Found some cheap, for me, weights!

[etpm]

Several years ago I had a job cancelled after I bought the material. 4 ea. 24" diameter 1" thick silicon bronze discs. Anyway, they have been leaning against a wall for about 15 years. At just shy of 140 pounds each I'm gonna stack 'em on my back blade for extra weight along with the 55 gallon drum of water. So they will add about 554 pounds of weight. This is good because I have added an extension to my FEL and I can pick up even more dirt. I don't though because it makes it hard to steer which means to me there is too much weight on the front end. Now that shouldn't be a problem.
Eric

 

[bigtiller]

Several years ago I had a job cancelled after I bought the material. 4 ea. 24" diameter 1" thick silicon bronze discs. Anyway, they have been leaning against a wall for about 15 years. At just shy of 140 pounds each I'm gonna stack 'em on my back blade for extra weight along with the 55 gallon drum of water. So they will add about 554 pounds of weight. This is good because I have added an extension to my FEL and I can pick up even more dirt. I don't though because it makes it hard to steer which means to me there is too much weight on the front end. Now that shouldn't be a problem.
Eric

That sounds expensive for ballast, but they should polish up nice.

 

[oosik]

The disks @ 560 pounds and 55 gallons of water @ 455 pounds. That's a lot of weight to add to any rear blade. Be careful that you don't over stress the blade or 3-point mechanisms.

 

[Happy in NC]

What are the 3 point lifting specs in general?I know it varies. Mine is a 45hp NH

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

I know...I've been called the cheapest man in the world! But one small tractor I have I used bench press weights I had and they're inexpensive at Goodwill stores.

 

[etpm]

The disks @ 560 pounds and 55 gallons of water @ 455 pounds. That's a lot of weight to add to any rear blade. Be careful that you don't over stress the blade or 3-point mechanisms.

Yeah, 455 plus 560 equals 1015. But the 55 gallon drum isn't quite full because it sits at an angle, so maybe 50 gallons. On the other hand the box blade weighs probably 300 or 400 pounds. And there is also the weight of the plastic drum itself. And I have some chains hanging from the box blade. And there's dirt on the box blade. It all adds up. I couldn't find the specs for a YM2310 but the YM276 is supposed to be nearly equivalent and its 3 point lift capacity at the lift points is 1433 pounds and 24 inches beyond 1389 pounds. So it looks like I will be loading the thing right to the max. If the 3 point hitch seems to struggle I'll let some water out. I find my tractor to be a beast considering its size. However, I don't want to break it. So I'll be careful when driving the thing with a full load of dirt. Slow going and no bouncing. I made a bucket extension that adds 2 feet to the bucket length and is the full height of the bucket on the sides. I am frankly surprised that the Bulldog 285 FEL will lift all that weight when I have the bucket full of kinda wet dirt. I made the extension for moving brush and wood loads, the debris from windstorms blowing trees down and the like. Not for moving dirt.
Eric

 

[oosik]

I've learned a couple things early on. Don't try to lift a full bucket of wet sand w/out adequate 3-point weight. My ROBB works best when I go slow. Medium to fast - it just bounces along behind the tractor.

After about ten years here on the homestead - I understood how very lucky I am. We never get weather extremes here. Been here 43 years now - just enjoying the peace, quiet and solitude.

I have a brand new Cat One - Land Pride 1048 disk harrow. Even with my 410 pound cube of concrete on it - it can't do much good on my land. AND my land is very organic. At least, the top couple of feet.