.
That ballast box can easily weigh 600 lbs or a lot more, depending on what's used to fill it.

I use sand...weighs plenty and you can always shovel a bit out to aid traction.

 

[LBrown59]

Why Ballast Box for weight?
For the life of me why would anyone want to put a usless box on three point hitch that you can not use?
1*Why not a Box Blade or a back blade? At least it could be used for doing something besides rear weight that has no other use except to hang there.
DevilDog

1*Or a Tiller or a BackHoe.

 

[mjncad]

What about Kryptonite?

Go with neutron star material (a.k.a. Unobtanium) as scientists estimate 1-teaspoon weighs about as much as a mountain.

 

[CurlyDave]

Lockheed used out-of-spec balls from ball bearings for removable ballast.

I have no idea where they bought them, but the density was about 280 pounds/ cubic foot.