Tractorin' -- Good, Bad, Ugly

[Luke'sScreenName]

Your gonna want about 800-1000lbs of 3pt ballast (at about 1ft out; less weight if farther out) to get max loader capacity. That's WITH loaded rear tires.

 

[jeff9366]

ROPS up, seatbelt on, 4 wheels on the ground, and people/kids/pets far away. Then play.

If you get your new tractor up on two wheels more than twice per year, or balanced on one wheel even once, your tractor is too light. It is not worth gambling your life or experiencing disability in a tractor rollover.

Tractors need high ground clearance in order to pass over obstacles and lift ground contact implements high enough for crossing ditches and loading on trailers. With high ground clearance comes instability. The two palliatives are adjusting the rear tires wider apart and additional tractor weight.

 

[GrandpaDano999]

This suggests it WILL be prudent, and safer, to fill rears?

 

[sea2summit]

With a grapple you will definitely want some sort of counter weight on the MX, mine won't lift much in the grapple before the rear end moves without some weight back there.

Also, two grease guns...one will always run out in the middle of greasing and your stuck with the choice of being lazy and not finishing the job or refilling the gun instead of doing some tractoring. When I'm running the grapple and BH I think I only get three or four days out of a tube.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

 

[jeff9366]

This suggests it WILL be prudent, and safer, to fill rears?

The MX5800 is, in my opinion, inherently more stable than most due to its stance, fat tires and weight.

I am on my third tractor. None have had filled tires. I prefer the flexibility of selective Three Point Hitch ballast.

I do not have any sloped ground to work in Florida. If you have slopes to work in Wisconsin, perhaps filled tires are advisable as they lower the center of gravity. But I would explore adjusting the rear wheels wider first.

In MY conditions, with R4/Industrial Tires and 4-WD, I have never felt the need for more traction, the second reason for filling tires. See Photos #4 + #5. Those rippers are in the ground a full 10". Four wheel drive is effective.

I try NOT to compact the soil with passage of my tractor. Most of us operate over the same ground regularly. Compaction takes decades for Mother Nature to ameliorate. Plowing only submerges the compaction 8" deeper.


Soggy Water Oak in Photo #1 + #2 weighed around 1,600 pounds.




MX5800 = nice tractor. You will love the telescoping Lower Links and pinned stabilizers when mounting implements.

 

[sea2summit]

This suggests it WILL be prudent, and safer, to fill rears?

In the woods, probably. If you're putzing around in the garden not so much.

 

[Cataclysm]

Get some chain hooks welded on that bucket. Dont pickup or pull heavy with just one side of the bucket.

Take it easy and learn you and your tractors capabilities.

Post lots of pics..

 

[GrandpaDano999]

pics are helpful, thanks. even with just one eye, I'm primarily a visual learner.

 

[GrandpaDano999]

Get some chain hooks welded on that bucket. Dont pickup or pull heavy with just one side of the bucket.

Take it easy and learn you and your tractors capabilities.

Post lots of pics..

Where on bucket to mount hooks?