Rim guard or not? Why a ballast box instead of boxblade?

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Because a box blade can’t tow a log splitter, carry my chains, chain saw, pike, logging tongs, and small tools while providing the same amount of ballast in a small footprint.

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Best thing about this is it's tight to the tractor. Secondly its removable.
Heck, you can even log with this thing which is my favorite pass time. Nice job.
Did you fill the tubes with anything?

 

[Aquamoose]

Best thing about this is it's tight to the tractor. Secondly its removable.
Heck, you can even log with this thing which is my favorite pass time. Nice job.
Did you fill the tubes with anything?

Yes, sand. Then welded it up so it’s sealed.

 

[pmsmechanic]

You mow the lawn thru standing water? Really?

Every once in a while it happens. Also our soil is so sandy here that ruts are rarely a problem. Plus no ballast in the tires makes for a nice light footprint.

 

[i7win7]

Wait! You filled the 40 gallon drum with hydraulic oil? I hope it was used oil. You mow the lawn thru standing water? Really?

The drum holds 109 gal, when I bought it diesel was 4.50, cheap hydro 5.00. Didn't know if drum ever had water in it, oil seemed like a good idea.

Yes, if the lawn needs mowed and more rain is in forecast, why not.

 

[John_Mc]

The primary purpose of ballast is to increase lateral stability. (prevent sideways tipping i.e. roll over). Tractors have a high center of gravity to start with and it’s only worse with a loader. Rear ballast (filled tires and/or three point weights) accomplish this by keeping the rear tires on the ground AND by lowering & centralizing the CG. Keeping the rear tires down is important because most tractors have pivoting front axles that provide no lateral stability. But even with the rear tires firmly planted, a high load on uneven ground or when cornering can easily tip a tractor with insufficient rear ballast. A good rear ballast should lower the CG and maximize lateral stability. In engineering speak this is increasing the lateral moment of inertia. To do this, weight should be as low and as close to the centerline of the tractor as possible. This is why a ballast box is better than a box blade. A box blade distributes the weight over a long distance across the back of the tractor with a significant portion outside the rear tires. Assuming the center of weight is the same distance behind the tractor and at the same height, a tractor with a 300# ballast box is more stable than a tractor with a 300# box blade.

Pound for pound, the ballast box is more stable and safer than a box blade. I’m not saying using a box blade (or any other implement) is unsafe. Just comparing the relative safety of the two.

I disagree. A box blade is centered laterally on the rear of the tractor. The stabilizing force of the weight of the box blade behaves exactly the same as if all of the weight were concentrated where the center of gravity of the boxblade is (which would be centered left and right, assuming the boxblade is symmetrical).

Whether a boxblade or a ballast box does more for lateral stability depends on how low that weight is carried to the ground. A tall ballast box with a lot of weight up high (or a boxblade carried as high as the 3 point will lift it) does less for stability than a setup in which the weight is kept low.

 

[Cranblue]

You can reduce the potential for staining and mess made by using the green slime stuff that is specifically made for filled tires. I have my fronts filled with green slime and the filled rears have the equivalent type of slime that is made for filled tires - can't remember the brand. The other option might be to just not have anything that will stain - dirt floors in barns/shops nothing but gravel roads, etc.

Some of the biggest deterrents I've heard about fill/nofill have been tire & rim issues. Although I've not had any rim or tire issues, I've heard that some of the older fills were corrosive enough to destroy rims and eat away at the tire - seen pictures too. I don't think that the tractors of my youth (8N's) were filled but for the last 25 or so years my tires have been filled and I haven't had any issues.

Growing up on a blue berry farm my grandfathers 2wd Allis Cham had calcium filled rear tires and was corrosive over time to the point new rims where needed took a lot of years to ruin rims !!!

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^
His AC most likely also had tubes in the tires, unlike newer tractors.

 

[Vigo327]

A major advantage to radials is less soil compaction.

Ok, so at the risk of replying to something on page 15 of a 19 page thread and not having read the last 4 pages.. Someone might have said this already but..

The advantage of radial tires is basically that it lets you have a non-circular cross section. With a bias ply construction the width of the tread and the height of the sidewall are tied together, and you cannot make a wider tire without making it taller other than by making the tread depth at the edges taller and taller (like a flat top haircut), which at some point ceases to be practical because the tread will be too flexible or fragile to actually transer any force between tire and ground.

A radial tire can have a very wide tread relative to its sidewall height, which means you can lower ground pressure and thus compaction on a given size of machine without making already large tractor tires, ludicrously larger!

However, if you were to make a radial and a bias ply tire with the same shape, there would be no inherent advantage to compaction from the style of construction. It is only that that style of construction allows you to create a different shape.

Now to read the other 4 pages..

 

[Wobblin-Goblin]

Because a box blade can’t tow a log splitter, carry my chains, chain saw, pike, logging tongs, and small tools while providing the same amount of ballast in a small footprint.

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That's an excellent approach. Really nice setup. Kills a bunch of birds with one stone.

I've got a home-made trailer hitch setup on my Massey Ferguson 4707 that can hook up to gooseneck and regular trailers. It's pretty heavy for what it is, but it's close enough to the tractor that the ballast it provides is minimal. I think I'll add some features to it to increase it's usefulness and possibly add a few pounds as well.

Again, that's a cool setup.

 

[Wobblin-Goblin]

I agree that if you have enough 3 point ballast loaded tires might be redundant. The recommended ballast for my JD is enough on the 3 point AND loaded tires. The big advantage of loaded tires is it increases stability, the weight is low, and the tractor doesn’t have to carry the weight.

Agreed. Wheel and axle bearings are a thing. Weights bolted to the wheel or ballast inside the tire don't affect bearings or surfaces inside axles. Ballast on the 3pt hitch will. That's why wheel weights are probably the best overall way to add weight, because they don't put additional stress on bearings, they don't stick out from the tractor making its footprint bigger, and they don't have the (limited) downsides liquid ballast has.

Liquid ballast is really good...until it isn't (like when you get a flat). 3pt hitch ballast comes with additional stress, but if you build practicality into it, 3pt hitch ballast can be more than worth it. Some of the home made stuff in this thread are perfect examples of making the stress penalty worth it.