Ballast box question

[jodebg]

Thanks for the follow up. Looks good.

One thing I noticed when I went to mount the ballast box on the 2650 for the first time is that
the box sat too low to the ground and it had to be elevated to attach the lower links to the pins.

Is yours the same?

I said that I would post a few pictures of my ballast box and hitch, first time to try doing that on this forum, here goes:

View attachment 521031View attachment 521032View attachment 521033

I wanted to have removable ballast and was able to find some tractor weights, held in place with sandbags, total weight just about 500 pounds.

 

[sixdogs]

Perhaps I have asked this before but is a ballast box hard on tractor hydraulics or the three point hitch? On a bigger tractor you could easily put 1,000 lbs on the back end.

 

[Milo]

Thanks for the follow up. Looks good.

One thing I noticed when I went to mount the ballast box on the 2650 for the first time is that
the box sat too low to the ground and it had to be elevated to attach the lower links to the pins.

Is yours the same?

Mine is which means it has to be resting on something in order to attach/detach. I currently lower it on a pallet for this and also when parked although I guess it wouldn't hurt the tractor being suspended testing on the 3-point arm stops.

Mine's filled with crusher run stone with a piece of 2 1/2" PVC pipe in each corner.

 

[yelbike]

I was toying with getting a ballast box. However I recently got a tiller. That weighs 630 pounds. So I am just picking that up if I need weight.

My point being if you have an implement that will work you can use that in place of the ballast box.

The bush hog hangs too far out the back to always be practical, but if I happen to have it hooked up it works.

I'm with theman419. For most of my light duty loader work i don't even use any additional weight. When do need weight i just pick up the nearest implement.

 

[mfosterbedford]

Thanks for the follow up. Looks good.

One thing I noticed when I went to mount the ballast box on the 2650 for the first time is that
the box sat too low to the ground and it had to be elevated to attach the lower links to the pins.

Is yours the same?

John - When I mounted my ballast box (Kubota brand box on a B2601) for at the first time it was on a dolly that I made, and I haven't tried to dismount or remount without the dolly. But I do know that the box will sit on the ground when I lower the 3-point hitch, so I don't see why there would be an issue getting the pins on/off without the dolly. For what it's worth, the bottom bracket of the box is 18 inches above the ground when the hitch is fully raised. My operating manual recommends connecting the top link to the top mounting hole for most implements, which is what I used for the ballast box.

By the way, a sticker on the ballast box recommends adding 350 pounds for a BX tractor and 500 pounds for a B series tractor. I'm guessing the box weighs about 100 pounds, so I have 600 pounds or so.

 

[jodebg]

I did the measurements again this morning and found that with the ballast box sitting on the ground, the pins are
approximately 2 1/2" below the lower links in the full down position.

I'm making some PT feet to bolt onto the welded angle iron base, to elevate it. Should work fine.

Thanks for the follow up.

Nice job with your plywood and pvc tubes.

 

[jodebg]

Got to test out the ballast box feet and dolly yesterday, and all went well.

The PT pieces allow the ballast box to be removed without a pallet, and the
dolly fits great for an easy roll away. The champhers on the sides of the feet helped
to put the dolly in the correct position when the box was lowered.

Used 1/2 threaded rod to help add support to the D-ring. the threaded rod is encased
in a section of rubber hose.

Filled with a mix of sand and 1/2" stone. The box, filled to the top, held the 500lbs
as advised by Kubota for the B Series model.

Thinking about making a hitch insert to use as a skid plate when using the D-ring?

 

[mfosterbedford]

Thanks for posting the photos, nice job! I hadn't thought about adding a D ring but that is a good idea that I think I'll use/modify. Mike

 

[jodebg]

Thanks. Look forward to seeing what you come up with. Let me know if you come up with an idea for a skid plate.

 

[Musdalen]

I did it. Works great, but it's not ideal for a couple of reasons - 1. the hitch if pretty far behind the tires, so backing trailers is a little different - but easily enough learned. Also really heavy tongue weights in addition to the ballast weight might make your front end light. 2. I can't see over my ballast (or through it) so hooking up is slightly problematic.

These are super minor so I don't regret doing it at all. Easy and useful.

One thing to consider - if you should tip your ballast box over - do you have a way to grab on to it and right it so that you can hook up again? I managed to do this the other day and it was another small PITA that I might have thought out better during construction.