Fill Em yourself wheel weights for 12" wheels

[SkunkWerX]

I think I would make me a 2 part mold out of casting plaster. One for the inside half, after it dried coat it with wax and then cast the outside half. When you take it apart take out the inside, put back together and fill it with lead. You could put in some pipes in for your bolts. Just make sure the ends are pluged before putting the lead in.

Lee

If I had that much lead I wouldn't hesitate, only, it wouldn't need to be but about half the size.

2ManyRocks, We have an upright piano, I would hate to see my wifes face as I drove acrss the yard with it strapped to a carryall!

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Skunkwerx- try to find a vibrating surface, of some sort, to place the plastic forms on, while you are pouring the lead/concrete mix into them. A cheap idea would be an old appliance motor with a pulley that is weighted badly off balance, attached to your workbench. You won't need to run it any longer than it takes to fill your weights.

Load the washing machine off balance and run it through a spin cycle.

Of course the pad sander sounds like a great idea too.

By the way, good find on those fillable plastic wheel weights. There are so many home-made concrete wheel weights out there. These can only be an improvement from a durability standpoint. They'll look a lot better when you're done too.

 

[mschech]

I have a set of the plastic-fill ones, filled with concrete.
Probably 20 years old. NO way would I want plain concrete.

Sure, the plastic has some scuffs, and even tears.
But i'd rather have tears that reveal concrete than have chipped concrete.

had them off a couple months ago to fix brakes. with mine, it was just unbolt, toss it to the side. if it was plain concrete, it would be "handle carefully and carefully place on ground so it doesnt chip"

I'd also be concerened about the hold-on directly bearing on the concrete.

 

[SkunkWerX]

STATUS REPORT:

Poured the weights today! Stuffed them with the used lead wheel weights, scrap steel and, of course, the concrete mix.

Found that a regular garden hand trowel was a good way to scoop the concrete mix into the 3 inch hole.
Stuffed some of the lead inside, then some concrete. Rolled it around so they mixed, laid flat again, and repeated the process several times.

Drum Roll.......
The Final filled weight is 66 lbs. per each weight. I'm pleased. I may lose a pound of water weight from the curing process but 65 lbs. is a decent increase over the reported 40 lbs. from using only concrete mix. If anyone had access to more lead wheel weights, they could easily pump these things up to 75# maybe a bit more.

For a smaller tractor with 12" wheels, 65 lbs. isn't too shabby. That's another 120# and it's down low at the wheel where it will do some good.

Next up, I'm thinking about fabricating an adapter for the rear draw hitch, so I can stack a few barbell discs on it. I have [2] 25# steel discs, and [8] 10# steel discs. I had a set-up similar to this on my old Ford 1210 and it added a little more extra weight for traction when plowing snow.

The threaded rod and hardware are waiting here, should be able to bolt them up by tomorrow and see how they look.

 

[SkunkWerX]

Here they are installed.

 

[3RRL]

Hey Skunk,
They actually very handsome on your tractor too. Let us know if you can tell the difference with those extra weights.
Nice job man.

 

[SkunkWerX]

Hey Skunk,
They actually very handsome on your tractor too. Let us know if you can tell the difference with those extra weights.
Nice job man.

Thanks Rob!
I tell ya, I only drove back and forth from my garage to the workshop, but, I think I can actually "feel" a little bit lower CoG.

I'll be working on the bracket at the draw-pin hole to accomodate some barbell discs, that could add another 100#.

 

[jimmer2880]

You'd better hurry. I hear there is snow coming our way tonight & this weekend

 

[john_bud]

Now if you bought some plastic primer and dedicated for plastic paint, you could have them in Kubota Orange!

 

[MJPetersen]

Those look great!! I like John's suggestion of some orange paint although the contrast is nice. Definitely a job well done! And none too soon!! You may get to test it out very soon. Let us know how it works out.

Mike

 

[SkunkWerX]

Well, we haven't had any significant snows as of yet, they have been an hour north and/or west of us.

I did fab up a simple bracket for the drawbar hitch pin area, right now I have [5] 10 lb discs stacked on it without interfering with the Up-Down of the 3PH.
I used this trick on my old Ford1210 and it helped. so I figured why not?

The two 25# discs will fit inside the 3PH frame, but I have to fab the next bracket so they sit back about 2 more inches, rather than centered on the drawpin hole. pics will follow, at some point.

So, I'm looking at 130# in wheel weights and another 50# on back, so let's call it 180 lbs. total.

We have had rain and mud, however, and I have driven in it.

I also moved a few loads of of wet dirt in the FEL. I do notice a difference having the additional weight. I had the rear grader blade on the 3PH, along with the 180# in weights, it was definitely more stable moving the loads of wet dirt through my trails in the woods. CoG is definately lower.

One day we'll get a dump of snow and I'll report back.

Until then, there's another project calling my name.

 

[OhioSUPERSPORT]

Any snow yet?

I received mine yesterday. Same place you got yours. Today I picked up a bag of concrete and stopped by an NTB. I got 60 lbs of lead!

How much is too much? I was going to hit a couple other tire shops. I was thinking of going for 100 lbs each.

ETA: They charged me $9.50 shipping to Ohio.

Once they cured do the pcv move? Can you pull them out or are they stuck in the concrete?

 

[SkunkWerX]

Any snow yet?

I received mine yesterday. Same place you got yours. Today I picked up a bag of concrete and stopped by an NTB. I got 60 lbs of lead!

How much is too much? I was going to hit a couple other tire shops. I was thinking of going for 100 lbs each.

ETA: They charged me $9.50 shipping to Ohio.

Once they cured do the pcv move? Can you pull them out or are they stuck in the concrete?

Once they cure they are hard as concrete. No shaking around that i can tell. maybe there are some small air pockets inside, but nothing dramatic enough to make them shift. I tried to make sure I minimized the air inside as I feilled them..

You got a good haul of wheel weights! nice job!

As far as total weight, I put about 30 lbs. of lead/metal in mine, then poured them, got the 62+ lb. range a piece.

You also have to figure your machines capacity. If it's a Garden tractor, 100 lbs. might be a bit too much. Think of the awkwardness of installing them too.

I was thinking 75 lbs. a piece would be good for my SubCompact. I fell a little short, but they still make a difference I could feel.

Another way to look at it, does your manufacturer make/recommend wheel weights and if so, what size are they? You can't go wrong following their guidelines, if no guidelines, then for 12" wheels, I haven't seen any available much heavier than 75 lbs.

After that you can look at adding weight to the hitch pin area, and the 3PH.

Good Luck!

 

[OhioSUPERSPORT]

I meant the white pvc pipe that goes through the bolt holes. I don't see them in your pix. Can you pull them out after they cure?

 

[TimS]

You also have to figure your machines capacity. If it's a Garden tractor, 100 lbs. might be a bit too much. Think of the awkwardness of installing them too.

For reference, my garden tractor can take up to 170 pounds of steel weights on each rear wheel. I have run up to 120 pounds myself. Installation and removal does involve much cussing.

Tim