Personally I agree with the posters that say forget loading the tires, just start using a heavy 3ph ballast. I wouldn't want to add the weight in a way I can't remove. And weight added behind the rear axle is better ballast in that it helps take weight and stress off the front axle. Loaded tires do not do that.
Tractor Stability
- Thread starter bodes1587
- Start date
Thank you for your reply’s everyone! What I am mostly concerned about would be mowing stability on hilly grounds. I think I am going to look into spacers. And definitely a 3pt weight. I was reluctant to fill the tires at first but this seems like something that will be of help also. Again my FEL is seldom used but is so handy when I do need it. Mostly I mow with this machine with the FEL attached. I just mowed today and took it very slow. All hills were straight up and down even in the places I used to side slope with the b2320. And all is complete and I was safe. So it was a win. However it did take me 2hours longer the way I did it. But better safe than sorry. I will Admit a lot of my troubles may be self inflicted with my anxiety over what could happen but I don’t believe that being to careful can hurt. Thank you for all your replies.
dirtydeed
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B2650 BH77, U27-4R2, BX23TLBM, box blade, rear blade, flail mower, Stump Grinder
Drop the loader when you mow. You'll feel much better. It will remove quite a bit of weight, and lower the center of gravity.
Messicks just put out a video a day or two ago checking the weight on the front axle with the loader attached. It was on a BX and was in excess of 1,400 pounds on the front axle. Dropping the bucket reduced the axle load by 300 lbs. Dropping the loader took the weight on the front axle to somewhere in the 700 lb range. So, a weight reduction of 50% by simply taking a minute to drop the loader.
Here's the video.
Messicks just put out a video a day or two ago checking the weight on the front axle with the loader attached. It was on a BX and was in excess of 1,400 pounds on the front axle. Dropping the bucket reduced the axle load by 300 lbs. Dropping the loader took the weight on the front axle to somewhere in the 700 lb range. So, a weight reduction of 50% by simply taking a minute to drop the loader.
Here's the video.
If you’re going to be using it primarily for mowing, you may want to stick with a heavy 3 point weight in lieu of filled tires as you will want to reduce or remove the 3 point weight to minimize lawn damage. Certainly what is safe is up to you.
I run 600 lbs on the back of my B2601 when using the loader. When doing landscaping type work, spraying, dethacthing, etc, I leave the loader on and remove the bucket.
Wheels spaces will help a lot along with good ballast. If you were doing that work with no ballast, I would guess just adding that will have a significant improvement. I can feel the difference in stability when switching from my box blade to the weight bracket.
Tires make a difference too if you had something with a stiffer sidewall before and went to something softer like a turf tire, you may get more wiggle as he sidewall flexes. I run R14s on mine and turf damage has been minimal on established grass.
I run 600 lbs on the back of my B2601 when using the loader. When doing landscaping type work, spraying, dethacthing, etc, I leave the loader on and remove the bucket.
Wheels spaces will help a lot along with good ballast. If you were doing that work with no ballast, I would guess just adding that will have a significant improvement. I can feel the difference in stability when switching from my box blade to the weight bracket.
Tires make a difference too if you had something with a stiffer sidewall before and went to something softer like a turf tire, you may get more wiggle as he sidewall flexes. I run R14s on mine and turf damage has been minimal on established grass.
+1, drop the loader for mowing. Especially given that it sounds like you don't use the loader that often, I would definitely take it off.
You'll find that tractor will feel very stable with the mid-mount mower on and the loader off.
It is not the cheapest of the options but i would recommend getting a box blade, as mentioned already. It will serve the purpose of rear weight, let you do box blade stuff as desired, and has basically a 100% resale value. I suspect if you only do spacers but no 3pt weight and no tire fill, you will end up doing spacers AND one of the other options. At that point the question is, are the spacers worth bothering with? There's no amount of wheel spacer that is more effective than lowering the bucket the same number of inches, and if the bucket gets close to dragging the ground and it still seems likely to tip, i would say whatever you are doing is unwise and tinkering around the edges of the tractor design will likely not change that.
So i would just carry the bucket lower when possible, drive thoughtfully, and buy a box blade and do fun box blade stuff. My .02
So i would just carry the bucket lower when possible, drive thoughtfully, and buy a box blade and do fun box blade stuff. My .02
there’s no reason to not take a multi faceted approach to solving the problem. To that, a box blade doesn’t have enough weight generally to maximize the capability of the loader. The manual states to use 600 lbs, and many people use more than that, a correctly sized box blade is not going to come close to that.
Wheel spacers, rear weight and/or filled tires is the right approach to solve the OPs problem, and given that he plans to use it primarily for mowing, spacers, removing the loader and some smaller amount of rear weight may be the best option as it will minimize ground compaction will giving him the best stability.
In this case, either a ballast box or better yet a weight bracket, as the OP can easily raise or lower how much weight he is carrying on the rear if he is mowing versus using the loader. Suitcase weights are easy to take on and off to fit your application, but you certainly pay extra for that convenience.
The B2601 has an OEM option for 1-3/8 wheel spacers (when not using a BH), so clearly Kubota thinks there is some level of improvement to be had for hill stability.
Lots of comments here suggesting rear weight for mowing. That makes no sense to me. If your primary use is mowing, then it will be most efficient with NO added weight. Take off the loader, use rear spacer to improve stance on hills, and don't put anything on the 3pt. I don't recall if you mentioned tires, but turfs for mowing of course. Adding ballast of any kind (rear weight or filled tires) is counterproductive for mowing. Your tractor and the mower are plenty of weight already. On the occasions you need the loader, put it back on, add a heavy implement to the 3 pt. and do your thing.
I don't recall seeing comments that said that except for one a couple posts up, but agreed, no need to keep rear weight on while mowing.
dirtydeed
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B2650 BH77, U27-4R2, BX23TLBM, box blade, rear blade, flail mower, Stump Grinder
Assuming that you are talking about using a belly mower.
No. take it off. All the loader will do is add unnecessary weight and create a higher center of gravity. Neither of which is helpful on a slope.
I think I will buy a bush hog attachment and remove the belly mower. I only have a 54” wide mower deck and that means I could only use 1 1/2” wheel spacers .
That being said, what would be the widest wheel spacers I could get away with ?
dirtydeed
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B2650 BH77, U27-4R2, BX23TLBM, box blade, rear blade, flail mower, Stump Grinder
Hang on there. Please clarify what you intend to cut and with what type of mower? If you are really intending on getting a bush hog you WILL need to keep the loader on. Brush hog (rotary mowers) are very heavy and stick out a very long way behind you. You would also be looking at a 4 foot wide max brush hog (most likely). Measure your rear tread width to see how far you can extend them and still cover your tracks with the width of the mower.
If you meant a three point rear finish mower, that's a different story. They stick out really far as well but they ride on their own gauge wheels (all 4 corners). You could likely drop the loader when mowing with this type.
I'll throw out one more option for you... and that would be a flail mower. Lighter, don't stick out nearly as far, ride on their own roller, and you can generally spin a wider flail mower than you can any other mower type with the exception of the belly mower.
One more note: Since you have a BX23S, then you have the backhoe. I'd suggest looking at your owners manual (or perhaps someone else here will chime in) about how wide of spacers are recommended with a backhoe. I'm thinking about axle load here...especially when using the backhoe.
I have to cut some pasture grass on a 12 degree slope. The flail mower sounds like a good option. I had not considered the axle load using the back hoe.
I may be better off to stay with a 3” spacer.
I could only use a 1 1/2 “ spacer now with my belly mower on. I just don’t know if that would give me enough benefit for the cost and effort.
Idk about your bx, but I my B7510 has movable axles and there's nothing thats happened when I spaced them out as far as I could. Roughly 3" per side give or take. I would imagine it's a bit harder on the studs with a bolt on spacer buy I doubt the axles(bearings that support the axle) will give any grief
Quick
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B2601, LA435, BH70, LP SGC0554 Grapple, LP RB1672 Rear Blade, King Kutter 60" BB
I'm a newbie here, so pardon if this is a silly question. I don't understanding the wheel spacer/axle load issue as it relates to the backhoe. Could you elaborate your concern?
dirtydeed
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B2650 BH77, U27-4R2, BX23TLBM, box blade, rear blade, flail mower, Stump Grinder
I did a quick search in the owners manual and couldn't find any mention of rear wheel spacers. So, perhaps it's a non issue.
when you push the wheels out with spacers, you put more strain on the axle. Think of it as a cantilevered load, with the force at the tire being the force acting on where the axle enters the transmission.
The B01 tractors have a factory wheel spacers option, but have a note that they are not to be used with the BH.