TC55 Steering Problems Fixed?

[Boomerang1]

I think adding fluid in rear tires does put more weight on the ground for rear traction and makes it less likely to lift back end off the ground when heavy in bucket but i still dont think it takes weight off the front axle. To take weight off front axle i believe you would need to add weight behind rear axle and even though front is fulcrum in this example adding weight on either end will only add weight to the front axle. Mike

If you add weight directly above the rear axle, it will move the center of gravity to the rear. Moving the center of gravity to the rear will take weight off the front axle. If you don't believe me, ask any race car owner about weight transfer.

 

[whitetiger]

Adding weight directly over your rear axle will increase the percentage of weight to the rear. It only makes the rear axle weight increase but will not change your front axle weight. Ask any one who has ballasted a tractor or race car using a set of scales.
I have personaly ballasted over 250 tractors in the last 25 years and I think I have a pretty good handle on it.

If you add weight directly above the rear axle, it will move the center of gravity to the rear. Moving the center of gravity to the rear will take weight off the front axle. If you don't believe me, ask any race car owner about weight transfer.

 

[hazmat]

OK class – today we are going to learn about free body diagrams – no this isn’t sex education it is Statics – significantly more boring.

The discussion at hand is weather adding wheel weights or filling the rear tires will lighten the load on the front axle. The short answer is that it will not lessen the magnitude of the load on the front axle, but it will change the weight distribution between the front & rear axle. For the steering question at hand, the steering performance (given the possibly undersized cylinder) the magnitude of the weight on the axle is what matters.

I’ve tried to use real world numbers (from my TC18). I apologize in advance for the sloppy drawings. I’m not much of an artist. The diagrams are on flat ground – no slopes taken into account.

Figure 1
Baseline tractor only
Tractor weight 1,600#
Total weight 1,600#
Dist of CG from front axle 62.5% of wheel base
Front axle load 600#
Rear axle load 1,000#
Front axle distribution 37.5%
Rear axle distribution 62.5%

Figure 2
Tractor + Loader (CG of loader is 20% of wheel base in FRONT of front axle)
Tractor weight 1,600#
Loader weight 600#
Total weight 2,200#
Dist of CG from front axle 40% of wheel base
Front axle load 1,320#
Rear axle load 880#
Front axle distribution 60%
Rear axle distribution 40%

You can see that the load on the front axle has more than doubled

Figure 3
Tractor + Loader add 400# filled Rear Tires (CG of liquid is at rear axle)
Tractor weight 1,600#
Loader weight 600#
Filled tire weight 400#
Total weight 2,600#
Dist of CG from front axle 49.3% of wheel base
Front axle load 1,320#
Rear axle load 1,280#
Front axle distribution 50.7%
Rear axle distribution 49.3%

Note that while the % of weight on the front axle has decreased from 60% to 50.7% the weight is still 1,320#

Figure 4
Tractor + Loader add 800# counter weight (CG of weight is 40% of wheel base behind rear axle)
Tractor weight 1,600#
Loader weight 600#
Counter weight 800#
Total weight 3,000 #
Dist of CG from front axle 66.7% of wheel base
Front axle load 1,000#
Rear axle load 2,000 #
Front axle distribution 33.3%
Rear axle distribution 66.7%

Both % and total weight on front axle are lower

Figure 5
Tractor + Loader add 800# counter weight and fill rear tires 400#
Tractor weight 1,600#
Loader weight 600#
Counter weight 800#
Filled tire weight 400#
Total weight 3,400 #
Dist of CG from front axle 70.6% of wheel base
Front axle load 1,000#
Rear axle load 2,400 #
Front axle distribution 29.4%
Rear axle distribution 70.6%

Further reduction in % of weight on front axle, but still the same total weight as figure 4. So why bother weighting rear tires? For traction of course – it also lowers the CG to make for more stable platform.

Figure 6
Tractor + Loader add 600# load to bucket (CG of loadt is 40% of wheel base in front of front axle) no counterweight or filled tires
Tractor weight 1,600#
Loader weight 600#
Bucket load 600#
Total weight 2,800 #
Dist of CG from front axle 23% of wheel base
Front axle load 2,160#
Rear axle load 640 #
Front axle distribution 77%
Rear axle distribution 23%

Now we have 3.6 times the original front axle load & a whopping 77% of the weight distribution on the front axle. You can see why we need to properly ballast when using the FEL.

Class dismissed – go out and get some seat time.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Your sketches are a little fuzzy but are they supposed to look like your TC18 ;-)

Good job on showing the different numbers and percentages.

 

[Roto]

I wish I could draw like that hehehe. yeah thats the way it works for sure. Your the man!

Mike

 

[Boomerang1]

That's right, adding weight to the rear axle will make the the streering wheel turn easier.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Adding weight to the rear axle does not make it steer easier, the weight on the front axle is still the same. Look thru Hazmats figures again and read them close. This isn't really that complicated.

 

[Soundguy]

That's why I like my 3pt counterweight on my old 2wd non power stering ford 660...

Soundguy

 

[whitetiger]

Where do you get such a crazy idea as this from?????????????????????????

That's right, adding weight to the rear axle will make the the streering wheel turn easier.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

That's why I like my 3pt counterweight on my old 2wd non power stering ford 660...

Soundguy

I wish I could add weight to my 640 when I am raking but the rake is in the way. It does get old in the irregular shaped fields when you have to crank that old tractor hard every turn.