Ballast In search of weights

[pennwalk]

Here it is full on winter and I have been looking for a good buy on some 40 pound suitcase weights. So I have gone to the local auctions but I couldn't get them for a good price. Well this week I have been going around to different dealers looking for a good deal. I found them online from Home Depot and Lowes for $46 and $47. Then I checked the walker dealer who had black ones for $45 then I checked one JD dealer who had the green ones with the deer cast in the sides for $53. Then I checked the Kubota dealer who had black ones for $68 but he would sell them to me for $62. Then I checked my regular JD dealer. I knew that they had some used ones out back. He said new or used $53 but he did have some construction yellow ones for skid steers which he would sell to me for $45. Then I checked Messicks up in Elizabethtown (PA). They had black ones for Cub Cadet for $39. I got his last 3 but he thinks they will get them back in stock at the same price. There may be others on the lot but everything was buried under the snow. I guess it pays to shop around unless you count the fact that I probably burned $20 in gas driving around.

Chris

 

[beenthere]

Also a good thing you have a lot of time to shop.

I couldn't get that focused on some weights. Glad you found some.

 

[RPW]

Check the local scrap yard. I picked up about 500# for .25/lb. Could have picked up another 1000# but just didn't need that much. I don't know where they came from but somebody sure was cleaning closet

 

[Ductape]

Were the ones you bought the same weight as the ones that were priced higher?

I have one Yanmar weight amongst my John Deere weights, and it has to be 5 - 10 lbs heavier (never weighed it). It looks the same to the casual observer, but has a little more meat on it. I found that most places I shopped for weights were about a dollar a pound, some a little over. Best deal I found was a used tractor dealer that sold me some used JD weights for $25 each.

 

[pennwalk]

I kind of take it for granted but Lancaster County is a big ag area so there are a lot of equipment dealers So on the way to the hardware store which is also a JD dealer is the Kubota dealer and on the way to the farm is the other JD dealer and Messicks and so on. I have to smile because part of the reason I want weights is that a couple of projects have come together so I am pretty well fixed for snow equipment. Good thing too. Between snow storms and drifting there has been lots of snow to move.

Chris

 

[pennwalk]

Were the ones you bought the same weight as the ones that were priced higher

I'm not sure. The JD weights say on the side 20 kg (40 pounds). I just ran it through a converter and it said 20 kg = 44 pounds. Mel up at Messicks said that the weights he sold me were 41 pounds. All the weights I was pricing looked about like the JD suitcase weight. Now I am curious. I wonder where I put the old bathroom scale?

Chris

 

[pennwalk]

One thing that has been in the back of my mind is that the price of metals have been going up so I wouldn't be surprised if the price of weights went up some more.
It is kind of funny how vague equipment salesmen can be about the facts. The guy at the Kubota dealer picked up a weight and said he thought it was around 25 pounds. Looked just like a 40 pound weight to me.

Chris

 

[pennwalk]

Could have picked up another 1000# but just didn't need that much

You should have got them. It is pretty common for cast iron weights to bring $1 a pound at auction around here.

Chris

 

[pennwalk]

I have one Yanmar weight amongst my John Deere weights, and it has to be 5 - 10 lbs heavier

I just checked my Yanmar 186D manual. It says the weights are 44 pounds/20 kg. It says you can use up to 3 but it shows 5 in the picture. The Yanmar is one place that I want more weight. Right now I have 3 steel slabs bolted to the front bumper. I'm not sure what the weigh but with the box blade and the chipper the front end gets light.

Chris

 

[pennwalk]

I found the bathroom scale but I'm not sure how accurate it is. The black cub cadet weights were 39.1 pounds, both the old style plain JD weights and the new style with the deer cast in the sides weigh 41.1 pound plus I have a plain generic weight that weighs 40.9 pounds.

Chris

 

[Ductape]

I have one Yanmar weight amongst my John Deere weights, and it has to be 5 - 10 lbs heavier

I just checked my Yanmar 186D manual. It says the weights are 44 pounds/20 kg. It says you can use up to 3 but it shows 5 in the picture. The Yanmar is one place that I want more weight. Right now I have 3 steel slabs bolted to the front bumper. I'm not sure what the weigh but with the box blade and the chipper the front end gets light.

Chris

Well, I was off a bit, but it is noticably heavier. Too bad shipping weights is prohibitively expensive......... kinda leaves internet sales off the table.

 

[jimmyj]

I have wanted to get some of these weights too but I've been too cheap to pay retail. I got 2 at an auction for cheap but haven't seen any for years. The scrapyard is a great tip! Thanks.

 

[clemsonfor]

I had a buddy at work make me a lead bumper weight. I gave him some lanterns for boyscouts and gave him some used lead wheel weights. We got some 3" dia pipe and figured how long it would need to be to weight 100#s. it was something like 30" of that pipe. he welded it up and filled it with lead weight s he made and then poured molten lead around them till filled and then welded a cap on the other end and then welded it to the steel weight bumper i had for me, now i can bolt it to the tractor. The front would come off the ground with my disk harrow weighted down, and also got light using the boom pole.

 

[pennwalk]

I have one Yanmar weight amongst my John Deere weights, and it has to be 5 - 10 lbs heavier (never weighed it)

Ductape, Did we talk about this before? In the back of my mind I have a vague memory of something about heavier suitcase weights in the same form factor as the JD 40 pound weights. I can't find anything about it but were there 50 pound weights?

Chris

 

[pennwalk]

I got 2 at an auction for cheap but haven't seen any for years.

I love auctions but in the last 2 years I can't remember seeing 40 pound suitcase weights sell for less than $40. My problem has been not being the guy who gets in at $40. I've got to get better at bidding. It drives me crazy when people bid more than retail. I was just at an auction where they had 6 new style weights (with the deer cast in), the click and go weight bracket and the click and go parts that bolt to the frame and the lot sold for $440. Why bother going to the auction? You could just go down to the JD dealer.

Chris

 

[deepNdirt]

My yanmar came with 3 weights, although I removed them when installed the FEL, Plenty of weight up front now, I use the suitcase weights now to hook onto the rear Box blade to help with rear ballast but still looking for 1 more just to even things out,
when I bought the Disk Harrows the guy had a weight on it to help with getting into the ground better, he was going to keep it until I told him I felt like the harrow wouldn't do me any good either without that extra weight, so I talked him into throwing it in...this weight is some part off from a small loader, must weigh over 300+.lbs. I do know it plus the Harrow is extremely heavy for the 3 point lift of my tractor, it doesn't look that large but is surprisingly heavy,