Front ballast / Suitcase weights - DIY or cheap

[bildom]

I had someone weld the end of a weightlifting bar to a piece of steel and bolted it to the front of the tractor. I can add and subtract weight as needed. You can buy 45 lb weights at Walmart for ~$30. Easy to remove the bracket when not needed.

 

[travelrider73]

I had someone weld the end of a weightlifting bar to a piece of steel and bolted it to the front of the tractor. I can add and subtract weight as needed. You can buy 45 lb weights at Walmart for ~$30. Easy to remove the bracket when not needed. View attachment 581957

This is EXACTLY what I was thinking. Where'd you scrounge the weightlifting bar? I'd hate to have to buy a new one for that. Has this worked out for you?

 

[Big Barn]

This is EXACTLY what I was thinking. Where'd you scrounge the weightlifting bar? I'd hate to have to buy a new one for that. Has this worked out for you?

You would just use a section of 1” or 2” tube, pipe or solid round stock depending on the plate hole sizing. (Standard 1”/Olympic 2”)

Here’s a pic of 2”OD DOM I use for building weight training equipment.

 

[ovrszd]

I made up that number to be honest with a little of my own logic. The implement weighs over 600 pounds. I figured hanging 300# off the front would shift enough of the weight back to the front axle to make steering easy and the tractor more balanced. I am sure I could get away with less since I'm just moving it around on flat land.



I like your braking idea. I wish I had thought of that when I was trying to move this thing from the original owner's house! That would have helped a lot actually.

As for the overloaded tractor, if I'm thinking about my physics lessons correctly, the fact that I can pick up the front of the tractor with one hand means that the entire weight of the implement AND the entire weight of the tractor is currently on the rear axle. The front axle is happy as can be right now -- no weight up there. So, putting weight on the front, in my thinking, actually shifts some weight back off of the back axles. I don't know the exact math here but in my thinking, putting 300 pounds of weight on the front moves the weight balance of the whole thing forward and relieves some pressure off the rear axles too... Maybe I'm wrong about that, but it just seems that if you pull the front back down, you're shifting some of the weight of the engine and tractor back to the front axle too, thereby relieving the rear axle. It may not immediately make sense, but adding 300 pounds up front should put more than 300 pounds of weight on the front axle because you're shifting the weight distribution forward. Someone tell me if I'm nuts or if I'm right.

This is complicated and hard to explain.

If the tractor is static with the front tires touching the ground you will take weight off the rear axle as you add it to the front. But the payoff isn't 1 to 1. The fulcrum for this weight distribution and relief on the rear is the front axle. So a pound added close to that fulcrum might only relieve a couple ounces off the rear axle. The exact number would require some very accurate measurements.

If the front tires are airborne and you start adding weight you actually increase the load on the rear axle until the front tires start applying weight to the ground. At that time the scenario described above applies.

 

[ovrszd]

I had someone weld the end of a weightlifting bar to a piece of steel and bolted it to the front of the tractor. I can add and subtract weight as needed. You can buy 45 lb weights at Walmart for ~$30. Easy to remove the bracket when not needed. View attachment 581957

There's that skinned shin I was talking about!!!!
You are paying .75 cents a pound for your weight. 300lbs for the OP would cost $225. $225 will buy a lot of used suitcase weights.

 

[Big Barn]

There's that skinned shin I was talking about!!!!
You are paying .75 cents a pound for your weight. 300lbs for the OP would cost $225. $225 will buy a lot of used suitcase weights.

I just sold a stack of suitcase weights earlier this year for $.50 USD/lb.

 

[bildom]

What you see in the photo is what I scavenged from my kids' weight bench, so that much was free. I added 4 more 45# plates that I bought. For me, this solution was a win. Around here, suitcase weights would have cost a fortune, and I'd have to figure out a way to hang them all. The Kubota bracket for this tractor won't hold close to 300 pounds. I still have the other end of the bar that you're welcome to if you want to pick it up in CT You might want to check out Craigslist. People are often giving away weight sets, or selling them cheap.

 

[Alan W.]

I built this bracket for my buddies tractor.
The 90 lb massey weights cost 30.00 apiece
at a local used equipment yard. He uses the
tractor to spray his pastures and it was a little
to light in the front going up hills. He says it
looks like a pulling tractor and handles the
sprayer much better.

 

[Big Barn]

I built this bracket for my buddies tractor.
The 90 lb massey weights cost 30.00 apiece
at a local used equipment yard. He uses the
tractor to spray his pastures and it was a little
to light in the front going up hills. He says it
looks like a pulling tractor and handles the
sprayer much better.

Nice job

 

[Alan W.]

Nice job

Thanks
I thought it a bit much for that tractor. Total weight
is right at 500 lbs.