Success, and with minimal ballast....

[eipo]

This is why I traded up to the 4060. All the numbers on paper said it would work, but you never really know till you know.

My primary goal today was to determine what I need for ballast. The backend was surprisingly stable with just the 72” rear blade. Even facing down hill a little, and dropping the loader arms quickly to see how planted the back was, did not result in the rear coming off the ground at all.

The bag is a face cord of green white oak, hickory and beech. Mostly oak.

Now that I have that out of the way, I think a 2 cubic foot concrete ballast will make things perfect.

 

[Henro]

This is why I traded up to the 4060. All the numbers on paper said it would work, but you never really know till you know.

View attachment 54486
My primary goal today was to determine what I need for ballast. The backend was surprisingly stable with just the 72” rear blade. Even facing down hill a little, and dropping the loader arms quickly to see how planted the back was, did not result in the rear coming off the ground at all.

The bag is a face cord of green white oak, hickory and beech. Mostly oak.

Now that I have that out of the way, I think a 2 cubic foot concrete ballast will make things perfect.

2 cubic feet of concrete does not sound like much weight. I assume you meant a 2 foot cube? That would be 8 cubic feet...

 

[old and tired]

You need to update that profile

eipo Equipment B2650

BTW, NICE tractor upgrade....

 

[rkidd]

Hey eipo. Been a while. Really nice looking machine!! Nice upgrade. No getting around size.

 

[eipo]

2 cubic feet of concrete does not sound like much weight. I assume you meant a 2 foot cube? That would be 8 cubic feet...

I did in fact mean 8, I was thinking about the dimensions of the form and 2 came out.

 

[eipo]

You need to update that profile

eipo Equipment B2650

BTW, NICE tractor upgrade....

Thanks!

I thought I did update the profile. Old age is creeping up in me and I don’t even see it coming.

 

[eipo]

Hey eipo. Been a while. Really nice looking machine!! Nice upgrade. No getting around size.

Yeah, last year was certainly a roller coaster.

My wife started working almost full time after being out of the workforce for about 19 years to be home with the kids. Now that one will be leaving for college in the fall, she wanted to get back out of the house.

I ended up leaving my job after 19 years because the pay didn’t match the stress and responsibility once everything was paid off. Now I work in a hearth/grill store for a long time friend and haven’t looked back since. He also happens to be a Stihl dealer and I’ve been buying my saws from him for 25 years.

Since I can’t sit still, I’m at the tail end of getting a firewood business going. Next stop is a pallet of those bags and a semi load of logs. I purchased a Wolfe Ridge HO splitter at the end of last year and just recently picked up a brand new 12’ Timberwolf conveyor at a discount.

I am also going to push bundled firewood fairly hard. We have a good market for it here and the margins are fantastic.

How are things your way?

 

[eipo]

The bags are sized to hold a face cord of wood which is an important aspect of selling wood. The tractor can handle it, but having some meat behind the rear axle will be nice.

The idea is to handle the wood as few times as possible. Short loading the bags would translate to an incorrect amount of wood being sold to a customer without having to top it off. It would also translate into more space needed to store the same amount of wood. I am limited on space.

There is no issue with visibility.

 

[RCW]

Eipo - Very nice tractor!!

A face cord of green oak and hickory is stout, but I’m not telling you anything!

Glad you’re happy with the upgrade. Good for you!

 

[sheepfarmer]

What are you going to do with the B2650?

 

[eipo]

Eipo - Very nice tractor!!

A face cord of green oak and hickory is stout, but I’m not telling you anything!

Glad you’re happy with the upgrade. Good for you!

Thank you.

 

[eipo]

What are you going to do with the B2650?

Sold it to Aldermans. I can’t justify 2 tractors.

 

[eipo]

Now the wait.....

16 bags of 60# mix with some 1/2” rebar I had laying around wrapped around my trailer mover to keep it quick hitch compatible.

 

[rkidd]

Yeah, last year was certainly a roller coaster.

My wife started working almost full time after being out of the workforce for about 19 years to be home with the kids. Now that one will be leaving for college in the fall, she wanted to get back out of the house.

I ended up leaving my job after 19 years because the pay didn’t match the stress and responsibility once everything was paid off. Now I work in a hearth/grill store for a long time friend and haven’t looked back since. He also happens to be a Stihl dealer and I’ve been buying my saws from him for 25 years.

Since I can’t sit still, I’m at the tail end of getting a firewood business going. Next stop is a pallet of those bags and a semi load of logs. I purchased a Wolfe Ridge HO splitter at the end of last year and just recently picked up a brand new 12’ Timberwolf conveyor at a discount.

View attachment 54501

I am also going to push bundled firewood fairly hard. We have a good market for it here and the margins are fantastic.

How are things your way?

Good for you getting rid of the stress. Life is short! It is sure nice when you enjoy your job. Looks like you are really set up well for your firewood business.
For me, hard to beleive been retired 6yrs, went at 57. Can relate to the stress as I was in supervision in construction. Dont miss it. I am same as you like to keep busy, so I was always still running heavy equipment for people, and couple summers delivered equipment for my Kubota dealer. Last summer finished site work for a new house in May and decided to take rest of year off for first time. Did alot of riding on my Harley, and of all things, got into Musky fishing. Really enjoy it. Of all things I thought I would never own was a boat. I ended up buying a used 16ft Lowe side console, and put a brand new Mercury 60/40 jet drive on it to be able to hit rivers and lakes. Plus still do alot of bowhunting, deer and turkey. Plenty of hobbies to keep me busy and really enjoying life. Good talking to you again.

 

[eipo]

I’ve been a bit concerned about the curing. It’s been single digits here for awhile and was in the low teens the day I poured it. I did keep a heater on in the garage for the first 24 hours to keep it from freezing and the garage is insulated. It’s been out of the forms since Tuesday and today is the first time I’ve touched it to move since the pour.

So far so good and I’m pleased with the outcome. All of my measurements were spot on and the only thing I had to do was take about an inch off the threaded end of the lower pins so they would clear the concrete.

Tractor picked it up like it wasn’t there.

 

[Old_Paint]

I picked up a stump yesterday. Raised it about 3 inches off the ground. My son was starting to chisel some of the bubble gum clay off, so I jumped off the LX to help him out. As I stepped off, I felt the back end of the LX go up. Turned around and looked, and saw daylight under both rear tires. Couldn't go far, obviously, because the stump was only 3" off the ground before I stepped off the tractor, but it was just a little weird that my skinny butt (6'1", 185 lbs) was enough ballast to put the back tires back on the ground. The stump probably had at least a half ton of wet clay on it. Had a little fun experimenting with how much tilt I could get back and forth with it balanced on the front axle pivot, making my son as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs (that was the fun part). Never any risk of roll. Too close to the ground. I don't raise anything up very high until I'm certain that I'm not going to roll over with it. "Best defense is no be there." -- Miyagi.

 

[Old_Paint]

I’ve been a bit concerned about the curing. It’s been single digits here for awhile and was in the low teens the day I poured it. I did keep a heater on in the garage for the first 24 hours to keep it from freezing and the garage is insulated. It’s been out of the forms since Tuesday and today is the first time I’ve touched it to move since the pour.

So far so good and I’m pleased with the outcome. All of my measurements were spot on and the only thing I had to do was take about an inch off the threaded end of the lower pins so they would clear the concrete.

Tractor picked it up like it wasn’t there.

View attachment 54766 View attachment 54767 View attachment 54768

You'll find that concrete is giving off quite a bit of heat as it cures. The Calcium Chloride in most concrete mixes helps warm the concrete to make it set faster. Calcium Chloride reacts with water and creates heat during the reaction. If you don't see any cracks yet, you're not likely to in that small volume. Concrete sets within 24 hours, and cures within 48. When the Hoover Dam was being built, ammonia was pumped through copper pipes that were embedded in the concrete for cooling to prevent the water content from flashing to steam, and creating an explosion. After curing, the pipes were abandoned.

What got my attention was the sling around the top hitch. I really hope you're not using that for pulling. A good friend of mine was pulling a stump with a tractor with a chain over the top of a 3 point hitch adapter. His foot slipped off the clutch, and in his words "I looked around and saw my brains leaking all over the ground." A great guy, and miraculously, he survived the incident. But he will NEVER put anything pulling above the drawbar again.

 

[eipo]

Giving off heat is a direct relationship to the ambient air temp. Its imperative that concrete be protected from freezing until it reaches a strength of 500psi, or thereabouts. I can assure you, because I checked, there was no discernable heat coming off my pour compared to the heat I could feel coming from the concrete deck we had installed around our pool when the ambient air temp was around 60. That was fairly warm to the touch. Not to say it wasnt generating heat, that's a byproduct of the chemical reaction. But it wasn't enough to keep it from freezing.

48 hours is under ideal conditions and is suitable for LIGHT use. Think sidewalk or patio. A 1000 pound block which is supported at only 3 points, I would not consider "light" use.

Ive seen the documentary on the Hoover damn and read a few articles, that was a fascinating project.

The sling was used to rotate the block so I could back into it and pick it up. That's simply where it ended up when I was done using it.

 

[Old_Paint]

The sling was used to rotate the block so I could back into it and pick it up. That's simply where it ended up when I was done using it.

Good. Had me a little concerned.

I live in the South for many reasons. Concrete freezing before it can set is just a minor one. I was 21 before I ever went farther north than Huntsville. When I did, I went straight to upstate NY, Schenectady/Rotterdam, to be exact, on Labor Day weekend in 1982. Folks up there are different, and seem to get offended if you just say hi to them on the side walk. I won't call 'em mean, just different. Maybe it was their accent that embarrassed them or somethin?

What I meant by set after 48 is that it's gonna be damn hard to get it back out if something's wrong. 'Green' concrete (day-old) is pretty easy to break up and re-do if necessary. After 2 days, you're probably going to tear some stuff up.

 

[Orange man hero]

This is why I traded up to the 4060. All the numbers on paper said it would work, but you never really know till you know.

View attachment 54486
My primary goal today was to determine what I need for ballast. The backend was surprisingly stable with just the 72” rear blade. Even facing down hill a little, and dropping the loader arms quickly to see how planted the back was, did not result in the rear coming off the ground at all.

The bag is a face cord of green white oak, hickory and beech. Mostly oak.

Now that I have that out of the way, I think a 2 cubic foot concrete ballast will make things perfect.

I bought the Kubota box that goes on the back and intent to fill it with 60lb bags of gravel. IT will take at least 4 bags maybe 6. Is that enough weight. I probably won't life more than a few hundred pounds, maybe once in a great while 400.