How Much Weight?

[Tomcat]

Besides the obvious of whatever keeps the wheels on the ground, how much weight is enough on the front? Is there some "magic formula" for figuring out how many I should add? I finally got some suitcase weights and when trying to fit them on I realize they're going to be a PITA to take off. How much is enough?

 

[Daren Todd]

I found it's mainly trial and error with mine. My 4ft bush hog weighs around 500lbs. But because of the distance it sticks out, I had to add a little over 300lbs to the front end to keep it stable. I have 80lbs worth of wheel weights, 40lbs to a side. 150lbs worth of 1" flat stock steel notched to fit in where the suitcase weights go, and another 100lbs of concrete bolted to the front.

I'm curious as well about a formula

 

[Tomcat]

I have no clue as to the weight of my tiller. I bought 3 20Kg suitcase weights that look to be a pain to install and nothing short of a plasma cutter is gonna take them off! I'd hate to put them all on and regret it afterwards!

 

[Daren Todd]

Tiller should sit in fairly close.

Have you hooked it up and tried it with out the weight to see how it handles on a flat surface?

You might be able to get away with not having to add much. Your rake on the other hand looks like a monster

 

[85Hokie]

I have no clue as to the weight of my tiller. I bought 3 20Kg suitcase weights that look to be a pain to install and nothing short of a plasma cutter is gonna take them off! I'd hate to put them all on and regret it afterwards!

Can you make a bracket that they can lock into? Rather than the heating wrench?

You ought be able to fabricate a bracket that the suitcases can lock onto, that way you can run with 1, 2 or all 3

If from your rear wheel axle to your front bumper is 5' (just a guess) then anything you place there will be multiplied by that 5' - so if you place 60kg on there, you have created 300kg of down force, the tiller is also doing the same math, it sticks out X and then the weight of the tiller is that much heavier....... I would think that 1/2 of the tiller weight would be about right.

 

[Kubota Newbie]

40% front, 60% rear or until you get to somewhere around 10% slip for a front assist tractor. No less than 35% on the front axle for a mfwd tractor. The weight of an implement does not count against the 40-60 ratio if it is not suspended by the tractor during operation.
BTW, The above is for best effective traction not to increase stability when a too large implement may be attached.

 

[Tomcat]

"Have you hooked it up and tried it with out the weight to see how it handles on a flat surface?
You might be able to get away with not having to add much. Your rake on the other hand looks like a monster"

Yes Daren, I discovered that the depth wheels make good wheelie bars!
The rake is 5ft8in (173cm over here )

"Can you make a bracket that they can lock into?"

85Hokie: I've got the bracket but it's a really tight fit. The weights will go on with some persuasion (aka BFH). Don't want the weights on permanently. I might need to do some grinding on the weights.

Thanks Hokie and Newbie for the math lesson.

 

[gpreuss]

The CG of the FEL is out in front of the front axle. With the FEL attached, you should not need any additional weight. If you do, put weight in the bucket. When you are comfortable with the tractor use a bit more than that on the mounting bracket.
If you have removed the FEL you can use up to its weight on the bracket, but generally just a hundred or two pounds is sufficient.
With my L3200, or the L185 before it, with the FEL attached I never needed any additional weight when pulling an implement. With the L3200 without the FEL I had trouble making an uphill turn while pulling the brush hog. A couple hundred pounds did the trick.
With the L3200 you cannot have both the suitcase weights and FEL at the same time - they don't physically fit. I ended up building a 200+ pound "bumper" that I leave permanently installed. Since weight in the front lifts the rear, when I use the FEL rear ballast is even more important!
You also have to keep in mind that it is all weight bearing down on the front axle. Check with your dealer about the specs on your front axle - mine is about 2800 lbs. Since weight out in front of the front axle is geometrically doubled at the axle, my 1200 lb loader plus the 200 lb bumper has me darn close to the axle rating! Put a load in the bucket and I'm well over both the axle rating and the tire rating.

 

[Tomcat]

Unfortunately, I don't have a loader.

 

[Changnam 59]

On my B6000 I have 60 kg on the front.

The tool I use most often is a brush hog which weighs 150 kgs.

A little more weight on the front would be better but 60 kg is adequate for my application.

 

[Tomcat]

Changnam - I sent you a PM.