sirgknight
Silver Member
I have been wanting to add weight to the front of my 1700 for some time without paying an arm and a leg for iron while at the same time wanting something that looked halfway decent. I didn't want to weld anything to the front or use anything "ugly". The other day a friend of mine who owns a similar 1700 gave me a great idea.
We made a box out of 3/4 inch plywood (our size was 17"X7"X9"). We measured the exact location of the four holes in the front bumper of our tractors and drilled those four holes all the way through the box so that a "heavy bolt" would go through the box. We decided to buy a 4' piece of 1/2 inch threaded rod and cut it into (4) 12" pieces (a lot cheaper and easier to find than 12" bolts). Next we cut a piece of galvanized pipe into (4) spacers. The spacers were cut just long enough to go inside the plywood box with a loose fit. Run the four pieces of threaded rod into the box through the spacers and out of the box on the other side. Put washers and nuts on each end of the rods. When you look down into the box you see the four spacers. Mix one 80# bag of ready mix concrete. Find a level place to set the box and pour the concrete. After pouring the concrete we took a heavy duty u-bolt and sunk it into the top of the concrete to be used as a handle to lift the concrete when cured. We found a u-bolt at the harware store that came with a metal plate, washers and nuts already attached to the bottom of the u-bolt. This added extra holding power down in the concrete. Let the concrete set up for four days. Remove the nuts and washers and pull the threaded rods out of the sleeves and box. Dump the concrete weight out of the box. We now have a nice looking weight with four sleeved holes through the concrete to attach to the front bumper of the tractor. The concrete can be painted to match the tractor and is easily removeable. Total cost $18.00.
We made a box out of 3/4 inch plywood (our size was 17"X7"X9"). We measured the exact location of the four holes in the front bumper of our tractors and drilled those four holes all the way through the box so that a "heavy bolt" would go through the box. We decided to buy a 4' piece of 1/2 inch threaded rod and cut it into (4) 12" pieces (a lot cheaper and easier to find than 12" bolts). Next we cut a piece of galvanized pipe into (4) spacers. The spacers were cut just long enough to go inside the plywood box with a loose fit. Run the four pieces of threaded rod into the box through the spacers and out of the box on the other side. Put washers and nuts on each end of the rods. When you look down into the box you see the four spacers. Mix one 80# bag of ready mix concrete. Find a level place to set the box and pour the concrete. After pouring the concrete we took a heavy duty u-bolt and sunk it into the top of the concrete to be used as a handle to lift the concrete when cured. We found a u-bolt at the harware store that came with a metal plate, washers and nuts already attached to the bottom of the u-bolt. This added extra holding power down in the concrete. Let the concrete set up for four days. Remove the nuts and washers and pull the threaded rods out of the sleeves and box. Dump the concrete weight out of the box. We now have a nice looking weight with four sleeved holes through the concrete to attach to the front bumper of the tractor. The concrete can be painted to match the tractor and is easily removeable. Total cost $18.00.