Jay, you have to read more of the thread to get the flow.
An electrical ballast is a device placed in series with a load to limit the amount of current in an electrical circuit. Wikipedia
Add weight to tires or not?
- Thread starter PNWBXer
- Start date
An electrical ballast is a device placed in series with a load to limit the amount of current in an electrical circuit. Wikipedia
I was concerned about tearing up the lawn as well. I don't mow with it, and I have the big B, but I often have soggy ground that I didn't want to tear up. I opted for the turf tires without liquid ballast. When I picked her up, they had already added fluid to the rears. The dealer said to try it out and if I didn't like it they would drain the fluid, and they did not charge me for it in the first place.
Well, I've had no issues with the extra weight causing any rutting or tearing of the yard unless I'm doing tight turns in 4x4 mode. It does help with stability and smooths the ride out a bit I think. Bottom line, I'm now glad they messed up and filled them and I did not have them remove it.
Major drawback of CACL is, if the tire leaks and it's on top of any vegitation like a lawn or garden or a hayfield, where the CACL leaks out, nothing will grow there for years.
I've seen that play out more than once.
I've seen that play out more than once.
Also expensive and a royal PITA to remove from a tire if it needs changed (they all do at some point) or gets punctured. The tire service I use won't evacuate beet juice from a tire to be repaired or changed. Asked them about it once and was told it's very hard on equipment (vacuum pump) to pump it out. They prefer windshield washer fluid. Me, I run my tires naked as in just air.
BigG
Well-known member
Equipment
l2501, FEL, BB, Rotary cutter, rake,spreader, roller, etc. New Holland TL80 A
Flip "Me, I run my tires naked as in just air."
We all do not get to run around in a nice smooth hay field. Working only when the ground is nice and dry. The sun shining, the flowers blooming and the birds singing. I know you must break out the snow plow once in a while but that is still pretty much "light" work.
And trust me when I/we say your tires are the ONLY thing we need to see naked from you.
We all do not get to run around in a nice smooth hay field. Working only when the ground is nice and dry. The sun shining, the flowers blooming and the birds singing. I know you must break out the snow plow once in a while but that is still pretty much "light" work.
And trust me when I/we say your tires are the ONLY thing we need to see naked from you.
BigG
Well-known member
Equipment
l2501, FEL, BB, Rotary cutter, rake,spreader, roller, etc. New Holland TL80 A
I do not understand this desire to not put weight on a tractor. I had an old Wheelhorse to mow the yard with as a kid. It had turf tires on it and the dang thing was worthless. I ask for ag tires and was told "no" in no uncertain terms by the boss. So I bought some cast iron weights and added some tire chains. All of which made the mower much more useful. I did not spin the tires nearly as much when mowing and just made the mower much more useful.
When I bought my Wheelhorse I loaded the ag tires and added wheel weights. That was all the difference in the world as to how much the thing could pull. There were no more "burn outs" in the grass from spinning the tires and I could run on the street without the hump, hump, hump of the chains.
Watching my neighbors mow with their ZTM they would benefit from the added weight as they spin the tires at the least little incline or wet spot in the yard.
When I bought my Wheelhorse I loaded the ag tires and added wheel weights. That was all the difference in the world as to how much the thing could pull. There were no more "burn outs" in the grass from spinning the tires and I could run on the street without the hump, hump, hump of the chains.
Watching my neighbors mow with their ZTM they would benefit from the added weight as they spin the tires at the least little incline or wet spot in the yard.
Being Kubota forum means most folks who post here either own or are looking to own a Kubota.
Kubota tractors were originally used in the Orient in rice paddies. That's why some models had a hole in the bottom of the transmission housing....to drain water. That's why there are still available "Rice and Cane" tires, the ones with the extreme deep lugs. Another characteristic of Kubota tractors is their light weight, because of their use.
Anyone who has used other brands of tractors, before the influx of foreign compact tractors, would intermediately recognize the weight comparison in proportion to size. Front wheel assist help tremendously with getting around in less then ideal conditions, but the weight of the tractor provides the traction when pulling implements and pushing with a loader.
If a tractor does not have "natural" weight by the way it was manufactured, it needs to be added somewhere to get the maximum usage from engine HP to tires on the ground....when not in rice paddy conditions!
Kubota tractors were originally used in the Orient in rice paddies. That's why some models had a hole in the bottom of the transmission housing....to drain water. That's why there are still available "Rice and Cane" tires, the ones with the extreme deep lugs. Another characteristic of Kubota tractors is their light weight, because of their use.
Anyone who has used other brands of tractors, before the influx of foreign compact tractors, would intermediately recognize the weight comparison in proportion to size. Front wheel assist help tremendously with getting around in less then ideal conditions, but the weight of the tractor provides the traction when pulling implements and pushing with a loader.
If a tractor does not have "natural" weight by the way it was manufactured, it needs to be added somewhere to get the maximum usage from engine HP to tires on the ground....when not in rice paddy conditions!
GreensvilleJay
Well-known member
Equipment
BX23-S,57 A-C D-14,58 A-C D-14, 57 A-C D-14,tiller,cults,Millcreek 25G spreader,
I was wondering how 'voltage' got into the 'tractor ballast' thread...., bery familiar with electrical ballasts, even designed some electronic ones decades ago....
I don't consider plowing 1.5 miles of snow drifts 6 foot high to be 'light work'...lol
Conversely, the hay fields are far from smooth. In fact, hay fields are usually recycled row crop fields that were left fallow and then seeded for forage so they are rougher than hell. When toting 1200-1500 pound round bales across rough ground, things can get a bit touchy at time, but then you don't know anything about it so don't assume you do.
And no I don't trust you.
Flip, I can't imagine having hay fields being very rough after 10 years of fertilizing, cutting, raking, baling, and removing hay!
I have one relatively new (2 years) field that is rougher than a cob, The guy that buys my rounds even commented about driving out for me to load them was it's 'like a washboard'. Hopefully it will settle down after a fashion but as of last year it was wicked.
Normally, I don't spear a round in the rear spear (don't even put it on usually) when marshalling bales but in this field it's mandatory. I need one out back to counter the roughness with one on the front and 2 on the front is out of the question.
Hopefully it will settle down but I'm not holding my breath because it's heavy ground. Heavy ground don't usually subside quickly. Around here, all the prime ground is either row cropped or is in produce. Only substandard ground is in forage.
Tis what it is and it a share crop field anyway, like most of what I run forage on are. My owned ground is smooth as a baby's behind because I fitted it prior to initial seeding.
This particular field I had some issues with initially. Seems as though the renter of the house on the parcel decided ti have a nag so they wired off a paddock by the house and proceeded to feed small squares they bought somewhere but in typical renter fashion they never bothered to properly dispose of the poly twine so there were piles of twine hidden in the grass (it's mostly bhrome grass) and I 'found' them. The disc bine cut right over them, no issue, The rake windrowed it. again no issue but when I round baled the forage, my pickup fingers on my round baler 'found' the twine and wadded it up in the pickup. I had to remove the wind guards and some teeth and physically cut the poly out. What a miserable job. Think 'hopefully' I got it all, no issues last year on last cut.
I did have some poly under the turtles on the disc bine but I check them regularly. Nothing worse than poly on bearings and seals, eats them right up. Nasty stuff when not disposed of properly.
My preference is sisal but when you store over winter (small squares), sisal don't work. Mice love the stuff.
In as much as I run very little small squares, all my rounds are in 54 over the edge net, but when I do run small squares, I twine in sisal. I really despise poly.
Wiper fluid in the rears of my L3301. When I bought it new, I couldn't believe how badly it needed it! Just driving it around with the FEL and nothing on the rear, the slightest unevenness made it tippy, I actually thought something was broke, that bad! Of course a rear implement changes things a lot, but speaking for myself, I wouldn't have a tractor without weighted tires. I do live on a mountain side BTW.
My old and smaller K tractor had it also, so i got spoiled. Cheap enough when bought by the 55 gallon drum at a big truck supply house, plus you get a nice plastic drum at no extra charge.
My old and smaller K tractor had it also, so i got spoiled. Cheap enough when bought by the 55 gallon drum at a big truck supply house, plus you get a nice plastic drum at no extra charge.
Actually, ballast will not change the front axle loading. Just keeps traction on the rear tires.
BigG
Well-known member
Equipment
l2501, FEL, BB, Rotary cutter, rake,spreader, roller, etc. New Holland TL80 A
I believe this is not correct. Loading the tires will not remove stress from the front axle. The front axle still acts as the fulcrum.
Placing the weight behind the rear axle will shift some of the weight from the front axle. The rear axle will act as a fulcrum and thus it will reduce the weight on the front axle. The more weight hanging from the 3 point and the further out from the tractor the weight hangs the less stress on the front axle.
torch
Well-known member
Equipment
B7100HSD, B2789, B2550, B4672, 48" cultivator, homemade FEL and Cab
This is true of ballast in the form of wheel weights or filled tires. However, ballast hanging off the rear of the tractor acts like a lever, unloading the front axle.
The effect is easily confirmed on a manual steer tractor
It’ pretty simple to see that weight added to the rear (either the tires OR off the back hitch) so that more can be lifted with the FEL, simply adds a lot of extra weight to the entire tractor. The FEL’s ability to lift will probably fall short before the front axle fails on those tractors for which the FEL is designed.