fill tires or not?

[pmsmechanic]

Ok so I'll explain a bit where I'm coming from. I like flexibility in my tractor. I do a lot of custom work and if I can't find an implement that does what I want I've been known to build what I want. I rototill numerous gardens in spring and I want a tractor that is as light as possible. If the spring is wetter than normal I can see the wheel tracks in the rototilling. I'm fussy about that and I don't like it. If I need ballast for fel work then I use either my rototiller, my box blade or my weights. For cleaning corrals the weights are by far the most compact. I built a bucket that is all teeth and a back for the manure. It is very easy to push into the manure in wet conditions. If I need stability I can install the duals that I fabricated. I also don't like compacting my lawn when I mow the grass though the F-935 does most of that now. I also don't like dealing with the weight of fluid filled tires when they get punctured. I could go on. I've never had "bounce" issues with my tires. I understand what meburdick is saying, I've just never had it be an issue. For me it just boils down to personal preferences and what you can afford. There are pros and cons to either side of the argument.

 

[greg_g]

I've never had "bounce" issues with my tires.

You've not described anything heavy enough in your loader to cause the "bounce". Without the TPH ballast, I drive my liquid ballasted 3720 into a pile of dense grade and lift/curl to fill the bucket. It comes up with with a heaping load, spilling off all sides. Rather than dribble gravel all the way to where ever I'm doing to dump/spread the contents, I use the joystick to quickly drop the bucket about a foot, then just as quickly stop it. That shakes the excess right back onto the pile, and I'm not losing it elsewhere. This act of settling the bucket contents is enough to feel the back end of the tractor rise and fall in reaction (bounce). It's not so severe as to be dangerous to the operator, but it's mechanical wear and tear that could otherwise be avoided. The addition of a 700+ pound TPH ballast box for loader work of this magnitude is that avoidance. No more "bounce".

Gravel is not the only thing I use the ballast box for. I put it on for moving rip-rap, grappling/moving entire tree trunks, lifting/moving heavy farm implements, etc. It's simply common sense to put on the ballast box whenever what it is I lift/move with the FEL outweighs the ballast in the rear tires. Which leads to a suggestion to check in your own tractor operating manual. I strongly suspect you'll find an entire section dedicated to ballasting.

//greg//