Low slung ballast box

number9

Member

Equipment
L3800HST, 4x4, LA524
Apr 25, 2013
199
11
18
KY
I am thinking of building a ballast box and have been looking at threads and pics and getting ideas that I may want to include if I do go ahead with it.

However, all the ones I see, look to me, to have the weight when carried above the axle centerline? Has anyone ever built a low slung box, like very low so that even when lifted the weight (or majority of it) would be under the axle centerline or at most even with it?

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gpreuss

New member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L3200DT w/FEL, K650 Backhoe, 5' Rotary, 40" Howard Rotavator, 6' Rhino blade
Oct 9, 2011
1,166
6
0
Spokane, WA
The idea is great, but the implementation is either not practical or expensive. To get a lot of weight down very low you would have to use iron or lead, which is quite expensive. Concrete is the preferred material for its price and practicality, but takes quite a bit to make the weight. So most people end up making a box a couple of feet tall and filling it with concrete. You end up with a CG about the height of the PTO shaft or higher, but as the weight is all close in and on centerline, it is not a serious problem. You don't want it to drag on the ground...