BACKHOE VS BALLAST BOX

[bkdaz]

backhoe is unweileding, adds twist and tortion to the frame, lower manouverabilty,as well as height restriction under trees, back 3 point ballast is no question the way to go.

 

[Grapple]

I have a 3901 and I have no problem with my grapes more of a proble when the trees are to big and no lifting power

 

[fried1765]

backhoe is unweileding, adds twist and tortion to the frame, lower manouverabilty,as well as height restriction under trees, back 3 point ballast is no question the way to go.

Depends on the specific use!

 

[DieselBound]

Look ma, no ballast!

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But I was only bringing it out to the open for processing.

Box blades are my favorite ballast boxes. Many of them can also be filled with some added weight: orient rippers backwards and drop in plywood in the bottom (supported by the box blade's forward-cutting blade): I used to do this with by B7800's box blade in order to carry [even more] firewood- see my avatar. I have a 1,200 lb box blade for my Kioti. Box blades are also useful in pushing crap out of the way (in reverse), in addition to leveling and such.

 

[ning]

Just curious, has anyone built a ballast box that has an adjustable fore/aft position, so you can bring it in closer for when you still need some ballast but want better maneuverability (at the cost of some counterweighting) and have it out farther for more counterweight? I've been contemplating designing such but haven't decided if it's worth the extra pins or other mechanism for having multiple connection points.

 

[Buggs67]

I built a ballast barrel out of a blue plastic barrel, 6 bags of concrete and rocks. I used pipe for the lift pins and an old 1 1/2" receiver I had lying around to add a hitch to the rear to tow trailers.

 

[ljjhouser]

I just added a log grapple to my L3800. I know I need good ballast to move log length. I have rim guard in the rear tires. Now the choice is ballast box with sand or B77 Backhoe. I would assume the backhoe would be better but how are the ballast boxes? Today I moved a large round to try out the grapple but the snow blower was not enough weight and the rear tires were spinning in sand.

View attachment 697277

I suppose if you have a gravel drive and need a box blade, you could use it to add weight. a BB1272 weighs 400 and three or four tubes of sand might give you 700 or so. Good Luck, Larry

 

[ManUpNawth]

If you want to keep things close and tight for maneuvering in tight places, go with a ballast box.
But a backhoe will work fine for most cases.
I usually have my backhoe (900 kg) on my tractor because I'm always dealing with stumps and rocks, so that's my normal "ballast". On hills I can reach back and swing the boom and extend the arm to change my tractor's center of gravity and give me added stability. But when moving through the woods, I have switched out the backhoe for a ballast box if I'm in rough areas - ever since I snagged and damaged one of the BH hydraulic lines on a tree limb.

 

[JohnnyMX]

Whatever is heavy enough to get it done and potentially less costly if you were to bump it into something. I don't hang my tiller or rotary cutter for ballast unless they are already on and the area is pretty open. I want any $@$% happens moments to be fixable by me with the least amount of money

 

[VoyagernOK]

I've never used a ballast box, though I've sure looked at them... On one tractor I have a 96" box blade that provides over half a ton of weight. I'd probably make some saddle type weights like we used on large plows when I was a kid to fit over the upper edge of the box blade before I'd buy a ballast box for this tractor.
When I added a built-on backhoe (not a three point mount) to my 4wd John Deere 4210, I was adding well over 1,000# of ballast on the back of it. It didn't raise the center of gravity in this case as the JD 47 backhoe is very heavy at the base. The amount of weight this placed down low on the rear of the tractor has done two things to the tractor besides making it much heavier, 1) lowered the ground clearance by several inches 2) gotten us stuck more often as it is heavier and the weight distribution has shifted back considerably lightening both the wheel pressure and traction of the front end.