MyLittleRedTractor DIY Pacman (Suitcase) Weights

[thunderheart]

Hey Hey Yanmar Fans! I finally got around to taking the advice of Soundguy (and others on this forum) and made my own suitcase weights. My wife and I jokingly call them "Pacman weights" because they are shaped like that famous Cherry Chasin' Dot Muncher. Here is a picture of my first prototype hanging on the front weight rack and the mold for the second one leaning up on the front wheel:



I used some 2"x4" hardware cloth and some rebar to reinforce them around the mounting slit and a piece of 3/4" PEX water pipe to create the through-hole for the mounting bar. I guess I'll use all-thread for that with a couple of bolts and washers on each end. Each weight took a little less than one 80 lb bag of High Strength concrete (5000 lb I think) and the bracket on my YM 3110 will hold a total of 3 of them for 240 lbs.

Now I'm ready for some rear wheel weights. I intend on laying one of my rear wheels on the ground and using the rim as the base of my mold. But I'm wondering if a fat old man can manage one of those wheels alone. Seems like I saw a chart on here somewhere that gave the ballasted weight of different sized tires. Anybody have a link to such a thing? My plan is to use 2 pieces of 16" cylindrical, cardboard concrete form which will give me approximately twice the weight of the Pacman weights.

That will give me #320 in the back and #240 up front. Hopefully that will help me get my Leinbach 2-14 bottom plow to run through my root plantation. MyLittleRedTractor had the heart for it but not the heft on the first try. Rear wheels just kept breaking loose and when I would try to lift the plow the front-end would want to come off the ground. Plowing job was so bad my mailman stopped to give me advice. He thought something was broke on my plow! Way embarrassing but he meant it kindly.


Thanks,

Dallas

 

[California]

... man can manage one of those wheels alone[?]. Seems like I saw a chart on here somewhere that gave the ballasted weight of different sized tires. Anybody have a link...

Your front weights look good!

Source.

 

[winston1]

Here is my old post about my wheel weights. They definitley make a difference. My 2002d has no chance of pulling my 2 bottom disc turning plow when in two wheel drive. Might mention I can go down the road wide open in high gear and everything is smooth. Cannot detect any out of balance problems.

 

[Ginormous]

That looks great. I really need to do the same thing; the front end gets pretty light whener I pick something up on the 3-pt. Maybe this will inspire me.

I don't think I have a mounting bar on my YM2210. Can you post a picture of what that looks like?

K

 

[Ginormous]

More questions for you: What is the diameter of your circle mold and what did you use to make it? How tall is the mold (ie., the width of the final weight)?
Thanks!

 

[thunderheart]

Here is my old post about my wheel weights. They definitley make a difference. My 2002d has no chance of pulling my 2 bottom disc turning plow when in two wheel drive. Might mention I can go down the road wide open in high gear and everything is smooth. Cannot detect any out of balance problems.

Thanx Winston. I don't see the link to your old post but I'll see if I can find it with the search engine.

More questions for you: What is the diameter of your circle mold and what did you use to make it? How tall is the mold (ie., the width of the final weight)?
Thanks!

Sure dood, I'll take a picture of the suitcase bracket today sometime and post it. I used a 16 inch "sonatube" which is a just a brand name of concrete form. Quickcrete makes them too and they are sold in Big Box hardware stores. However neither Lowes or Home Depot carry > 12 inch in my area so I had to go to a concrete supply house to get the one I used. The shortest they had was 16 ft long. It was $40 but I needed it anyway to pour some footers for a small building I'm erecting. There are 3 cavities in my front bracket and each is 5 inches wide. I think 2 OEM suitcase weights will fit in each cavity and each of those is 46 lbs. So I just used a 4 7/8 inch piece of tube to make the form. Each weight occupies roughly the same space as two OEMs and weighs probably 20 pounds less. My first form was destroyed because I didn't use a release agent of any kind. The tube itself actually has a waxy coating on the inside but it wasn't sufficient. On my second mold I cut the tube a little too long and got a weight that was an 8th too wide. No Problem, just under-filled subsequent pour.

Thanks for the responses fellas. Oh and thanks for the chart Cali! I have 12.8x28s so about 300 lbs looks like. Think I'll get a buddy to help me wrangle it as that is a little much for me.

Dallas

 

[deepNdirt]

Good work:thumbsup: But if I may make a suggestion could you incorporate a handle into the mold? perhaps a cutout at the top and simply let the reinforcement rod come through as use of a handle, :drink:

 

[winston1]

Here is the thread about my wheel weights and also a picture of some I made for the front. I have since put them on my blade for weight and have store bought ones on the front of my tractor. http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/yanmar/252891-concrete-wheel-weights.html

 

[sixdogs]

Impressive looking weights.

 

[careyo63]

I'll agree and has me thinking of a rear weight setup. Curious Winston do you know how much or whats the gross weight is?