Let's see some homemade 3 point ballast!

[WranglerX]

Also consider to put hitch points high enough that if you set ballast on ground then you can lower 3PH to a point hooks clear pins to remove ballast... I goofed and has to add a 3 inch riser on bottom of ballast so I could remove it easily and not have to balance it on wood blocks....

Dale

 

[fruitcakesa]

Also consider to put hitch points high enough that if you set ballast on ground thenyou can lower 3PH to a point hooks clear pins to remove ballast... I goofed and has to add a 3 inch riser on bottom of ballast so I could remove it easily and hot have to balance it on wood blocks....

Dale

That is the mistake I made when I built mine. Thankfully, the M has telescoping lift arms so at least hooking up is pretty easy.

 

[CoyPatton]

Lynn,

I have thinking about your idea of not loading the hydraulics, for a few days.

I am a total novice tractor owner, with only about 20 hours on my tractor, mainly repairing roads with the bucket and some pallet-fork work. Therefore, any thoughts I have on the matter have no basis in experience.

As a novice, with so little experience, I have some nagging thoughts that not being able to ground the ballast block without having at hand blocks to stand it on has the potential for me to find myself in a spot of bother. An experienced tractor user will almost certainly either know how to avoid getting into a situation where the ballast has to be jettisoned, or would know how to get out of the situation without jettisoning the ballast. I can't actually think of a specific scenario where the ballast might need to be jettisoned, but that doesn't mean there aren't any.

Still undecided.
Ken

About the only thing that would come to mind would a high centering on the ballast. If you are at the lower end of your 3PH this should be simply done by lifting your 3PH arms. Personally, as long as you are not nearing the weight limiting limits of your 3PH and not at the top of the lifting range, the 3PH is designed to carry weight so that to me is a non-issue.
Also your loader can provide some added effort to moving your tractor backward is you should get high centered and for some reason are unable to lift the 3PH. The only reason I could see to jettison the ballast would be if sunk into mud, but consider if you put weight in the tires and possibly even wheel weights jettison is not an option.

 

[ncoonen]

I made a 3-point ballast block for my Kioti CK3510H using the frame from an ancient 3-point scoop. I boxed that up, added some rebar, a loop of chain on top, and a hitch receiver, and then mixed up (14) 60# bags of concrete. The finished weight is somewhere between 900# and 1,000#. The block is approximately 40" wide, 23" deep, and 14" tall. The FEL is MUCH happier with the counterweight in place and it helps alot with traction in the recent 24" of wet snow we just got.

It's been mentioned several times in this thread but bears repeating - A CUT with a loader but no backhoe ought to be sold with some kind of ballast or at least a pointed discussion with the buyer. This tractor is strong enough to get you in serious trouble if you're doing any non-trivial loader work without some kind of counterweight in place.

...ned.

 

[Tony H]

I made a 3-point ballast block for my Kioti CK3510H using the frame from an ancient 3-point scoop. I boxed that up, added some rebar, a loop of chain on top, and a hitch receiver, and then mixed up (14) 60# bags of concrete. The finished weight is somewhere between 900# and 1,000#. The block is approximately 40" wide, 23" deep, and 14" tall. The FEL is MUCH happier with the counterweight in place and it helps alot with traction in the recent 24" of wet snow we just got.

It's been mentioned several times in this thread but bears repeating - A CUT with a loader but no backhoe ought to be sold with some kind of ballast or at least a pointed discussion with the buyer. This tractor is strong enough to get you in serious trouble if you're doing any non-trivial loader work without some kind of counterweight in place.

Simple and very clean.. Nice

 

[jshwhite]

Not really a dedicated ballast, but works well. Kils two birds with one stone though - I'm always wishing for more down pressure on the box blade, and it serves that purpose well. World of difference when grading the driveway or cutting harder ground. Also works as a ballast. Each block is about 300lbs, plus 500lb bb makes for 1100lb ballast. Another 1100lbs in fluid in tires. Makes a huge difference with FEL handling.

I just welded up a frame with scrap I had laying around so it rests in the bb cavity. Piece of bent rebar in the top for easy lifting in and out with an engine hoist.

 

[JTMachineDesign]

I just have my mother-in-law ride on the back..

 

[chim]

Built this for the 4240. I was looking for a 55 gallon drum and found a smooth-sided one at work. Brought it home and did the steel inserts and PVC tubes for tools. The bottom tube acts as a header to facilitate cleaning the vertical tubes. After concrete and painting I added a milk crate for hauling chains, slings, etc.

 

[Tony H]

Built this for the 4240. I was looking for a 55 gallon drum and found a smooth-sided one at work. Brought it home and did the steel inserts and PVC tubes for tools. The bottom tube acts as a header to facilitate cleaning the vertical tubes. After concrete and painting I added a milk crate for hauling chains, slings, etc.

hmmm, it's happening on some posts. All I see is a "attached thumbnail" at the bottom of page. No pic and if I start to click on it... Nothing
Yet jshwhites pictures come right up. Not sure what's happening

 

[W8BYA]

Nice! I'm always amazed how much better the tractor rides with the weight.

Super nice and simple but you might want to consider afixing that drawbar to the square tubing somehow. once that gets bouncing it's going to put a ton of stress on your 3-point linkage. Just something to think about...
:thumbsup:

Howdy.....you said something that made me ponder.....how would you afix the tractors drawbar to the ballast or the 3-point ? I mean the ballast/3-point is going to travel up & down as the 3-point is raised or lowered. Kinda trying to picture what you said. can you elaborate?