Am I being a noob about ballast boxes...

[Perplexed]

Erickson 1 in. x 13 ft. Cam Lash Strap - 3013426 | Tractor Supply Company

I figured a strap or something. Is it shown in your pic? Even with glasses, I can't see the strap?

 

[TrenaryDucks]

I figured a strap or something. Is it shown in your pic? Even with glasses, I can't see the strap?

No, the straps aren't shown, and the barrels are currently upside down.

The suggestion you received from Everything Attachments was well meant. I use the carry all to bring water out to my mobile hen houses, hence the barrels. It also serves as a counterweight for light duty loader work. In the winter, the counterweight is my snowblower.

 

[beppington]

How about a narrower box blade, maybe 4' wide, & then affix some additional weight to it at some point, if needed?

Land Pride's 4' wide BB1548 weighs 382 lbs
Land Pride's 4.5' wide BB1554 weighs 402 lbs

Either one would be a good start.

At least you'd have a useful, albeit narrow, box blade, instead of just carrying around dead weight that has no other purpose/ usefulness.

Edit: Land Pride, not Woods ... Sorry

Edit 2: Wood's GB48 weighs 428 lbs

 

[Artesia Aggie]

I am also thinking about a ballast box alternative. My plan is to buy a quick hitch (70lbs). I always wanted a reason to get one and adding weight seemed to be a good excuse

I am also thinking about getting a carry all (another 70lbs). I now have 140lbs of ballast and two useful pieces of equipment. I can add a barrel of sand or blocks of concrete as needed to the carry all.

Haven't bought anything yet so any comments are welcome.

 

[gwdixon]

Make sure ALL of your implements are the same width lift pin to lift pin. Most inexpensive rigid QH frames will accept only one width. Without welding skills you'd only be able to use the QH with what fits exactly.

The carry-all is always a good idea. It does stick out the back a little more than other choices and with a QH it may stick out even more.

Sticking out more will give added leverage to your ballast so that is a good thing - until the space gets tight.

Not to be negative - just some things to consider.

 

[Perplexed]

I have yet to see a carry-all in person, but the pics in the online catalogs make them out to be similar to lift forks, with the platform removed. That got me wondering; is it possible to use the frame of a carry-all with wooden pallets, much like with a fork lift, only with the carry-all's frame bolted to the pallet once the arms had been slid into place under the pallet? Holes could be drilled into the top deck of the pallet to line up with the holes in the carry-all's frame, and bolts passed through those holes. That way, you could have a barrel full of concrete sitting on a pallet, and when you needed ballast, you could slide the carry-all into that pallet, bolt it up, secure the barrel, and you're GTG. The pallet could be trimmed to size so there's no excessive overhang on the back of the tractor. Would that work?

 

[jake98]

They don't come with the platform.

 

[Perplexed]

They don't come with the platform.

If you mean a carry-all does not come with a platform, I gathered that much from the catalog pics. The pics I did see showed a pair of horizontal arms sticking out from a vertical frame, with holes drilled in them. That, I assume, is where you bolt on some boards to create the platform.

My question was, can you leave off the boards, and use the tractor to slide the arms of the carry-all into the holes in a pallet? Then bolt down the boards on the top of the pallet to the arms?

 

[jake98]

Well you could, but boards would be a lot stronger. I never tried mine as a pallet mover but it looks like they would work for that too.

 

[Perplexed]

I understand about the strength of the boards. However, I did not mean to use the carry-all frame to move pallets - I meant to ask how feasible it would be to use the pallet itself as the platform for the carry-all, assuming you found a pallet with thick boards. I've seen pallets that had thin boards, and pallets that had pretty thick boards (3/4" or 1"). What I had envisioned was, using a trimmed-down pallet as the storage base for a barrel filled with concrete; this could be left in a corner of the shop when not being used. When it came time for some rear ballast, the tractor could be backed up so the carry-all's arms slid into the pallet, and the latter bolted to the arms. Then the barrel could be secured to the carry-all with a strap, and off you'd go with the combination as your rear ballast. The pallet would make it easier to store the concrete barrel, and you wouldn't need to use angle iron with hitch points inserted in the barrel as the concrete was poured. Heck, if a pallet would not be strong enough, a beefier version could be made up using 2x4's or such.

Could that work?

 

[RoyJackson]

Could that work?

Absolutely no reason you couldn't make a pallet with permanent ballast and use it for that purpose only. You just need to figure out how to prevent any shifting of the ballast (on the pallet). That could be something as simple as a box nailed down then filled with sand, concrete or what ever you have handy.

I looked at a carry all last time I was at Tractor Supply. Those "forks" are welded in place, so they won't fit every pallet you come across.
There are 3PH pallet movers (forks adjust in width) available. Can't recall where I saw one, but it might have been TSC's website (or Northern Tool).

 

[gwdixon]

I understand about the strength of the boards. However, I did not mean to use the carry-all frame to move pallets - I meant to ask how feasible it would be to use the pallet itself as the platform for the carry-all, assuming you found a pallet with thick boards. I've seen pallets that had thin boards, and pallets that had pretty thick boards (3/4" or 1"). What I had envisioned was, using a trimmed-down pallet as the storage base for a barrel filled with concrete; this could be left in a corner of the shop when not being used. When it came time for some rear ballast, the tractor could be backed up so the carry-all's arms slid into the pallet, and the latter bolted to the arms. Then the barrel could be secured to the carry-all with a strap, and off you'd go with the combination as your rear ballast. The pallet would make it easier to store the concrete barrel, and you wouldn't need to use angle iron with hitch points inserted in the barrel as the concrete was poured. Heck, if a pallet would not be strong enough, a beefier version could be made up using 2x4's or such.

Could that work?

Yes, that would work. I have something similar that is used to haul around a generator, welder, and air compressor.

The carry-all base is made from angle iron so is not quite as strong as rear pallet forks that Roy mentioned. They also may require a bit more clearance when entering the pallet. You could build the pallet with 2x6 verticals instead of 2x4 and solve that problem.

 

[k0ua]

At least you'd have a useful, albeit narrow, box blade, instead of just carrying around dead weight that has no other purpose/ usefulness.

You know everyone has their opinion of Ballast Boxes. But I find my Ballast Barrel very useful, it carries my handle tools, my chains, spare water, extra clothing sometimes, or anything I want to throw in it. It is heavy, and very compact up close to the tractor which is important to me in the woods, to keep from backing into or sideswiping a tree. I also use it with its built in 2 inch receiver to carry my sprayer, and am considering putting a salt spreader on it for next winter. I sure get a lot of use out of mine

 

[beppington]

At least you'd have a useful, albeit narrow, box blade, instead of just carrying around dead weight that has no other purpose/ usefulness.

You know everyone has their opinion of Ballast Boxes. But I find my Ballast Barrel very useful, it carries my handle tools, my chains, spare water, extra clothing sometimes, or anything I want to throw in it. It is heavy, and very compact up close to the tractor which is important to me in the woods, to keep from backing into or sideswiping a tree. I also use it with its built in 2 inch receiver to carry my sprayer, and am considering putting a salt spreader on it for next winter. I sure get a lot of use out of mine

That setup looks like it might actually be bigger (extending rearward) overall than the 4' box blade idea, no?

That does seem like a fine place to store all that "stuff", chains, etc., but what do you do with all of that when you have say a box blade or rotary cutter on the back? Or does your ballast barrel stay on full-time?

Heck, this discussion is making me think I need to invent a box blade with storage on top :thumbsup: ('course my question would still apply)

 

[k0ua]

That setup looks like it might actually be bigger (extending rearward) overall than the 4' box blade idea, no?

That does seem like a fine place to store all that "stuff", chains, etc., but what do you do with all of that when you have say a box blade or rotary cutter on the back? Or does your ballast barrel stay on full-time?

Heck, this discussion is making me think I need to invent a box blade with storage on top :thumbsup: ('course my question would still apply)

Well the sprayer is only on occasionly, and comes right off the 2 inch receiver, the ballast barrel is considerably shorter and much narrower by itself than a box blade. the barrel of course comes off for the rotary cutter, and I rely on the loaded tires for stability on the hills. the ballast barrel is on the tractor most of the time (loader/fork work is what I do the most). However your Idea of a storage/weight box on top of a BB may not be a bad idea. When I lived in open country, I never had a Ballast box of any kind, I didn't need it. I left the mower on all the time for ballast for loader work, and had loaded tires. It worked fine, I did not worry about hitting things much, because there wasn't much to hit in the fields. I carried the tools in the bucket and dumped them on the ground more than once, and darn near ran over my chainsaw once:laughing: But hey different strokes for different folks, and whatever floats your boat. I really like my ballast box setup, it works well for me:thumbsup:

James K0UA

 

[JDGreenGrass]

Recently, I emailed Everything Attachments to see if they sold ballast boxes on their web site, since a search failed to turn up that implement. The response I got ran in part thus:



That struck me as an odd response, and faintly condescending. I wanted to check with you experienced folks about whether or not a ballast box really is "useless." I had the impression that BB's would work nicely in tight confines such as in wooded areas and near buildings and fences, but maybe I just don't know anything?

I am a tractor newb of about 2 years experience. However, I have developed 2 peeves. They are....

1) If you have a Front-End-Loader your tractor MUST HAVE a Ballast Box. Period. (this is my opinion and I stand by it, and I always will.!!)

2) I ain't NEVER putting ANYTHING in my rear tires other than air.

I have 4 attachments...Rear Blade, Rear Rake, Rear Snowblower and a Ballast Box. Guess which attachment is my favorite.??....You got it...the Ballast Box.!!:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[mdelmarcelle]

I agree, that response did come across as condescending. And it's something that people buy and I'm sure they could make a profit selling, so I'm not sure why they wouldn't carry them. I recently built my own concrete block "ballast box" (search for ballast box build, just posted pics of the block with form removed). It's really a concrete block with no exterior box around it. In my case, I don't have an implement that weighs nearly as much as the block I created (~2000 lbs). There are box blades that go over 1000lbs, but they're very expensive. I was able to make my block for about $140, and that's with the more expensive crack resistant concrete. Using regular would have cost less. On my tractor (Kubota M7040SUD with 1153 loaderr), the loader itself weighs 2000lbs and it will lift close to 3000lbs. So, a box blade hanging off the back isn't going to counter it much. Even for smaller tractors, the weight of the loader and it's capacity can be significant.

 

[Perplexed]

I recently built my own concrete block "ballast box" (search for ballast box build, just posted pics of the block with form removed).

I was the first one to comment on your BB project You did a great job, though any such BB I might build would weigh considerably less. Perhaps 800 lbs. But thanks for the comments!

 

[jake98]

On my tractor (Kubota M7040SUD with 1153 loaderr), the loader itself weighs 2000lbs and it will lift close to 3000lbs.

That makes me wonder, do the more powerful tractors need more ballast, or does it go in proportion? Nobody's talking about using a loader with nothing on the back, but my CK feels pretty stable with just a cheap box blade. I've had a rear tire come up while operating at the extreme, but generally no problem. Do most people load up with ballast untill it's impossible to get it light in the rear?

 

[KennyG]

That makes me wonder, do the more powerful tractors need more ballast, or does it go in proportion? Nobody's talking about using a loader with nothing on the back, but my CK feels pretty stable with just a cheap box blade. I've had a rear tire come up while operating at the extreme, but generally no problem. Do most people load up with ballast untill it's impossible to get it light in the rear?

If a rear tire came up, you lost most of your traction a long time ago. It's really about traction. And it's all about operating margin. You can be working just fine without weight and then get a heavy load with front end down hill and suddenly be in a world of hurt. If you start sliding with the back end light, there's not a lot you can do.