OK guys today was weight day to determine necessity for rear counterbalance

ovrszd · Sep 4, 2013

Bluegill2 said:
The point is not to load the FEL without weight on the 3 pt hitch. Occasionally might be OK, but do it a lot and you will kill the front axle components

I must respectfully disagree with this statement Don.

I imagine the engineers designed into the tractor it's successful ability to carry all the FEL has the ability to lift. I can't imagine them not doing that. That's the reason for different sized loaders on different sized tractors. I also imagine they designed a margin of error to allow for operators like us that cheat to get more lift.

I use a Grapple bucket 90% of the time. That adds a significant amount of additional stress to the loader and tractor because of how you can cheat in lifting loads. I.e., grab a heavy load and roll the bucket fully back to get the load closer to the loader frame before trying to pick it up.

I work my FEL hard. I rarely carry enough 3pt ballast to offset the load on my front axle. Yes, my front axle components will wear out quicker than someone that does not have an FEL. No different than someone's 4wd truck wearing quicker if they use it a lot compared to an owner that never puts his in 4wd.

Use ballast weight for safety and stability and only as needed.

Bluegill2 · Sep 4, 2013

If your not goin to run ballast on the 3pt, at least make sure you guys grease the front axle pivot!!!!

It'll help!

Bluegill2 · Sep 4, 2013

Double?

Bluegill2 · Sep 4, 2013

ovrszd said:
I must respectfully disagree with this statement Don.

I imagine the engineers designed into the tractor it's successful ability to carry all the FEL has the ability to lift. I can't imagine them not doing that. That's the reason for different sized loaders on different sized tractors. I also imagine they designed a margin of error to allow for operators like us that cheat to get more lift.

I use a Grapple bucket 90% of the time. That adds a significant amount of additional stress to the loader and tractor because of how you can cheat in lifting loads. I.e., grab a heavy load and roll the bucket fully back to get the load closer to the loader frame before trying to pick it up.

I work my FEL hard. I rarely carry enough 3pt ballast to offset the load on my front axle. Yes, my front axle components will wear out quicker than someone that does not have an FEL. No different than someone's 4wd truck wearing quicker if they use it a lot compared to an owner that never puts his in 4wd.

Use ballast weight for safety and stability and only as needed.

We will agree to disagree then.

I would think You can get away with it more than most, because of the shear size of your tractor.

foreman Etexas · Sep 4, 2013

Txjim I wasn't far off on guessed weight being at 8,000 with my rears being loaded. Thanks for the info. I know my one 7040 without loaded rears and the one that is,are two totally different tractors doing loader work without anything on back.

Tx Jim · Sep 4, 2013

case245 said:
txjim I would load the rear tires with any kind of fluid I know the loaded rear tires help

I'm was planning on putting fluid in the rear tires but haven't decided what type of ant-freeze to use. After yesterday's weigh-in I know I'm going to fill rear tires. I will load them myself as I see no reason to pay someone to supervise what I've done several times in the past. I leaning toward windshield wiper fluid or bio-deg antifreeze.

Tx Jim · Sep 4, 2013

You & all the other posters on this thread are Welcome. I wanted to know what my tractor/loader weighed so this discussion just spurred me to weigh it. I did spray the dust of my tractor from tilling so it would look presentable.

Tx Jim · Sep 4, 2013

I had a 2 wheel drive M4900 cab/loader tractor with filled rear tires and the man that cuts hay for me swears it rode smoother than this M7040/loader which makes no sense to me. All I've driven this tractor for is a little pasture mowing & tilling except I do load/unload my hay. I'm going to fill the rear tires to make it more stable.