How much ballast for an MX6000?

[Lucky_Ducky]

What would be your preferred ballast weight for an MX6000?

 

[jonsstihl]

depends on what you are doing. Max lift loader work I would want as much weight on the 3pt hitch as possible taking into consideration physically capacity, financial capacity, and size limitations in the area you are maneuvering.

 

[jonsstihl]

if you are talking about just 3pt weight in general I would go with atleast 1000lbs on the 3pt. filled tires will help keep the rear end on the ground but it won't help unload the front axle.

 

[Lucky_Ducky]

if you are talking about just 3pt weight in general I would go with atleast 1000lbs on the 3pt. filled tires will help keep the rear end on the ground but it won't help unload the front axle.

The rear tires are filled with Rimguard.

I am building a ballast box that can hold 1800lbs of concrete but was thinking of ~1400 lbs (~30% of tractor weight)

 

[jeff9366]

Is your tractor OPEN STATION or does it have a cab?

 

[JWR]

Ballast boxes have pros and cons. The lever arm out behind the tractor is shorter with the box than say a bush hog would be. The longer the lever out back the more a given ballast will help unload the front tires/axle. As James said, it really depends on what you are doing and want to do. Ballast boxes are better in one sense -- more maneuverable in back, around objects, backing up, etc. The downside is they don't do anything and serve no purpose other than ballast.

I run a heavier tractor than your MX6000, right at twice the weight incl. the loader, etc. My rear tires are loaded and set 8ft apart at outer edges. My ballast (which is on the tractor nearly all the time) is a 7ft Bushhog which weighs in at 1460 lbs. with the hog's cg probably 2ft further to the rear than a ballast box might be. Anyway for whatever it is worth I am real pleased with the Bush Hog being my ballast and of course it is very useful day in day out. The FEL work I do is most often using a grapple and picking up good sized trees or trunks of trees & debris cleaning up around the farm.

When I last had a large bucket on the front (it weighs 1000 lbs) and tried to pick up an overloaded bucket (too full of mud cleaning out a spring in a pasture field) I had to back off and grab a smaller load of mud and was putting a hurt on the front tires. That is the only case I can recall wanting more rear ballast.

For all around general use I suggest using about 1000 lbs in your case while considering some implement to keep on it.

 

[Lucky_Ducky]

Is your tractor OPEN STATION or does it have a cab?

Cab

Ballast boxes have pros and cons. The lever arm out behind the tractor is shorter with the box than say a bush hog would be. The longer the lever out back the more a given ballast will help unload the front tires/axle. As James said, it really depends on what you are doing and want to do. Ballast boxes are better in one sense -- more maneuverable in back, around objects, backing up, etc. The downside is they don't do anything and serve no purpose other than ballast.

I run a heavier tractor than your MX6000, right at twice the weight incl. the loader, etc. My rear tires are loaded and set 8ft apart at outer edges. My ballast (which is on the tractor nearly all the time) is a 7ft Bushhog which weighs in at 1460 lbs. with the hog's cg probably 2ft further to the rear than a ballast box might be. Anyway for whatever it is worth I am real pleased with the Bush Hog being my ballast and of course it is very useful day in day out. The FEL work I do is most often using a grapple and picking up good sized trees or trunks of trees & debris cleaning up around the farm.

When I last had a large bucket on the front (it weighs 1000 lbs) and tried to pick up an overloaded bucket (too full of mud cleaning out a spring in a pasture field) I had to back off and grab a smaller load of mud and was putting a hurt on the front tires. That is the only case I can recall wanting more rear ballast.

For all around general use I suggest using about 1000 lbs in your case while considering some implement to keep on it.

I have 40 acres with 8 acres of cherry orchard and the rest mixed hardwoods. I need the compactness of a ballast box over the increased lever arm of an implement. I am making the ballast box able to hold my saws, tools, PPE, and chain.

 

[jeff9366]

The cab on your MX6000 weighs about 700 pounds. Most of the cab weight is carried on the rear wheels.

The weight of your MX6000 cab is akin to ballasted/liquid filled rear tires.


The rear tires are filled with Rimguard.

Enough weight already.


If you more stability, spread the width of the rear wheels. Adjustable rear wheel widths has been standard on new MX series tractors since MX cabs were introduced.

 

[5030]

One thing I DON'T believe in is filled tire on any tractor. Rim Guard, Brim Guard, washer fluid or CACL, never happen here because I grow and harvest hay and the more ground weight the more alfalfa plants get crushed and my yield drops. If I need ballast on the back, I just hang my 8 foot land pride shredder on the back and call it good. Both my tractors came with cast centers on the rear axle anyway and those add an additional 600 pounds per side which is usually plenty enough weight for my Kubota M9000's with loaders on both capable of handling almost 2 tons of lift on the loaders. Like I said, if I need more (like when offloading steel from a tractor trailer), I just hook the shredder on the back and call it good.

Years ago I fabbed up a weight box and filled it concrete and finally gave it away. Useless junk and a pita to deal with.

 

[LD1]

The cab and tire ballast is NOT enough.

Sure, it "might" be enough to keep the rear tires on the ground, but all you are doing is adding to the potential weight that the front axle and tires carry when you have a heavy load up front.

But I think 1400-1800 or anything in between is gonna work well. But since you are just filling with concrete....why not start out with 1400lbs. IF that works well, leave it. If you find yourself wanting more, get a couple more bags and add til your happy.

I dont use a ballast box, but have a ~1250lb rear blade and a ~1600# bushhog. Both sit back quite a ways. Both work well. I have loaded tires as well. No cab But I have 600# of wheel weights too which is probably equivalent to the cab.

1000lbs mentioned earlier is not enough. I had a 1000lb barrel of concrete that I used on my old L3400. I used it a few times on the MX. And while better than nothing, it was not enough