Ballast box opinions

[DonRybak]

I finally decided to purchase a 3pt ballast box for my RK37. After watching numerous YouTube videos seeing what others have liked and not liked I decided to purchase one from Rural King, Most of the dislikes on the videos was the fact that the tabs the lift pins mount to had questionable welds and to be safe they re-welded them. As I was searching information on the different brands I noticed that Rural King sells two different sizes. One is by King Kutter with something like 800lb capacity and one by Top Dog Industries that make the RK grapples. It only has a capacity just over 400lbs but with loaded tires I figure that would suffice since about the heaviest thing I lift is round hay bales averaging 800 - 900lbs. Also what kind of drove me that direction is the fact that the lift pins are mounted directly to the box rather than on tabs.

I was planning on filling the box with concrete but since the mounting nuts for the pins are on the inside that would make them non-accessible if I ever needed to change one for some reason.

I was thinking about blocking an area off on each back corner to prevent the concrete from filling in those areas. Then I thought about just buying the bags of concrete and wetting them done so they would be hard when dried so that I could just load then in there and they could be removed if I needed to access that area. But then I wounder if I would ever need to change one of those pins and am I just thinking too far out of the box.

Anybody have opinions here?

Thanks........Don

 

[George2615]

You could remove the lift pins, then weld on some 1/4" flat steel to move the mounting tabs on the outside of the box to bolt the pins to.

 

[CH4Ohio]

Very coincidental cause I've been looking at MarketPlace and Craigslist today for a ballast box -- maybe something about 800#. Amazon will deliver one for free for about $220. There are several out there right at $200 delivered that look identical to the one that Titan Attachments sells. As you mention, the pins are attached to tabs welded to the box.

So, my question is, what did you pay for this version?

I'd prefer to find someone nearby wanting to sell a used one, but it's crazy that Amazon etc. will ship a bulky 80#+ item for free.

 

[CalG]

If that box were mine..........
and because this is an open forum.
And I wished to fill the box with concrete......

I would Remove the supplied pins and fit a standard 3pth tool bar by bolt or bracket.

 

[CH4Ohio]

I was thinking about blocking an area off on each back corner to prevent the concrete from filling in those areas. Then I thought about just buying the bags of concrete and wetting them done so they would be hard when dried so that I could just load then in there and they could be removed if I needed to access that area. But then I wounder if I would ever need to change one of those pins and am I just thinking too far out of the box.

Anybody have opinions here?

Thanks........Don

Sorry. "Thread drift" kicked in . . . Should have focused on your question . . .

If I were you I'd dump some gravel in it and see how it works. Then decide if you want to change things. Also would drill drain holes in the bottom.

If you decide to fill it with concrete, I would definitely make the ends of the pins accessible somehow.

As far as filling with bags of concrete, I believe I'd just get solid concrete blocks and set them inside. Much easier to handle and remove if you choose to.

 

[DonRybak]

George2615, not having tabs for the pins is what drew me to this make. I think this is much stronger than having a tab that the weld could break or an accident could break it off. The sides of the box where the pin holes are drilled is the thickness of the box plus there is a 4" strip of 3/16 or 1/4" steel welded on each side that the pins holes are drilled through. Very sturdy built.

CH4Ohio, this box was $269 and the 800lb ones by King Kutter are on sale for $299. I had thought of using blocks but with the holes in them and not being solid you'd lose about 50% of the weight.

 

[CH4Ohio]

George2615, not having tabs for the pins is what drew me to this make. I think this is much stronger than having a tab that the weld could break or an accident could break it off. The sides of the box where the pin holes are drilled is the thickness of the box plus there is a 4" strip of 3/16 or 1/4" steel welded on each side that the pins holes are drilled through. Very sturdy built.

CH4Ohio, this box was $269 and the 800lb ones by King Kutter are on sale for $299. I had thought of using blocks but with the holes in them and not being solid you'd lose about 50% of the weight.

You can get solid blocks. They're half as thick but solid -- no holes. Very heavy. 16"x8"x4". Sometimes called cap blocks. Readily available. Weighs almost the same as the 8" thick block in half the size.

Check out Home Depot "Solid Concrete Block" ... Can get them anyplace that sells the larger block. Cheap weight.

 

[WranglerX]

Personally I would weld on tabs and move pins outside box...Period .... No matter what you put in box for weight it will become a problem over time as you need to access/replace damaged pin as weigh settles into box.......

I drilled through lower section of my ballast box (both walls), wedged in a section of 1 inch PVC pipe to form tunnel from hole to hole, run a 3/4 inch threaded rod through tunnel and bolted on a flat draw bar....Then filled box with concrete.... Concrete weighs in at about 150 pound per cubic foot and my box measures 24x24x12 inches so it is about 4 cubic feet, or about a roughly 600 pounds...

The through bolt also allowed me to add a 2inch angle iron for trailer ball and other things like a "drag" (section of rr track) hooked onto holes...

And if you ever tip over the box, you would be very thankful if you had some sort of loop to lift it up again...

 

[oosik]

I don't have a ballast box. I have a 1000# rear blade plus 1550# of RimGuard in the rear tires.

I would fill the ballast box with sand - then to the top with water. Very close to the same weight as concrete and this allows an easy way to change. When/if you ever change your mind.

Long ago I thought about a ballast box. But a box has only one use. So I got a heavy rear blade. Many more uses other than just ballast. Same with my ROBB.

However - I will admit - no difficulties getting the tractor any place on my property. Fields of bunch grass and open stands of ancient Ponderosa pines. My rear blade just tags along behind.

 

[CliffordK]

You could also fill with your choice of sand or gravel. then add a 3" or 4" concrete plug at the top. Or, build a steel lid to cover whatever you choose as a fill.

 

[doneill127]

I have a similar box. I drilled some drainage holes then put pvc pipe in the 4 corners to hold shovel, rakes etc and filled with 500 lbs pea gravel for total of about 600lbs.

 

[EddieWalker]

I agree with those suggesting you fill it with sand. If moisture is a concern, I might put a heavy duty garbage bag in their first. That might protect the threads on the pins too.

 

[Oaktree]

If that box were mine..........
and because this is an open forum.
And I wished to fill the box with concrete......

I would Remove the supplied pins and fit a standard 3pth tool bar by bolt or bracket.

View attachment 849136

Not really answering the OP's question, but when I need ballast I'll use a drawbar like you pictured and hang a bunch of old brake rotors on it. Maybe wrap a chain around them to keep 'em from shifting. You can fit quite a few on there.

 

[bearthebruce]

Anybody have opinions here?

We have a similar box. We filled it with rock. We took a sledge hammer and broke the rock into pieces to get good fill.

Ours does not sit outside but our box had drainage holes. If the pins would fail and need replacing, we can pull out the rock, replace the pins, and move on.

We considered concrete and for the reasons you have mentioned, we went with rock. We considered sand but for the reasons some have mentioned about the sand retaining moisture - again, we decided rock was better. We considered stone and decided we have stone - it is just big! As it is in the way, use those! 3-4 hours of hard work filled the box. Our guestimate is 800lbs - maybe a bit more.

The ballast box remains on our tractor most of the time coming off only when changing to brush hog or grader blade. Working in the woods, in trees, this simple box was the best investment we made to stabilize the tractor for lifting down logs and such. Having a heavy weight close in beats having big implements on the back when working in trees.

 

[DonRybak]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Went to Lowes and looked at both the solid concrete blocks and gravel. Have kind of made up my mind to go with gravel. I plan on covering the lift pin threads with PVC end caps to protect them from the gravel being dumped in. Thanks again for all the responses.

 

[CH4Ohio]

Not really answering the OP's question, but when I need ballast I'll use a drawbar like you pictured and hang a bunch of old brake rotors on it. Maybe wrap a chain around them to keep 'em from shifting. You can fit quite a few on there.

I knew there was some reason that I was hanging on to all those old brake rotors . . . Great idea! Thanks!!

 

[Soloz2]

Fill the box with bricks or gravel that way you can empty it if needed. You can always add cement later.
Mine is filled with bricks simply because they were on sale making them cheaper than other options at the time. Spring BF is right around the corner and .25 bricks ftw.

 

[FDMTech]

I think there is a little bit of over-thinking here. The box is only ever going to support it's own weight. It's unlikely to need the pins replaced and they could easily be cut off and new ones welded on, instead of being through-bolted.

 

[Elviscaretaker]

I tried a bunch of different things for weight on the back, MY solution is a tad different. I found a front frame mount weight bracket with 1500 pds on it. Fit other weights I found on the property when I bought it. The frame mount fit cat 2 pins perfectly. This was low profile and didn't hang up in tight spots. Nothing has fallen off of it and I can adjust my weight as needed. Just a thought, it also only ran me 70 bucks, think it was off an old MF or Farmall.

 

[Page2]

Photo of my ballast "box". 30 Gal. barrel with the top 1/3 cut off. Drilled and bolted lift pins on the side, then put angle iron across the center and welded to the pins on inside, angle iron from bottom to top link attachment, welded to the cross piece. I then welded several cross pieces of angle iron to the vertical bars for support, and filled with concrete. It cost me the price of the two pins and six bags of concrete. Been using this for about tens years now. You can make about any size or weight you want, a friend cut up an old boiler to make a much larger box for his tractor.