John Deere 2305 Ballast Box

[287IN10thMTN]

Just purchased a 2305 and received it today. love it! new to the diesel and 3 pt hitch world. was wondering, my ballast is brand new and currently empty, can i leave it suspended in the air or do i have to lower it to the ground (to prevent damage to the 3pt)? when i was looking at machines on the weekend, it always appeared that the ballast box was suspended. also, has anyone tried the stabil diesel fuel additive. i religiously put the marine grade in all my gas engines

 

[D33r3 6r33N]

I always lower mine, more on the personal safety stance than anything else I think.

 

[Redgoatea]

If it's completely empty you're probably okay leaving it up but personally if there's an implement hooked up to my tractor it goes down when the tractor is parked for the day. Just a good habit to get into may as well start now. 7

 

[ragkar]

You should release any hydraulic pressure by lowering the 3ph and the fel. Last winter I had a serious problem with gelling of unimproved diesel. I wasn't sure that I could get it back to the house. The temperature was 32 degrees.

 

[RoyJackson]

Better to lower all implements (including an empty ballast box) for safety reasons. Good habit to develop...

If you going to use an additive, try Sea-Foam. It stabilizes, has anti-gel properties and provides upper cylinder lubricity. New diesel fuel is low sulfur and doesn't provide the upper engine lubricity higher sulfur fuels do.

You can get Sea Foam at Wal Mart, if you shop there.

 

[JD755]

I have never had any problems with fuel, and only added Stabil to fuel that might be stored over the winter. This was standard Stabil that was rated for gas and diesel. That product no longer advertises it is for diesel, as they recently added a diesel only product. Out of some concern, real or imaginary, for lubrication of my older engine with the newer fuels I just began using the Diesel Formula Stabil product. Since a single twenty dollar bottle from Tractor Supply treats 320 gallons I use it with every fill-up. That also automatically sets me up for any winter storage that occurs. As long as my engine continues to perform well over the long term, I can't say whether the additive makes any difference but it may be cheap insurance. Link to FAQ on the new Diesel Formula Stabil is below.

I expect Roy's Sea-Foam is also a good product and is more widely available. I have just never used it.

None of this may be necessary with newer engines designed for low sulfur.

Diesel Formula Stabil

 

[Frocker98]

I use Diesel Fuel by Power Serve in my 2320. It helps boost cetane numbers, and works as an anti gelling agent also. We use the same additive where I work in our dump trucks when plowing snow. Never had any problems with gelling when out busting drifts.

 

[287IN10thMTN]

I picked up a bottle of Stanadyne Performance Formula Performance Formula - Stanadyne
Did a lot of research on the net and this stuff looks to be great.