Weight for 3PH

[DaveC]

Hi All! This is my first post to TBN although I've been reading it for some time now. I just wanted to share pictures of the weight I made for my Ford 1710. I recently sold an 8N and purchased the 1710. Now I'm fitting it with a plow for winter and the weight will be used for plowing and general loader work. I used a 55 gallon drum obtain from the orchard next door to me. Cut it so it's 18" high. Used a Cat 1 drawbard through the middle and a Cat 2 drawbar sticking out the back to put a trailer hitch ball on. I obtained ideas for the weight from this board thanks to some earlier posts.

 

[s1120]

Thats cool! So you just cast concrete around it? Good idea.

 

[DaveC]

Here's another picture.

 

[DaveC]

Yep. I built the frame inside the barrel, hooked it up to the 3PH, and poured the concrete.

 

[s1120]

Are the two draw bars bolted together? If not, I would not put that much weight on the rear one.

 

[DaveC]

Yes, the drawbars are bolted together and the top link frame is also bolted to drawbars. It makes one strong (I hope) unit inside the concrete. Plus I only plan to pull a "working" trailer behind it if needed. Any serious pulling will be done without the weight attached.

 

[s1120]

Cool, Looks good.

 

[MarkV]

Dave, welcome to the forum and looks like well done project. Any ideas how much weight you ended up with? The trailer hitch point is a nice extra.

MarkV

 

[DaveC]

Thanks for the "welcome" and the positive comments! Mark, I estimate the weight to be about 550 lbs. There are 6, 80 lb bags of concrete plus water and the steel. Once it was poured, I was worried it would be too much weight, but the tractor seems to do just fine with it. With chains and the weight, it should do well plowing snow.

 

[Booth]

Hi,

I recently purchased a low hour B2150HST w/ FEL. I was hoping to use the FEL to clear snow off of my paved driveway which at its worst gets up to 15 degrees. The tractor has R1 tires. I am planning on casting a 3PT weight similar to the one shown at the beginning of this thread. Can anyone recommend how heavy the weight should be? I don't want the weight to possibly spin the tractor around when going downhill. The tractor is ~1850 lbs and the FEL is ~ 900 lbs (I think).

Thanks

Booth

 

[jimgerken]

The manufacturer of the tractor and loader probably has printed manuals available for you to purchase if you did not receive them with the tractor. I am almost certain they will have a definite ballast recommendation/requirement for your loader/tractor combo. My J.D. manual was quite specific. I put 700 pounds on the 3ph, within 24" of the draft link swivel balls, in the form of a box blade with extra steel ballast bolted onto the back. If there's no MMM or FEL on the tractor, this amount of ballast will cause the front end to be very light but not rise off the ground. Its not just the pounds, but the distance beyond the rear wheels that matters and "leverages" the weight you're adding. Be safe, follow manufacturer's recommendations.