Show us your front end weights and brackets.

[sixdogs]

You still get the attaboy for the nice workmanship and good looking tractor. My Kubotas are the best tractors I have ever owned and with the addition of some weight make them capable of a wide range of additional tasks like tillage or slopes. No weight 95% of the time and then spend a few minutes to add the cast weight for the other 5%. No rotten wheels using cast rather than calcium. And if I ever go to sell the weights there's a fight among people to buy them.


I also have some knock off weights on a Kubota L4300. This was before the good looking ones like you have. Mine are poorly made weights from India and are for a New Holland skid steer on a homemade bracket. Painted Kubota Gray but I'm not sure which shade. It was 100 degrees that day, I had beer, multiple cans of paint and, well, the rest is fuzzy.

.

 

[94BULLITT]

You still get the attaboy for the nice workmanship and good looking tractor. My Kubotas are the best tractors I have ever owned and with the addition of some weight make them capable of a wide range of additional tasks like tillage or slopes. No weight 95% of the time and then spend a few minutes to add the cast weight for the other 5%. No rotten wheels using cast rather than calcium. And if I ever go to sell the weights there's a fight among people to buy them.


I also have some knock off weights on a Kubota L4300. This was before the good looking ones like you have. Mine are poorly made weights from India and are for a New Holland skid steer on a homemade bracket. Painted Kubota Gray but I'm not sure which shade. It was 100 degrees that day, I had beer, multiple cans of paint and, well, the rest is fuzzy.

.

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Thanks about the bracket. I run weights on the BX all the time. When I mow I run 3 weights. 5 is too much for mowing. When I am doing any 3PH work with it I run all 5. I think it would benefit from more weight on the front but that is all Kubota recommends. The tractor performs so much better with weights on the front. Both tractors have methanol in the tires. I wish they had rim guard for a little more weight. I'd also like to have wheel weights on the L4240.

Your bracket and weights looks good on your L4300. My weights are also from india. I had to repaint them too. They were a little rusty from laying around at the dealer.

 

[budepps3760]

Previously had constructed a brush guard for my tractor because when I first bought it used I treated it like a tank. That did a number on the grill body work and do when I purchased a replacement I figured I needed to add protection.

I purchased a 7' land plane and it was just too heavy for my tractor and so I decided to incorporate the brush guard to hold my weights. I poured 3 concrete weights and added steel into the mixture and ended up with 510 pounds from the 3 weights. I spent yesterday working on my access road which is very hilly and the weights worked like a champ. I love it when something works as planned.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Previously had constructed a brush guard for my tractor because when I first bought it used I treated it like a tank. That did a number on the grill body work and do when I purchased a replacement I figured I needed to add protection.

I purchased a 7' land plane and it was just too heavy for my tractor and so I decided to incorporate the brush guard to hold my weights. I poured 3 concrete weights and added steel into the mixture and ended up with 510 pounds from the 3 weights. I spent yesterday working on my access road which is very hilly and the weights worked like a champ. I love it when something works as planned.


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The long bolts should be excellent for taking DNA samples from your shins! Look good anyway. :thumbsup:

 

[MtnViewRanch]

I doubled the front weight capacity from what the stock bracket would carry, plus the bracket itself is about 100lbs. Even with double the front weights and 3 times the rear weights, cast iron just is not enough.

I started with the stock recommendations for cast weight, front and rear, no where close to the weight needed.

I then filled all four tires, still not enough weight. :shocked:

Doubled up on the front weight and 3 x the rear weight.

That finally got the tractor to where it would pull and not just spin all 4 tires. :thumbsup:

 

[sixdogs]

Painted the weights mentioned earlier. Since I bought a quart of paint and will only use a little of it, I decided to take the weights off two other tractors and paint them. That would be an MX5100 and an L4300. The MX5100 weights are factory stock but the L4300 weights are India import New Holland skid steer weights. They were cheap so I made the bracket to fit them.

Anyway, I got all the weights off, see photos, and lightly hit them with a wire wheel. Then I hit them with a scrub brush and dishwashing detergent. This is more than sufficient and for a front end weight that is only partially visible, it's fine.

Here are some pics of getting ready. After I scrubbed, I sprayed the bottom with a spray can--semi gloss dark enamel--and then flipped over. With the bottom painted, I can paint the entire weight in one swoop without having to flip over.

The 100 lb Kubota weights may be 10 or so years old but are not the perfect castings I figured Kubota would do. They look like India imports with voids in the moulds and body filler on them to smooth out the bad castings. See photos.



Weights off





Scrubbed and sprayed the bottoms.





Painted and done.





Look at the cr-appy castings. Shame on Kubota.





This is how they should look.

 

[sixdogs]

One final point after painting weights is that I sometimes take them off and in order to get the two best weights on the outside and being the most visible when they go back on, I put a dot of yellow paint in the corner of the weight to show where it needs to go.

 

[FTG-05]

Railroad "fish plates", at least I think that's what they are called. Cost me nothing other some grade 8 bolts and locking nuts:

 

[sixdogs]

Put the weights back on the MX5100 and L4300 and spread fertilizer with the MX5100 today. With 1,200 lbs on the MX5100 3 point hitch, it handled just fine going pretty quick over rough ground with some hills and such. Weights up front make life so easy when balancing heavy rear implements. Painted pretty really instills an added sense of confidence in people you do work for and pride of ownership in yourself.



Here's the MX5100





and here's the L4300. It's a lighter tractor and the weights really help it with my mower.




These are both great tractors.

 

[PSDStu]

Looking Good!

 

[sixdogs]

Thanks about the bracket. I run weights on the BX all the time. When I mow I run 3 weights. 5 is too much for mowing. When I am doing any 3PH work with it I run all 5. I think it would benefit from more weight on the front but that is all Kubota recommends. The tractor performs so much better with weights on the front.
...

I do what Kubota says to do as well but look at what 4shorts put on his BX. These are photos I stole from one of his posts but look at that weight! And he has no problems or anything going wrong.

First of all, Kubotas are built right and second, I think 4shorts walks on water. Plus, I really think he fully researches everything he does very carefully and is a very smart and clever guy. But, he's got 1100 lbs on the front of a BX. Anyway, take a look...

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Not for the front but...



http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...franken-ballast-expensive-poorly-planned.html

 

[sixdogs]

Not for the front but...

View attachment 507777

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...franken-ballast-expensive-poorly-planned.html

Wow, is that creative and useful. I saw that thread earlier and already plan to, errr, "repurpose" your ideas.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Wow, is that creative and useful. I saw that thread earlier and already plan to, errr, "repurpose" your ideas.

I'll allow it as long as you post pictures. :drink:

 

[sixdogs]

I'll allow it as long as you post pictures. :drink:

Deal.

 

[sixdogs]

After painting the 100 lb weights for the M7040, I'm getting ready to put them on. One problem was the retaining bracket was bent so I made a new one out of scrap pallet racking. Rather than guess the hole distance, I made a simple pattern off the weight bracket and drilled that way. Trimmed the edges and painted so after a day or two it's good to go. Weight on a tractor for tillage things makes life so much easier.








Also, the front retaining bolts were a little grungy and rather than paint, which would look wrong, a few hits with a wire wheel on a buffer make them look great. I'll spray with oil and since I store indoors they will look good a long time and if I ever sell will likely add to the overall impression and bring more $$.

When I do sell a tractor, I usually get way over top dollar because of these little things along with the unmolested appearance of the tractor. I would have replaced the bolts but they're an odd metric size I couldn't find.

 

[clemsonfor]

The Blue pipe is 3" inner diameter and is filled with lead. The longer metal bar is 3" OD metal bar, solid steel. I bet the both of them weigh close to 150 to 175 pounds?

 

[sixdogs]

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The Blue pipe is 3" inner diameter and is filled with lead. The longer metal bar is 3" OD metal bar, solid steel. I bet the both of them weigh close to 150 to 175 pounds?

Nice, clean installation and it looks like they belong on that tractor. That's the way to do it.

 

[sixdogs]

All done and on. They won't stay on for long since I won't need them again until mid or late summer. That's the beauty of cast weights. Easy on and easy off. I also have 700 lbs of rear weights but they will go on later as well.


By the way, if anyone has 30" cast rear center wheels and want to know what they weigh, they weight 575 lbs MORE than the steel centers they will replace. Just add 575 lbs to the book or website weights if you have cast rear wheel centers.

 

[sixdogs]

I'll regurgitate some posted on the other thread.

Kubota first. Used the factory grill guard base and built off that.

Since I built it I acquired two more weights so extended each end. I can now carry nine weights.



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ovrszd--Your stuff is always well thought out and beautifully built.