Grand L3540 Ballast Question

[94BULLITT]

There is a place in the owners manual that tells you how much ballast to have. You should start by having your tires loaded.

 

[masscity]

I just bought a L3540HSTC-3 in July and I can't find anything in the manual on how much ballast to use either.

I have Rimguard in the tires, 3 wheel weights each and I bought a ballast box. Like the OP I was curious why

the manual doesn't state how much to use.

 

[kevinj]

I just bought a L3540HSTC-3 in July and I can't find anything in the manual on how much ballast to use either.

I have Rimguard in the tires, 3 wheel weights each and I bought a ballast box. Like the OP I was curious why

the manual doesn't state how much to use.

I do not have my manual with me but I believe it says something like to apply ballast as needed for the job.

If it can lift 1800# out front it needs at least that on the back.

I have about 1200 in the tires and about 1200 in a barrel of concrete on the 3ph.

At times when curling the bucket the rear will still get light.

 

[94BULLITT]

Check page #9 of the loader owners manual, this applies to the 514, 724, and 854 loaders.

 

[Baby Grand]

One of the best explanations, I have seen from Joshbardewell:

Think of it this way.

Assume that your tractor is 50/50 weight distribution between the front and rear axles. If you were to put the tractor's front wheels and rear wheels on separate scales, both scales would read the same--half of the tractor's weight.

Now, put some weight on the dead-center of the tractor. Both scales go up by the same amount--half of whatever you just put on the tractor.

Put some weight dead on top of the front axle. Only the front scale goes up. Rear scale remains the same.

Put some weight dead on top of the rear axle. Only the rear scale goes up. Front scale remains the same.

Now, put some weight in the loader bucket. Because that is hanging out over the front axle, it is going to create a lever arm. The weight on the front axle is going to go up, and the weight on the rear axle is going to go down. If you put enough weight in the bucket, the rear axle will eventually go up in the air, right? At that point, 100% of the tractor's weight is on the front axle, and 0% of the tractor's weight is on the rear axle.

So, you can see that the more weight you put in the bucket, the more of the tractor's weight is on the front axle, and the less weight is on the rear axle, up to the point where the rear axle leaves the ground.

Same thing is true of the 3ph. Because it is hanging out behind the rear axle, the more weight you put on it, the more weight is transferred to the rear axle, and the less weight is on the front axle. Let's say you had 500 lbs of dirt in the bucket. Not only is that putting 500 lbs of weight on the front axle, but because it is tipping the tractor's weight to the front, it is also putting more of the tractor's own weight on the front axle than would be if the bucket was empty. If you continue to add weight to the 3ph, eventually, even with 500 lbs of weight in the bucket, the tractor's front axle is going to go up in the air. At that point, all of the weight is on the rear axle. Obviously, you don't want to go that far. You want to leave enough weight on the front axle to provide traction and steering, but you want to take enough weight off the axle that the bucket's load is not being entirely applied to the front axle.

By joshbardwell

Read through this a few times and try to keep in mind that the front axles on these (CUTS) tractors will fail if frequently overloaded.
That's an expensive failure. Weight on the 3pt relieves weight on the front axle. You need enough weight that your rears don't get light when you have a full bucket load, but not so much weight that your front gets light when your FEL is empty (or removed). Also, distance from the mass center of the 3pt load to the rear axle is just as important as 3pt weight: a 1000# brush hog will lift a lot more off the front axle than a 1000# ballast box.

 

[TripleR]

Read through this a few times and try to keep in mind that the front axles on these (CUTS) tractors will fail if frequently overloaded.
That's an expensive failure. Weight on the 3pt relieves weight on the front axle. You need enough weight that your rears don't get light when you have a full bucket load, but not so much weight that your front gets light when your FEL is empty (or removed). Also, distance from the mass center of the 3pt load to the rear axle is just as important as 3pt weight: a 1000# brush hog will lift a lot more off the front axle than a 1000# ballast box.

My son and I were discussing that last week, I run most of the summer with a 1046 pound LP 2672 cutter and just got a 1119 pound LP HR3584 box blade that I will begin using this week, I am curious to see how much if any difference I can tell. I decided not to get a ballast box.

 

[Bluegill2]

Any substantial weight on the 3 pt is better than none, when a loader is on the tractor.

Wheel weights and loaded rear tires are great for stability and traction, but does not take the place of 3 pt ballast.

 

[PapaPerk]

Is 900lbs too much weight to keep on the tractor when not doing any heavy FEL work? The tires are not loaded and I have the LA724 FEL with the 72" HD round back bucket with bolt on cutting edge. The FEL is always mounted.

Whats a guesstimate on how much weight I should use when scooping a full load of dirt or gravel?

Thanks

Check out my loading calcs for my skidder/ballast hitch. Here's the link. http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/255645-my-log-skidding-ballast-hitch.html

 

[Dick]

Totally agree with TrippleR and other like comments. Physics at their best.

The further out the 3point load is the more effect it will have on the front load. Just remember one rather important point:

When concentrating on using the FEL you also need to always remember that you have a significent appendage hanging off the back of your tractor. and no, I didn't put that dent in the side of my pickup dear.

 

[MHarryE]

Another point regarding ballast and it's location is tire capacity. The R4 tires on my tractor are rated for 3,000 pounds fronts and 4,400 pounds rears (per tire). The fronts are a size commonly used on skid steers and have a very high capacity for their small size. Ag tires, however, do not have that kind of rating. Standard ag tires for my L5740, 9.5 x 16 per their specs, have a max capacity of 1390 pounds per tire. Fill your bucket and all that weight goes on the fronts but due to the lever arm of the bucket being so far out in front, a lot of rear weight is transferred to the fronts. The best thing is weight off the 3 point, the further back the better as long as you don't bash something backing up. My tiller is heaviest but I also use my HD rear blade or grading scraper. With the grading scraper, my loader will barely lift a pallet with a 2200 pound tote of wheat off the ground but the rears are so light at that time they have almost no traction. My LandPride rotary cutter would be better ballast but it sticks out so far in ack I am always worried about taking out something important while I am watching the load in front.