CHEAP BALLAST BOX??

[adegiulio]

I met a guy yesterday who used an old engine as ballast. That's what I call smart recycling...

 

[Timber]

Timber,
How is that rod holding up for your lower pins? Is it bending at all from the weight? I haven't decided whether to use a drawbar from TSC or a rod like you did.

I haven't had any bending on the rod. It is just a 3/4 inch solid rod I picked up at Lowes

 

[Mighty Dodge]

It's a piece of drain pipe. The inside diameter is only 18". If it was smooth I could have gotten a little more concrete in it. I estimate it weighs about 500 lbs.

 

[oldhippy]

Mighty Dodge I sure like that ballast box on your tractor. I have about the same tractor in a Yanmar. Am busy looking for drain pipe to build me one also. Thanks for the idea. big dan

 

[Mighty Dodge]

FYI

It works great but it just fits inside the quick hitch when you back up to it. Just hits the top. I have to wiggle it into the hooks. But it was cheap. The bar through the middle is a piece of 1" shaft that was too short. I stretched it by cutting it in half and welding in a piece of 1-1/4 pipe. The only thing I had to buy was the Quickcrete the rest was junk I had laying around.

MD

 

[daveinnh]

We have a Kubota L4310. I bought a steel carry-all (King Kutter brand?), bolted some 2x6 for base and back, then filled a used 30 gal plastic plastic barrel with sand. The sand weighs about 500 lb + carry all is about 80 lb.

It really helps when I'm loading sand in the loader's 9 Cubic ft. bucket. The tractor gets a bit "rocking" w/o the carry-all attached even though the rears are loaded with rim-guard.

 

[Camo]

How did you pour the concrete in the drain pipe without it running out?

 

[Mighty Dodge]

I took a piece of plywood, attached a square frame of 2x2's that the culvert would sit in. I then drew lines from corner to corner to locate the center, drilled a hole that the shaft would just slip through. I set the plywood on a couple of cinder blocks, stood the piece of culvert on end inside the 2x2's. Then place the shaft down through the culvert and through the hole in the plywood. I also took a piece of scrap 2x4, drilled a hole for the other end of the shaft. This was placed on top of the culvert so I could center it. Dont' forget to center the shaft end to end also. The holes drilled in the wood were a snug fit but I put a pair of vice grips on the shaft just in case it wanted to slip through. Mix up your concrete and fill.

M.D.

 

[brandoro]

I made one out of a piece of sched 80 pipe with 1-1/4" shaft welded in the center. Had the shaft ends turned down to fit the lift arms. Cut a hole in a piece of SM (styrofoam) a little bit smaller than the shaft and upended it on the SM to fill it with concrete. The weight sealed the edge of the pipe to the SM.
It was a good match for the tractor I made it for but I'm finding it a bit light for the current one. Thinking about adding some weight to it.
The handy thing about it being round is that I can move it without the tractor if it is in the way.

 

[Muxster]

Here is a variation on the carry-all style ballast box.