Ballast FEL use with no ballast

[To20Chris]

Loaded tired are a real help, but you need to be careful anyway. My tires are loaded, my tractor is heavy, I keep a small BB on the back, and I've still had trouble. More than once this summer while moving topsoil I've had the thing start to lift on me. There was not enough room between the pile in front of me and where I was moving it to behind me. When I would back up, sometimes a rear wheel would start to run up on the dirt behind me. Combined with soft soil under the front wheels and a loaded 60" bucket, that was enough to unbalance it. Personnaly, I would not consider using it without anything on the 3ph.

By the way, I've often wondered what the best strategy would be if I felt it going over - I could drop the bucket to try to prevent it, or I could leave it up to try to give it something to fall over on, figuring that between the ROPS and raised bucket it might not do too much damage!?

 

[Varmintmist]

Drop the bucket, hard and fast. You have to get your center of gravity lower.

Ballast boxes and the like are great, IF the only implement you are using at the time is the loader. I normally have a BB, or a carryall on the back. Currently there is a 3pt single bottom plow on it. I am taking out a log driveway near the old landing area and moving it near the road filling in a bank to make it mowable. The plow rips up the very compacted bank run gravel and the loader is moving it. I need both on at one time. The plow probably doesnt weigh more than 125 lb. The tries have approx 720lb in them. Can I lift the back? Yep, thats a lot of loader out there. If I but a ballast box on the back will I be able to lift the back, yep. No doubt in my mind. I had to use the solution that makes the machine the most usable. I loaded the tires.

 

[Ledgemere Farm]

Using a front loader w/o weight on the back will ruin the gears in your front end. It's also really hard on the spindles and the axle itself. Your best bet is to use either wheel weights or loaded tires AND a counter weight. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[ByronBob]

Drop the load..........

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Like most people, I normally have something on the 3PH to act as ballast but, as some of you probably know, my 3PH is out of service right now so my only option would have been to attach my backhoe just to move my trailer then take it back off when I was done so the other repair could be done.

Honestly, I never even THOUGHT ABOUT ballast one way or the other until I started to turn. It had lifted and pulled straight just fine. As soon as I realized what the problem was I decided to just push it straight out into the pasture to get it out of the way. Maybe not the best way to have handled it but it worked and I sincerely doubt any major damage was done. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Varmintmist]

OR, blow 7-8 bucks on another ball and mount it to the drawbar /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Nice thought but my drawbar is WAY too low. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Varmintmist]

OK, next cheap option, 3pt drawbar. I think they are around 25-30 bucks, goes between the lower arms of the 3 pt. Mount a ball on it and put the height where you want it.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

<font color="red"> Hmmm, maybe I'll hang onto that counterweight just in case then. I never really thought about the FEL picking up something that was over its capacity and needing the extra ballast. I just figured a hose would pop if I had too much in it (which I've had happen when using it to grade).
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Fred, I've gotten into some heated debates with some of the Kioti guys about heavy tractors and light tractors and loader work. Some people mistakenly believe that a heavy tractor is much better for loader work. And while a heavy machine is better for digging into a pile, loader work often involves much more than digging. The true answer comes in the form of ballast and ballast is easily defined as WEIGHT IN THE PROPER PLACE. The best ballast is far back and low on the tractor. As one of the previous posters mentioned, loaded rears work in many cases but they do have some drawbacks. Some tractor manufacturers recommend wheel weights OR loaded tires AND a ballast box, because loaded tires alone, or a ballast box alone, is not enough.

You pose the issue above of lifting more than the FEL is capable of, but the reality is that many FELs are capable of lifting much more than the tractor is capable of safely moving if only the rear tires are loaded. Perhaps for moving a bucket load of dirt you have enough ballast, but what will happen if you move something heavier?

I have a ballast box and will tell you I use it SOMETIMES. If I am moving branches to the burn pile then the loads are very light and no ballast is needed. But if I am moving granite cobblestones or clay then I need to attach the ballast box to be safe. If I was you, I would hang on to the ballast box and use it when you need it, even if it is only the occasional use.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

<font color="blue"> "3pt drawbar. I think they are around 25-30 bucks, goes between the lower arms of the 3 pt." </font>

Again, a good idea BUT... The reason I had nothing on the back for ballast was that I couldn't use my 3PH because I'd broken one lobe to which one lower arm attaches off the rear axle housing on my tractor.