Too much weight in ballast box

RedRiot15

New member

Equipment
Bx2680 with many unnecessary options I just needed to have
Mar 5, 2023
10
5
3
Ontario Canada
My front tires are loaded on my BX. I got a 72” Front v plow on the k connect running turf tires
 

cthomas

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
LX2610 HSDC
Jan 1, 2017
863
572
93
La Farge Wi
Your suggestion is what I tried minus the air chisel. Used a hammer drill to try to make lines. Then a sledge and cold chisel to break it. I believe I have 8 bags of 50 lb cement in there. In hindsight I would do like you said and dial it in for the job. I will only have the box on when plowing or using the fel.
And how much water? That's 8.3 pounds per gallon. If I remember right its a little under a gallon per bag. So their is sixtyish pounds and don't forget the steel.
 

rc51stierhoff

Well-known member

Equipment
B2650, MX6000, (BX sold)
Sep 13, 2021
1,900
2,046
113
Ohio
I had a local metal shop make a ballast box that fit my qh 05 quick hitch. The vendor suggested I fill it with cement. So that’s what I did, without thinking right to the top. The three pt will lift it but the problem I have now is the tractor won’t steer to plow snow. Any suggestions? I spent about an hr trying to chip out some cement, but barely made a dent. Wondering about laying a bag of sand on the front quick hitch. Thanks
Are you sure loader not lifteding tires off ground? Or is the surface slick/iced when you had trouble? Does it steer ok on dry ground if the plow if lifted up off the ground? If still a problem how big is the ballast box? What are the dimensions of the box? 400-600 doesn’t seem unreasonable. I still wonder it steers ok if the blade held up? If it does there is the answer.
 
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Downeaster

Active member

Equipment
Kubota BX1880, loader, mower deck, and ballast
Oct 18, 2022
147
65
28
Waterford, Maine
I have heard a lot of stories about using concrete to fill the ballast boxes. Sounded good at first, but then I see problems. I suggest buying crushed stone the size or an inch or slightly bigger. Pour them in and if you need to remove some scoop some out. You need more pour in another bag.
 
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fried1765

Well-known member

Equipment
Kubota L48 TLB, Ford 1920 FEL, Ford 8N, SCAG Liberty Z, Gravely Pro.
Nov 14, 2019
6,316
4,003
113
Eastham, Ma
drill a line of holes,chip in between, remove one 'block', then another and another...?
air chisel ?
the 'trick' is to get ONE piece out and use that empty spot as a 'relief' to get the next one
if the 1st one takes an hour, the rest will come out in 1/2 that time....

how big ,size wise, is the ballast box, how many bags of mix went in it ?
sounds like over 1000# ,box and concrete ?

The BH seems to be a good weight, 700# ? In hindsight ,that weight, whatever it is, should have been your 'goal' weight
I've always used 'boxes on skids' on carryalls as 'ballast boxes' as I can dial in the proper weight for the job at hand. It's hard and costly to carry 500 extra pounds on the machine all day long when not needed.
A set of 3pt pallet forks, with a pallet, allows for ballast weight to be varied .
 

DustyRusty

Well-known member

Equipment
BX23S
Nov 8, 2015
4,956
3,695
113
North East CT
I know that I have 793 pounds of lead weights (635 x 1.25# = 793) in my ballast box on my BX23S, and I have no problems plowing snow with my 60" blade or blowing snow with my BX2822 snow blower. There has to be something wrong with your weight calculations. I also have filled rear tires.
 
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