Hilbilly13
New member
What is the best way or suggestions to add rear ballast in addition to fluid in the rear wheels. I have a 3901.
Rear Ballast
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jeff9366
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Are you seeking to counterbalance FEL loads?
If yes, what is the lift capacity of your FEL?
If yes, what is the lift capacity of your FEL?
LD1
Epic Contributor
Buy heavy implements
Deere Dude
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A ballast box filled with concrete is heavy and doesn't stick out like a fat ladies rear. My rear mower stays on almost all the time unless I go logging in tight places, then the ballast box goes on.
ovrszd
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Jeff raises a good question.
LD1 offers a good solution.
I run rear wheel/tire fluid as well as cast iron wheel weights.
I also use implements on the 3pt depending on the task at hand.
I use a Quick Hitch and built a weight rack to store my suitcase weights that can be hauled with the Quick Hitch. Easy to pick up, use and set down without leaving the tractor seat.
LD1 offers a good solution.
I run rear wheel/tire fluid as well as cast iron wheel weights.
I also use implements on the 3pt depending on the task at hand.
I use a Quick Hitch and built a weight rack to store my suitcase weights that can be hauled with the Quick Hitch. Easy to pick up, use and set down without leaving the tractor seat.
Thomas
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If you decide to make concert ballast add little extra,couple hooks place to store chains even shovel rake.
Fallon
Super Member
1000lbs of something on the 3pt.
When lifting 1200lbs bales with my L3200 (same frame as yours) it was sketchy with a 700lbs? rotary cutter on the back & bags of heavy stuff piled on the back of that. The 3000 series economy Ls are not safe lifting heavy on the loader, unless you have a LOT of ballast on the back. The further back, like way back on the rotary cutter the more leverage ballast has.
At one point I was moving a 100, maybe 200lbs horse panel on my pallet forks. It wasn't heavy at all so I didn't bother with 4wd or anything on the 3pt. Cut to skid marks down the gentile slope to the back of my barn ending in pallet forks sized holes in the barn. Don't remember if I had the rears loaded at that point or not.
The moral of that story is always ballast properly in the back. The economy Ls are fine machines & perfectly safe, as long as you ballast properly. They are lighter economy machines.
My new L4060 will lift more than my L3200 could & be perfectly stable without anything on the 3pt. I still keep proper ballast on though to minimize stress on the front axle & maximize safety.
Thomas
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Citydude
Super Member
OP
Hilbilly13
New member
I appreciate the suggestions. It answered my question. I have been keeping the rotary mower on the back I will be moving some round bales later this month and don't want to have an issue. I will probably need more weight than just the mower.
LD1
Epic Contributor
How big are the round bales?
A 3901 wouldn't be my first choice if moving full sized bales is going to be a routine task
A 3901 wouldn't be my first choice if moving full sized bales is going to be a routine task
Fallon
Super Member
Big squares are around 1200lbs. I moved 30ish of them with my L3200. Most I could only lift 4' high or so. Lift capacity is 1200lbs at the pins so forks or bale spears put it over, not to mention being forward of the pins.
My back end was way light, even with lots of rear ballast. It was as sketchy as I care to operate a machine.
Definitely not the right machine to move big hay.
Turbys_1700
Elite Member
My dad moved literally thousands of bales over a 20 plus year period with an 861 Ford Powermaster and Ford FEL with a PTO driven front pump. I think with loaded rears that tractor was around 4500# and worked really well for our bales. At the time we used an old chain baler from New Holland and the bales rarely got over 800#. That combination with a box blade was very stable.
If I was moving 1200# bales I would want a full blown utility tractor over 5K pounds. Compact tractors today have hydraulics that are so much stronger than in years past.
If I was moving 1200# bales I would want a full blown utility tractor over 5K pounds. Compact tractors today have hydraulics that are so much stronger than in years past.
Fallon
Super Member
It's not a hydraulic issue. My L3200 & the new L3901 will weigh in at 3,500lbs with loaded rear tires & the loader. The hydraulics will barely lift that 1200lbs bale. But the bigger problem is almost no weight left on the rear tires, even with lots of ballast on the 3pt.
The front axle is expensive, complex & weak compared to the rear axle. Lifting heavy puts all the load, the tractor weight & the 3pt ballast weight balancing on just that front axle.
Even worse the front axle is just a pivot so if the rear does come off the ground there is a 99.9% chance the front is going to pivot one way or the other. At that point the tractor will be in the middle of a rollover faster than you can do anything about it. It nearly happened to me moving the 1200lbs bales. I had 200lbs of ballast 5' back on a 700lbs mower too. Hit a 2" dip/hole with a rear tire. Things got really squirly & I could feel the back end start coming off the ground & the tractor start to go to the side. Thankfully the bale fell & the only damage was to my pride & my shorts.
The same machines would work fine for those same 1200lbs bales using a bale spear or forks on the 3pt though. Much better lift capacity & ballance on the back than the front. No pivot so no rollover issues. Worst that happens is the front comes off the ground a bit.
k0ua
Epic Contributor
My ballast barrel is about 750 lbs or so and I carry close to 100 more in the form of chains, crowbars, shovel etc. BUT still I wish it was more. I have loaded tires, and my similar sized tractor weighs over 1000 lbs more than its comparable sized Kubota standard L series. But with all of that, I would be very carefull with the 1200 lb bales. Low and slow is the way. My CUT is a heavy stout little dude, but an M series Kubota or something else similar sized would be a better bet for moving those things day in and day out.
LD1
Epic Contributor
I wouldn't have any concerns lifting a 1200# + bale with my MX, with loaded tires, and a 1600# woods ds96 ballast.
But if it was a daily chores to handle bales that size or bigger, I'd want to step up to the full m-sized machine. Like a m6060. 1200# more machine and 50% loader capacity
But if it was a daily chores to handle bales that size or bigger, I'd want to step up to the full m-sized machine. Like a m6060. 1200# more machine and 50% loader capacity
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