Ballast Centre of Gravity

[kenlip]

I have a Kubota MX5100, with an FEL to which I attach either a 4-in-1 bucket or pallet forks.

The tyres are filled.

I need to make a ballast box.

My property is very hilly.

I have seen some very impressive ballasts on this forum. However, they all seem to have rather high centres of gravity (COG). Given the topography of my property, it makes sense to me to try to get the COG as low as possible. Does this make sense to you folks?

I have access to dozens of brake rotors to use in the ballast.

All advice and hints on how to design and build the ballast with the lowest possible COG in mind would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Ken

 

[zzvyb6]

Hang stacks of the rotors under the engine/transmission as much as possible. You'll get the additional advantage of balancing the sidebite of the front and rear tires if you should start sliding sideways.

change the muffler configuration. place it down and low.

Change the fuel tank layout. Fuel is heavy. Get it lower.

No cab ( ! ).

 

[jeff9366]

Start by setting rear wheels/tires wide. Increasing rear wheel spread 4" to 6" increases stability a lot.
If you have R1/ag wheels/tires increasing wheel width is easy. If you have R4/industrial tires increasing wheel spread may require wheels spacers on an MX.

Few use ballast boxes on tractors weighing over 2,000 pounds. Most use Three Point Hitch implements as counterbalance, which can be carried low to the ground. Implement protrusion increases effective weight as counterbalance.

For 98% of my Loader work I carry a 620 pound/60" Rollover Box Blade or a 650 pound/60" Cultipacker. Both mount low. (My L3560 with LA805 Loader is only a tad lighter than your MX and my tires are inflated with air. ) (( Your implements will be wider and possibly heavier than mine.)) On the infrequent occasion when I need to unload an 1,700 pound pallet from a low trailer I mount a 950 pound Disc Harrow, which protrudes far to the rear.

Your Loader has more lift than mine, however your tires are loaded. Your counterbalance need will be 800 pounds max with loaded rear tires.

Once you have counterbalance proportional to your Loader capacity, more-more-MORE TPH weight does nothing for you.

No cab.

YES

 

[Wagtail]

For very hilly terrain I'd also recommend reversing the front tyres/wheels so that the tread goes the opposite way. :thumbsup:

 

[rbtjr]

We have a MX5800 with R4 tires. I definitely agree about setting the rear wheels as wide as possible. On our MX the rear wheels do have different settings for different widths without the use of spacers. The first thing we asked our dealer to do was to set the rear wheels as wide as possible. As a result, the rear wheels won't fit within the fenders on trailers with 78" between the fenders. Our MX measures about 77" wide where the tires hit the ground but a little more than 78" a little higher up.

 

[kenlip]

Thanks, Jeff,

Start by setting rear wheels/tires wide. Increasing wheel spread 4" to 6" increases stability a lot.

Already done

Few use ballast boxes on tractors weighing over 2,000 pounds. Most use Three Point Hitch implements as counterbalance, which can be carried low to the ground. Implement protrusion increases effective weight as counterbalance.

I don't have any implements other than the loader and the forks. I am not farming. It's a weekender hobby property. I have used the tractor a lot for hauling and lifting stuff. I was hoping to use the 4-in-1 for road maintenance, but the hills and the amount of loose rock in the ground make it extremely difficult to achieve a meaningful result. With this problem in mind, I am not against buying a suitable implement that I could use to maintain the roads (these are not the lovely level driveways that we see in all the videos about box scrapers and the like).

One of the lifting tasks I have struggled with has been moving 1,000 litre IBCs filled with water. They weigh 1,000kg /2,200lbs! Hence, my desire to get some decent ballast.

Your Loader has more lift than mine, however your tires are loaded. Your counterbalance need will be 800 pounds max with loaded rear tires.

I don't have a Kubota loader. I have a Challenge 2821 loader. The specs are in the attached screengrab.

Once you have counterbalance proportional to your Loader capacity, more-more-MORE TPH weight does nothing for you.

This is part of my problem - working out the maximum amount of ballast that will match the loader capacity.

I have given some thought to using the money the ballast would cost towards buying an implement to help with grading the roads, and to possible add weight to it as required if I am doing maximum lifting.

The is no cab, but definitely a ROPS and seatbelt!

Ken

 

[kenlip]

For very hilly terrain I'd also recommend reversing the front tyres/wheels so that the tread goes the opposite way. :thumbsup:

Thanks, Wagtail.

Please elaborate. Are you suggesting this so that one might get a bit more traction from the front wheels when going down hills? In other words, rely mostly on the rear wheels for traction when going uphill and on the front wheels for traction when going down hills.

 

[metalbender]

Use a rear lift forks to move the totes, put some weight in the bucket. Why would you want to stress the front axle with that much weight, especially on rough surfaces ?

 

[CoyPatton]

I agree with carrying a loaded tote on the 3PH for your counter balance ballast. Purchase a heavy duty carry all frame or a set of 3PH pallet forks to carry the totes. While I agree that you gain little with additional weight for ballast, that all changes when that additional weight is something you want to be relocating! Hay farmers do this all the time and have for years! One round bale on the rear on a hay spear and one on a hay spear on the loader. If loading on a trailer, load the tote on front the set down the rear one and then pick it up ti load. Hopefully you are loading your trailer (if loading a trailer) on level ground!

 

[WranglerX]

I made a 2x2x1 foot ballast box that weighs in at about 500-600 pounds (concrete weighs about 150 pounds per cubic foot), and it mounts "vertical", but there is no reason same dimension box could not be mounted "horizontal" if CG is of concern.... It just makes tractor longer and you have to be more concerned/aware about what is behind you....



Dale