OK guys today was weight day to determine necessity for rear counterbalance

[Bluegill2]

I think adding a lot of weight(2000#s) there would be a point of diminishing returns similar to applying too much fertilizer per acre. After all it requires fuel to tote the extra weight around.

Could be, but if 1000 lbs works good on my little L3800, then 2k on a 7040 should be about right...

The point is not to load the FEL without weight on the 3 pt hitch. Occasionally might be OK, but do it a lot and you will kill the front axle components

 

[Bluegill2]

BTW, that's a very nice lookin M7040! Thanks for getting the weight.

 

[xring100]

Thanks for doing the leg work.

IT appears that adding 870 took off 610, which is about 70%.

Not sure if it is a linear equation or not, but at that percent, a 2000lb rear weight would have removed 1400lbs off the front. And got you down to ~4500lbs over the front axle.

Not sure how it compares. But I bet it is close to the weight over the fronts of the tractor when it has an empty bucket. It would have been nice to know what the splits were with NO bales on. But I guess beggars cannot be choosers.

And again, numbers will be different with every tractor, and every load isnt the same. And even counterweights arent the same. A 2000lb weight like a chunk of concrete that is in close will do less countering than 2000lbs in the form of a big bushhog that hangs way back. So the CG of the counter weight matters too. And again, nothing is the same between tractors. But I think the point we can take away is that counterweight does indeed reduce the front axle load significantly. :thumbsup:

I believe this is probably a linear equation without doing a FBD. i think its just a ratio of two lever arms the 1st being tractor wheel base and 2nd the distance of the cg behind the rear axle. It is this moment arm that actually takes weight off the front. Since the weight of the wheel ballast is centered over the rear axle there is no moment arm and thus no reduction in load on the front axle

 

[case245]

txjim I would load the rear tires with any kind of fluid I know the loaded rear tires help when I had the little l3800 no loaded rears I couldn't move anything with the fel without the rear coming off the ground with my set up now I still need a 3 pt counter weight problem is how to do it and not have the weight dig into the ground while clean my ditchs out backing out of them there 4+ feet deep and a steep ramp

 

[94BULLITT]

My M7040 & LA1353 loader with cast rear wheels weighs 7670#s
Same tractor/loader with bale on frt & rear 9630#s
Frt bale weighs 1090#s
rear bale weighs 870#s
Frt axle with bale on frt and bale on the rear 5380#s 3,800
Frt axle with bale on frt nothing on the rear 5990#s

I think rear counterbalance removes more weight from frt axles than I thought it would but I forgot to weigh the rear axle like I wanted to because I was getting distracted. I did the hard work Y'all do the MATH. My pawn shop camera malfunctioned and I only got one good photo. PS:I think my 79 year old tractor driver was asleep when I took photo.

Thanks for weighing your tractor and posting the results. I added in Bold the weight of the rear with a bale on the front and rear.

 

[LD1]

My M7040 & LA1353 loader with cast rear wheels weighs 7670#s
Same tractor/loader with bale on frt & rear 9630#s
Frt bale weighs 1090#s
rear bale weighs 870#s
Frt axle with bale on frt and bale on the rear 5380#s....rear4250
Frt axle with bale on frt nothing on the rear 5990#s...rear2770

I think rear counterbalance removes more weight from frt axles than I thought it would but I forgot to weigh the rear axle like I wanted to because I was getting distracted. I did the hard work Y'all do the MATH. My pawn shop camera malfunctioned and I only got one good photo. PS:I think my 79 year old tractor driver was asleep when I took photo.

I think you messed up. 9630-5380=4250 on the rear.

I added one to show the weight without the rear bale

2770 isnt really alot of weight over the rears on a tractor of that size. thats only about 31.6% on the rears.

With the rear bale added the rears are closer to 45%

 

[RaydaKub]

Hehe. I would swap the bales around.

Thanks for taking the time to weigh it.

 

[Tx Jim]

There are several factors that enter into the equation. How high load is from the ground. As mentioned load distance from center of axle. On the rear I was using a Preifert 3pt bale spike that attaching points set right over the draft link balls. Oh well it was an enlightening experience.

 

[ovrszd]

This thread is in reference to a thread from last week titled:For those of you who think the L3400 has a weak loader!! The thread ended up stated that rear counterbalance relieved a lot of weight(stress) from frt axle when carrying a load on FEL. I stated I'd weigh my tractor and report back. Too bad I didn't word the title of thread so it could be understood. Oh well!!!

No worries. I got it now. That's a conversation that gets people fired up!!!

I am not a fan of 3pt carried counterbalance weight. The reason is, if you add enough weight to relieve excess weight on the front axle when carrying a load with the FEL you risk making the front end light when the bucket is unloaded. I work in steep timber a lot. I like my rear counterbalance weight to be at the rear tires. All I want it to do is keep the rear tires on the ground when carrying an FEL load.

With that said, I built a 3pt weight that I can pick up with my Quick Hitch. For weight I use suitcase tractor weights. The whole contraption weighs 1500lbs. Doubles as a great place to store my front weights when the FEL is on the tractor. It's very handy if using the FEL without an attachment on the back of the tractor. Can pick it up in seconds, complete the task at hand, set it back down in seconds, and go on about my business.

 

[sdkubota]

I have a L3400 with FEL and made a 1,000 lb wt for the 3ph. My tractor is only 2 wheel drive but I can boil dirt out the sides of the bucket digging into hard clay when the counter weight is attached. Without the counter weight...not so much.