Firts BIY post - Rear ballast ideas needed

BloomingtonMike · Oct 23, 2005

Hello.
I have a JD3320 that needs some rear ballast for the loader. I did not want to pay all the $$ for the JD green ballast box plus weight. I was given 23 concrete cylinders that are 12" high and 6" in diameter. I also have a TSC carry all I can use. What I need are ideas to make a removable platform to carry the cylinders. Anyone have any goo dplans for rear 3-point ballast platforms. I do not want this to be permanent to the carry all. The cylinders take up quite a bit of space each but they are manageable by hand which is good. Looking for thought starter ideas. Thanks.

gmsssi · Oct 23, 2005

Buy a heavy duty box blade then you have a implement you can use. Do you have ballast in the tires, start there first?

BloomingtonMike · Oct 23, 2005

I think I will try the rear ballast before filling the tires. 90% of my work is mowing and I want to keep the weight off the turff as much as possible,

I just bought the tractor so $$ is a bit tight. I am also getting a snow blade soon (next few weeks) so I need to wait a bit on the BB - But that will be an option in the spring.

Besides, that post would be in the implements and/or JD buying section of the forum. BB2172 looks to be my choice. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Anyone have an idea on what I can Build myself and save some money. Weight/Concrete box will be made of wood.

browns40 · Oct 23, 2005

Hi Mike,

There was a post a few momths back about using steel rods, re-bar & concrete in either a 55 gallon drum on plastic pickle barrel that sounded like a great idea...

You could either make it & load your cylinders in & out of it, or pour a bag or two of concrete over the top of them . Without the concrete the rod (that goes to each of the lower 3pt arms might rip its way up through the barell, depending on weight/durability.

Sounded cheap & easy!

schole · Oct 23, 2005

I've been very pleased with a SoundGuy's-style concrete ballast having used it for 50 hours or so this summer.

Basically, I spent 12$ for some Sacrete and used whatever else was lying around for the rest: old feed tub, steel bar to fit lower control arms of 3pth, bits of rebar for concrete, and finally 2 bent pieces of bar to engage the upper link of the 3pth.

Jammed the rod through the tub horizontally 6" from the bottom, threw in sacrete, rebar, water, mixed it all, and set the 'top link' connections to stick out the top -- 20 minutes?

Kept it wet for 1 week before using.

Cheap, no sharp edges, easy to throw on and off.

I used a ?20 gal. tub -- could've used a little bigger.

Very pleased with the enhanced performance for such a low cost/effort attachment onto my L3400 (34hp)!

Shawn

schole · Oct 23, 2005

PS. I made a few prototypes from wood to carry concrete patio stones -- they all fell apart after a few hours of use. I know: I must be a rather poor carpenter. I thought I had overbuilt the wooden contraptions I had made and spent quite a few hours tweaking the designs. In the end, the concrete tub idea was WAY faster, cheaper and virtually indescructable.

MarlandS · Oct 24, 2005

Mike, sounds like you need a crate made out of some steel mesh or similar to put the cylendars in and be able to strap to the carry all. If you make it a foot or so wider than the carryall you can remove it by setting it down on two stategically placed 6x6's after unstrapping. (a couple of short TSC ratchet straps come to mind)

Is that a Cross implement sticker on your tractor???

have_blue · Oct 24, 2005

Mike,

I recently made a 500# one based roughly on SoundGuy's method.

*I cut a 55gal plastic drum to ~26" high.
*Drilled 7/8" holes through, about 6" off center
*Cut a pair of 1/4"x2" steel strap, drilled 7/8" holes in ends, bent a 90deg bend on other end
*Cut and bend a pair of ~26" as above, with 2 holes in each on 16" centers. Top pair of holes are for top link.
*Cut a 7/8 bar to length for Cat 1
*Slip rod into holes in drum, hang the straps off the bar. Outer straps near barrel, inner straps 2-3" apart.
*Dump 5 90# bags of Portland into the drum. Portland level should be just below the rod.
*Add water until Portland remains submerged. Let sit for 48 hours.

Here's a rough sketch

http://dump.grendosa.com/weight.jpg

Soundguy · Oct 25, 2005

How about you get a pallet.. use the carryall to lif the pallet.. and have the cyls stacked ont he pallet.. perhaps using a ratchet strap to bundle them together.. etc.

Soundguy