It has been quite awhile since I first posted here. Last time I posted here was when I just bought my JD 2210. Well a lot has changed since then. In april I traded the 2210 in for a 2009 Kubota L3240hstc. Of course having the factory cab, it has the radio, a/c, and all that nice stuff. The machine now has about 178 hours on it, and I have been loving it so far.
Three weeks ago, I also purchased a 2010 Kubota M7040 with the hydraulic shuttle shift. I now have about 60 hours on this machine all from snow plowing. I run a 10 foot snow pusher on the FEL of this machine and we plow a large commercial parking lot of a home improvement store. The machines were bought for, and are mainly only used for snow. I would like to start looking into bush hogging, but I am not sure how much of a demand for that service I would find in my area (I own a landscaping company).
Now onto my ballast question. Both machines are pretty light in the rear end. They both have filled tires, but for the heavy loader work these machines see it just doesn't cut it. I'm not sure where to start on how much weight, what size box, etc.
First machine is the L3240. We use this primarily to trim out islands in the parking lot, follow the large machine and pick up windrows with an 8 foot pusher I run on it, and stacking snow. When I have operated this machine, I feel the rear tires get very light and have even had a corner lift briefly on several occasions. I talked to my Kubota dealer about a box for this and they told me they have some boxes that would add about 400 to that tractor and thats the only size box they can get and they may be able to get some kind of aftermarket one for it. So what size box should I be asking for and how much weight should I be looking at having in it? It has the LA724 loader.
Now the M7040 which also has filled tires. This machine isn't lifting as much as its pushing. The only time it really lifts a lot is when it is stacking the snow at the end of a push down the lot. In light snow it doesn't even think about pushing that box. But we recently had a 8 inch storm of that heavy concrete snow, and it was getting tossed around by it, and the tires would spin all the way down the lot (600' push). I have seen in pictures ballast boxes on machines this large, however the dealer doesn't seem to have, or be able to get anything, or just aren't to interested in getting one for a machine this large (I can't tell which it is). My concern is that if I add to much weight to the back for traction, it will begin to take weight off the front end which would make the steering even worse with a load in the box. So what direction should I go in with this machine?
Thanks for any input, and enjoy the pictures!
Three weeks ago, I also purchased a 2010 Kubota M7040 with the hydraulic shuttle shift. I now have about 60 hours on this machine all from snow plowing. I run a 10 foot snow pusher on the FEL of this machine and we plow a large commercial parking lot of a home improvement store. The machines were bought for, and are mainly only used for snow. I would like to start looking into bush hogging, but I am not sure how much of a demand for that service I would find in my area (I own a landscaping company).
Now onto my ballast question. Both machines are pretty light in the rear end. They both have filled tires, but for the heavy loader work these machines see it just doesn't cut it. I'm not sure where to start on how much weight, what size box, etc.
First machine is the L3240. We use this primarily to trim out islands in the parking lot, follow the large machine and pick up windrows with an 8 foot pusher I run on it, and stacking snow. When I have operated this machine, I feel the rear tires get very light and have even had a corner lift briefly on several occasions. I talked to my Kubota dealer about a box for this and they told me they have some boxes that would add about 400 to that tractor and thats the only size box they can get and they may be able to get some kind of aftermarket one for it. So what size box should I be asking for and how much weight should I be looking at having in it? It has the LA724 loader.
Now the M7040 which also has filled tires. This machine isn't lifting as much as its pushing. The only time it really lifts a lot is when it is stacking the snow at the end of a push down the lot. In light snow it doesn't even think about pushing that box. But we recently had a 8 inch storm of that heavy concrete snow, and it was getting tossed around by it, and the tires would spin all the way down the lot (600' push). I have seen in pictures ballast boxes on machines this large, however the dealer doesn't seem to have, or be able to get anything, or just aren't to interested in getting one for a machine this large (I can't tell which it is). My concern is that if I add to much weight to the back for traction, it will begin to take weight off the front end which would make the steering even worse with a load in the box. So what direction should I go in with this machine?
Thanks for any input, and enjoy the pictures!
