Adding Weight to the Rear.

[lreops]

I am thinking of getting a 55 gal barrel (hopefully plastic) and filling it with concrete and use it as a counter balance on my 3pt when using my FEL.

Has anyone done this? If so, anything I should be aware of? Also, would anybody have an idea of how much weight I could expect it to be?

Thanks, Ron

 

[B7100]

I am thinking of getting a 55 gal barrel (hopefully plastic) and filling it with concrete and use it as a counter balance on my 3pt when using my FEL.

Has anyone done this? If so, anything I should be aware of? Also, would anybody have an idea of how much weight I could expect it to be?

Thanks, Ron

Iv;e allways made box shaped weights which makes mouniting faster but the weight on a drum of concrete can be worked out here:
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080324030318AAtVFPy

 

[lreops]

Iv;e allways made box shaped weights which makes mouniting faster but the weight on a drum of concrete can be worked out here:
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080324030318AAtVFPy

Thanks for the input. By using a barrel, I was thinking that I could also use it as a roller. Maybe some more input will come.

Ron

 

[Eric McCarthy]

Tons of other members on here have made all kinds of weight boxes for balance on the rear end. Many have used the barrel method. A few others have made concrete forms out of metal and wood. Do a search on the threads and you'll see other member ideas on here.

 

[gpreuss]

I did this with a more or less rectangular plastic trash can. I put a regular draw bar through it, and had a bunch of re-bar lying about that I bent up and poked through the draw bar holes. I had an attempt at a third arm for my back hoe that I used for the 3rd point of the hitch. As I filled it with concrete it swelled out - I put in 6 80lb bags of concrete, and 2 bags of mortar. This ended up weighing in at about 600 lbs! And it works GREAT!
Since I built it I have trimmed the iron, and cleaned it up. It will probably never be a beauty, but it works like one...
One gentleman used a 55 gal drum, and members figured it for about 1100 lbs!
As Eric McCarthy said, there are many threads about ballast boxes here, with as many good ideas.

 

[Stubbyie]

For finished cured mix figure about 18- to 20-pounds per gallon.

Quality readymix tends to run about 140-150 lbs per cubic foot divided by 7.48-gals per cubic foot conversion factor.

Expect variation depending how you mix it and also due to sack mix compared to plant-mixed.

For maximum strength to minimize crumbling inside barrel-like conterweight container use least possible water.

Start with tiny bit of water then add mix slowly while mixing. Add water slowly and in tiny increments. Maximum strength is when your mix acts much like play-dough-tending-toward peanut butter, maybe toothpaste. Working concrete always makes me hungry.

If you want to get serious try local homecenter store for small bottle of "superplasticizer": add as recommeded--doesn't take much at all--to water first then add dry mix. Reduce water by half to start. Add dry slowly and mix. You will find your water requirement will be dramatically reduced thereby increasing strength of final mixed product.

Experiment with a sack and find your water requirement will be half or less. Use just water and one sack and make a 'dry' mix then squirt a few cubic centimeters (using a syringe) of 'superplasticizer' and mix it and watch the concrete slump to thin syrup. Amazing! "Super" is wonderful stuff and only relatively recently available outside commercial distributors.

 

[lreops]

For finished cured mix figure about 18- to 20-pounds per gallon.

Quality readymix tends to run about 140-150 lbs per cubic foot divided by 7.48-gals per cubic foot conversion factor.

Expect variation depending how you mix it and also due to sack mix compared to plant-mixed.

For maximum strength to minimize crumbling inside barrel-like conterweight container use least possible water.

Start with tiny bit of water then add mix slowly while mixing. Add water slowly and in tiny increments. Maximum strength is when your mix acts much like play-dough-tending-toward peanut butter, maybe toothpaste. Working concrete always makes me hungry.

If you want to get serious try local homecenter store for small bottle of "superplasticizer": add as recommeded--doesn't take much at all--to water first then add dry mix. Reduce water by half to start. Add dry slowly and mix. You will find your water requirement will be dramatically reduced thereby increasing strength of final mixed product.

Experiment with a sack and find your water requirement will be half or less. Use just water and one sack and make a 'dry' mix then squirt a few cubic centimeters (using a syringe) of 'superplasticizer' and mix it and watch the concrete slump to thin syrup. Amazing! "Super" is wonderful stuff and only relatively recently available outside commercial distributors.

Thanks for the good input. Really appreciate it.


Ron

 

[bosshogg]

Here is the one I built...1,000 lbs on my L3400. It is amazing what a difference it makes when using the loader moving dirt:

 

[lreops]

Here is the one I built...1,000 lbs on my L3400. It is amazing what a difference it makes when using the loader moving dirt:

View attachment 5986

That looks real good. I like the way you tapered it the same as the lift arms. Nice job!

What kind of measurements does it have? Did you use cement or concrete? Looks really finished on the exterior surface.

Ron

 

[pmhowe]

I decided I needed a ballast box for my L2550. I used an approach based upon one shown by Bosshogg in an earlier post. I used Sketchup to design it. Sketchup has some plugins that allow calculation of volume and mass, and also location of center of mass. The Sketchup design and a few pictures ares shown below.

I wanted to make sure that the ballast box was close to the tractor and compact, for maneuverability. Also wanted a low center of gravity. I placed the lower hitch points slightly below the box’s center of mass, which makes it very easy to hook up the top link (one hand can control movement). It works great. Of course, it works even better since I painted it orange.

 

[lreops]

pmhowe, that's a real nice job and idea. Were you able to know what the weight of it is? How long did you let it set up before using?

Ron

 

[bosshogg]

I decided I needed a ballast box for my L2550. I used an approach based upon one shown by Bosshogg in an earlier post. I used Sketchup to design it. Sketchup has some plugins that allow calculation of volume and mass, and also location of center of mass. The Sketchup design and a few pictures ares shown below.

I wanted to make sure that the ballast box was close to the tractor and compact, for maneuverability. Also wanted a low center of gravity. I placed the lower hitch points slightly below the box’s center of mass, which makes it very easy to hook up the top link (one hand can control movement). It works great. Of course, it works even better since I painted it orange.

I really like your upper lift arm setup...nice!!!

I lined my plywood form with plastic when constructing them which left the concrete really smooth although some of the plastic edges got into the concrete corners. The previous question was concrete or cement... cement is the binder or glue in concrete, all concrete has cement in it along with aggregate. I used the cheapest pre-bag stuff Menards Building center had...16 - 80lb bags.

 

[pmhowe]

I had Sketchup calculate the volume of the box, and used a density of 145 lb/cu ft (which may be a bit low for a ready mix concrete, but I didn't attempt to remove all air bubbles). This led to a calculated weight of about 915 lb. However, I added some granite stones to the mix, some old barbed wire I wanted to get rid of for reinforcing, and there is the weight of the drawbar and the toplink hookup. All of this probably brings the weight closer to 1000lb.

I have attached a picture of it mounted to the tractor. I will probably put a shorter toplink on it to raise the rear height slightly, while keeping the front low.

 

[bosshogg]

Mine is 1,000 lbs, if I already didn't state that, and I only carry the weight if I need the traction then promptly remove it afterwards. I am positive it puts some substantial strain on the rear axles, etc. that they probably can handle but don't want to push it. I believe my weight is about right for my tractor and it makes a world of difference when loadering hard packed dirt.

 

[ipz2222]

I just use my box scrape with 2 extra weights mounted on top.

 

[guydoo]

Good job men and thanks for your good input

 

[Bluegill]

I just use my box scrape with 2 extra weights mounted on top.

I also added weight to my box blade. Because I usually need the box blade when using the FEL. Two tools in one.

 

[gpreuss]

I had Sketchup calculate the volume of the box, and used a density of 145 lb/cu ft (which may be a bit low for a ready mix concrete, but I didn't attempt to remove all air bubbles). This led to a calculated weight of about 915 lb. However, I added some granite stones to the mix, some old barbed wire I wanted to get rid of for reinforcing, and there is the weight of the drawbar and the toplink hookup. All of this probably brings the weight closer to 1000lb.

I have attached a picture of it mounted to the tractor. I will probably put a shorter toplink on it to raise the rear height slightly, while keeping the front low.

I just count the bags of concrete I put into something; it is not going to disappear. I suppose you could toss in a few pounds for the water as well. My 600lb weight is awesome in its effect - if you ended up with more, you have to be impressed!

 

[bosshogg]

I just count the bags of concrete I put into something; it is not going to disappear. I suppose you could toss in a few pounds for the water as well. My 600lb weight is awesome in its effect - if you ended up with more, you have to be impressed!

There actually is a few pounds (~5) of water weight per bag that gets bound up within the concrete during hydration.

 

[steve l]

i use a roll of hay so much easier to hookup on my little tractor.(l3650gst)