Rear ballast box

[bearbait]

As many here I've decided to build my own ballast mainly to save money and also next week I should have my grapple for the front. Well I came across a thread by buckaroo who did a great job of building one so I figured I'd steal his idea. I want to make sure it won't be too heavy for the L3560 grand and that's where you folks come into play. Also the rear tires are loaded. Thanks for the idea buckaroo and thanks to you guys for your thoughts. Here's a link to his design.

http://www.orangetractortalks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17150&highlight=ballast+build

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

1000 lbs is well within range you could go up to 1500 Lbs if you wanted.

 

[bearbait]

1000 lbs is well within range you could go up to 1500 Lbs if you wanted.

Thanks Wolfman, appreciate it.

 

[bearbait]

Well I kinda of came up with plan B. I was at the metal store today and while buddy was getting my angle iron for me I spotted a 60 gallon compressor tank which I bought for 29 bucks. Now the question is either to fill it with sand or cement and how much? I've read that wet sand has lots of weight to it and for me it's free, just a quick trip to the beach with the quad but still how high to fill it without throwing off my centre of gravity. Appreciate your thoughts on this one. This is where I got the idea thanks Saxman, post #6, although I was gonna use an old propane tank but this kinda fell into my lap.

http://www.orangetractortalks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34689

 

[bearbait]

Well finally got most of my ballast tank finished. Just have to do a little degrease, a little more welding and a coat of paint or 2. Best I can figure somewhere between 1000 and 1200 pounds of sand and added steel for strength. Boy does the old girl feel heavy now.

 

[bearbait]

Well finally got most of my ballast tank finished. Just have to do a little degrease, a little more welding and a coat of paint or 2. Best I can figure somewhere between 1000 and 1200 pounds of sand and added steel for strength. Boy does the old girl feel heavy now.

 

[rkidd]

Well finally got most of my ballast tank finished. Just have to do a little degrease, a little more welding and a coat of paint or 2. Best I can figure somewhere between 1000 and 1200 pounds of sand and added steel for strength. Boy does the old girl feel heavy now.

Great idea for a ballast box, and very nicely done with the hitch, reciever, and the feet on the bottom to set it down on the ground. Ends up being a nice compact design, that I like, especially for plowing snow in the winter. Will look really good with some Kubota bright orange paint!!

 

[Saxman]

I did sort of the same thing. I made mine out of a 1938 Westinghouse welding generator. I stripped the copper then put the field coils and a bunch of other heavy junk inside. Works great on my L3830

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[bearbait]

I did sort of the same thing. I made mine out of a 1938 Westinghouse welding generator. I stripped the copper then put the field coils and a bunch of other heavy junk inside. Works great on my L3830

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Hey Saxman, I got the idea from you. I saw your post a while back and thought what a great idea. Well this week I was at the recyclers and just by luck I spotted the tank in the middle of the heap. Now I can really appreciate the amount of work you put into that and only partially finished. Very nice job my friend, hope mine can turn out even close to yours. I did fill mine with sand off the beach which is salt water so I undercoated the inside first...damned if I want do do it twice.

 

[Saxman]

I'm glad it helped. Those old welders are super heavy and thick walled. I bought that old welder to restore and show at tractor shows but unfortunately the armature had a catastrophic failure so I scrapped the copper. Sold the old flat head Chrysler engine and made a great trailer out of the super heavy duty undercarriage so it turned out really good for me.

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[bearbait]

Great idea for a ballast box, and very nicely done with the hitch, reciever, and the feet on the bottom to set it down on the ground. Ends up being a nice compact design, that I like, especially for plowing snow in the winter. Will look really good with some Kubota bright orange paint!!

Thanks rkidd but all the credit goes to Saxman, I just copied his idea.

 

[bearbait]

I'm glad it helped. Those old welders are super heavy and thick walled. I bought that old welder to restore and show at tractor shows but unfortunately the armature had a catastrophic failure so I scrapped the copper. Sold the old flat head Chrysler engine and made a great trailer out of the super heavy duty undercarriage so it turned out really good for me.

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Man you do beautiful work. That what I'm worried about with the compressor tank. It doesn't seen to be as heavy walled as I would like but that could be just me. My friend accuse me of over building everything however I never beat the orange crab out my road at full speed, always in mid range. I guess time will tell, I'll be keeping a close eye on it.

 

[mike33s]

The worst that will happen is that you tear something like that hitch or puncture it. You have the skills to make it so you have the skills to repair it. Nice work.