New ballast box

[Steamer Pete]

I am soon to receive a new LX2610, and knew that a ballast box would be in the future. Many of the commercially available boxes were out of stock due to Covid, so I got to looking around at other people's ideas. I came across a 10 x 24 x 30" Hoffman electrical enclosure that had a bit of surface rust, but had never been drilled for installation. This became the foundation of my ballast box. The door was welded shut. A drawbar attached to the back side with long bolts that telescope into the box itself to later become embedded in concrete. A receiver hitch socket was welded to a plate and bolted thru the back of the box into the drawbar, then seal welded at the door. Square tubes were welded on the sides for shovel holders. A SMV sticker has yet to be applied. This weekend, concrete will be mixed an poured into a hole cut into the bottom. Once cured, the hole will be patched. Calculations show the box and concrete should yield about a 625# counter weight. Total investment, with several bags of concrete mix, will be just short of $100.

Enjoy.......

Pete

 

[SRRGC1]

Looks good. Will work when using the FEL work. Rears loaded?

 

[skeets]

Now thats thinking ahhhhh outside the box,, ,, looks pretty good, most time those boxes just get trashed ya done good

 

[DustyRusty]

Don't know if you realize that the lime in the concrete will attack the steel, and rust it out. I would fill it with scrap iron, but not concrete, unless you don't mind having to build another one in a few years. Other than that, your box looks quite food.