got my counter weight started

sdk1968 · Jul 31, 2018

got my counter weight started/DONE

so after lots of talking about it & a few PM's with the pro's here....

got me a counterweight underway to use when just doing FEL work.

my older tractors just didnt lift enough to need anything other than loaded tires.

then when i went to this tractor it was me using the stump grinder or bush hog as a counter.... but as many of you pointed out thats not always a good or safe way to go.

& as i found out it takes up a lot more room & makes it harder to get into places than having a up close/in tight counter weight.

so the studying & planning began. after getting some numbers for my tractor from you guys i settled on around 750lbs to go with my 400ish pounds in my rear tires.

next step was to do the layout in my brain & was planning on doing T rail & getting some 80lb rail or heavier.

went to my local scrap yard & the guy there said they sell so much T rail for people making anvils that he hated to sell it to me for that & that maybe i should just do some flat plate.

Great idea! got any? of course he said. so we walked around & did some looking & i picked out some 1.5" thick flat plate & it just friggin down-poured on us & soaked us..

he took mu number & said he would drag it out & cut it when it clears up & call me then.

final weight will be determined when i pick it up...

then im gonna come up with how i want to grab it w/my quick hitch & get it painted up.

pix will follow once its in the truck.

GSPKurt · Jul 31, 2018

Following.

skeets · Jul 31, 2018

And I though half a blue barrel filled with creat was cool,,,lol

sdk1968 · Aug 1, 2018

ok so picked it up yesterday afternoon in the rain & got it home.

it ended up being 56" wide x 36" high x 1 5/8" thick....

it is AR500 steel & the final weight on it was 782lbs.

my youngest daughter Abby helped me unload & ran her thru my idea for hooking it up. She thought it would work & off to Fastenal we went to get some heavy eye loop bolts.

grabbed 3 of those & measured out my spacing for the QH. set everything in place & tacked it. checked it for fit.

then gave it one of my ugly but good penetration gobstopper welds at all 3 points. let it cool down & then gave it the sledgehammer test & then did the lift test.

sledgehammer test: hit it hard & see if they bend vs break. these are way strong & didnt even budge.

lift test: picked it up by each lifting point individually.. they all are good.

now to go with the pix:

pic 1: yup its a big piece of plate (says 1 1/2 but measures 1.6250)

pic 2: got my eye rings laid out & welded up

pic 3: thru a coat of rustoleum on the 1 side & stuck it on the tractor to test it all out.

pic 4: so you can see the clearances

pic 5: still gotta paint the back & put something "cool factor" on there. maybe a decal or something.

next step will be making a holding rack so i can just back up to it, release my locks & set it down (& put it on as well).

North Idaho Wolfman · Aug 1, 2018

I know you've heard this before...

Safety police here:
Welding to AR500 is extremely difficult and unpredictable, if you didn't preheat the area you very likely to have cracks and crazing in your welds and they can fail in a second!
That is way too much weight to leave it to chance!

tiktock · Aug 1, 2018

AR500 steel? Good to know someone could take pot shots at you with a rifle from behind and you'll be safe up through .50 BMG.

skeets · Aug 1, 2018

If I may ask what did you give for that chunk of AR500?

Lil Foot · Aug 1, 2018

Lesser Safety Police:
I would have to wrap those deadly edges & corners with split rubber hose or something similar, otherwise they would become magnets for my shins, elbows, forearms, even my bald head. I bleed too easily these days.

sdk1968 · Aug 1, 2018

you guys rock as always.

& i expected questions & input. Thats why we post stuff!

preheat: YES i did dry it up & preheat it before welding them on. now im not a pro welder like my buddies.... so for me it was just a case of heat it up with the torch. tack em in place then test fit & have at it. my welding is never really pretty, but i make sure to get good penetration & basically used like a root pass then a broader pass & worked it into both sides & the root.

EDGES: still not sure on this part yet, might go back & bump them a little more. the top is a rolled/bull nose edge all the way across. the sides are just plasma cut. Oh & thats why i went with this size: its smaller than the tractor in all directions so i dont run into it.

still trying to decide if gonna do any fancy designs or trim on it or just paint it all black & do some decals & reflector tape.

AR500: i wasnt planning on using this... the dude gave it to me at a really good price. standard price on flat sheet at that scrap yard is .35 per lb.....

but he just made me a "fixed price" for that chunk & it was way cheaper than i can post.

now shooting it with my 50BMG? ive punched 50BMG AP rounds thru 2" before... but for regular bullets? YEAH this would be great for gongs.

think it works out to about 62lbs per square foot?

greeno · Aug 1, 2018

For a cool factor; shoot 30 rifle rounds at the back side. It'll look like you took heavy fire!

OH, probably should remove the 'bota first...

Yooper · Aug 1, 2018

If those eyes do break replace them with some short lengths of square tube. Maybe 2x2x1/4" by 3 to 5 inches long welded on vertically. More weld and the stress won't be as concentrated as the eye loops.

GSPKurt · Aug 1, 2018

tiktock said:
AR500 steel? Good to know someone could take pot shots at you with a rifle from behind and you'll be safe up through .50 BMG.

I was thinking the same thing! Good Lord!!

Lil Foot · Aug 1, 2018

If those eyes do break replace them with some short lengths of square tube.

Or drill through and bolt them on, or tap threads & screw them in.

sdk1968 · Aug 1, 2018

Lil Foot said:
Or drill through and bolt them on, or tap threads & screw them in.

was gonna drill & thread them to start with.... but they are 3/4" shanks & thats a hell of a lot of drilling to do.

they are rated for 5,000lbs, so my welds would be the only real question mark.

then again im constantly changing things around, looking for ways to improve something... if we stumble on another way we like? we'll just change it!

Lil Foot · Aug 1, 2018

but they are 3/4" shanks & thats a hell of a lot of drilling to do.

Sorry, I forget that everyone doesn't have my background. I don't consider it a lot of drilling until it gets over 2 1/2".

Yooper · Aug 1, 2018

Drilling AR500 is almost as much fun as root canal. Best done with a water jet. Carbide drill bit running real slow rpm with lots of pressure and coolant plus it must be on a solid machine. Don't even think of doing it by hand.

sdk1968 · Aug 1, 2018

Was gonna bring a mag-drill w/carbide cutter home from work...

Cause this is way too big/heavy to stick on my Bridgeport.

Great ideas & input being tossed in here. I like that.

North Idaho Wolfman · Aug 1, 2018

You also need to make a steel stand to put that in so it will safely stay upright when you not using it and make it much easier to hook up to with the QH!

sdk1968 · Aug 1, 2018

North Idaho Wolfman said:
You also need to make a steel stand to put that in so it will safely stay upright when you not using it and make it much easier to hook up to with the QH!

YES.

thats what im working on improving now. current version is 3 pipes drove in ground against the back wall, out under my leanto.... i just back up to it & open my locks on the QH & set it down, drive away. just need to ad a top lock to it so it cant turn over forwards.

was thinking about a metal rack with a piece of chain & hook on it, back up to it, raise up weight, hook chain, lower 3 point & drive away.

sdk1968 · Aug 7, 2018

Re: got my counter weight started/DONE

heres a couple quick grabs before went bush hogging today.

pic in the shop is just that.. sitting in the shop w/some stickers thrown on.

pic outside is with it hanging about 4" from the ground.. think thats where im gonna run it, especially when on the road so my lights are easy to see..

If somewhere that needs more height? no problem! one of the things i forgot to mention when placing the lugs on there was that in my layout i wanted it to have about same ground clearance at max height as my tractor has.. ended up with 16" of clearance & the tractor only has about 13". should be good to go.

can tell you right away that having all that weight up close to the tractor vs hanging way back there in the form of a bush hog makes a huge difference when the bucket is full of river gravel!

im sure that there will be mods done to this & things added on, but for now gonna pull the old : run what you brung.

thanks for looking!

got my counter weight started

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