foggy
5 year old buck +
Helped my BIL put up his deer stand the other day.....and found his tractor to be a useless POS. Same model I have.....but only does 1/2 the work. Why?
First off.....he never put any liquid ballast in his rear tires, and refuses to do so. (He also has no extra cast iron weights.) He has a weight box....but just a few sand bags are in it. Thus....his tractor lacks rear wheel traction to operate his loader efficiently....and I end up spinning the front tires too much. (he has some disability and prefers that I operate his tractor when the going gets a little tough....duh!)
Next.....its unsafe. He had me operate his tractor and lift his box blind 8 feet in the air while we put legs into the "elevator" pockets. With the load so high.....the rear end was barely attached to the ground. With that high weight.....if the rear end came off the ground YOU RISK ROLLING YOUR TRACTOR OVER RIGHT ON THE SPOT!! The front axel supplies no stability to a tractor. I REPEAT: The front axel supplies no stability to the tractor. It is merely a pivot point and when the rear axel is off the ground....the front axel can pivot and allow the tractor to roll over (especially with a high load like we were doing.....or a bucket full of dirt, etc.)
Third.......Its hard on your front axel and Front Wheel Asist. (FWA) Think about it. If all the load from the loader (say 2000 lbs) and all the load from the tractor (say 3000 lbs) is on the front axel.....then that axel is supporting a live load and those little gears in the front axel are made to do all the work as you spin the tires!! FWA is generally known to be a weak link in the drive chain for CUT's. Putting all the load on the FWA is not too smart.
PUT FLUID IN YOUR REAR TIRES OR BUY CAST WEIGHT OR BOTH. Then keep a heavy implement on the back or get a properly weighted ballast box. I have a beet juice fluid in my rears in order to prevent corrosion to the wheels. Some folks don't want to load the rears (with calcium chloride) due to corrosion. So they use tubes.....which makes the tires hard to plug if you get a leak. Thus the beet juice option.
Lots of guys are putting windshield washer solvent in their rears these days. Not quite as heavy as Beet Juice but it's in the ball park.....and its a DIY project for the average guy.....and more affordable than the beet juice or (calcium chloride with new tubes). This is what I would recommend to most folks with a compact tractor.
Then PUT UP your ROPS.....and PUT ON your seat belt. These little CUT tractors are somewhat prone to roll-overs......and that seat belt may save your life.
Adding about 800 lbs liquid ballast to your rear tires does NOT affect the load on your rear axel in any way and greatly adds to the stability.....then another 1000 lbs on the three point.....and you have counterbalanced the typical weight put on your loader. You have reduced the wheel spin and added traction, increased safety, and made you FWA to carry far lighter loads. WIN / WIN / WIN. :)
First off.....he never put any liquid ballast in his rear tires, and refuses to do so. (He also has no extra cast iron weights.) He has a weight box....but just a few sand bags are in it. Thus....his tractor lacks rear wheel traction to operate his loader efficiently....and I end up spinning the front tires too much. (he has some disability and prefers that I operate his tractor when the going gets a little tough....duh!)
Next.....its unsafe. He had me operate his tractor and lift his box blind 8 feet in the air while we put legs into the "elevator" pockets. With the load so high.....the rear end was barely attached to the ground. With that high weight.....if the rear end came off the ground YOU RISK ROLLING YOUR TRACTOR OVER RIGHT ON THE SPOT!! The front axel supplies no stability to a tractor. I REPEAT: The front axel supplies no stability to the tractor. It is merely a pivot point and when the rear axel is off the ground....the front axel can pivot and allow the tractor to roll over (especially with a high load like we were doing.....or a bucket full of dirt, etc.)
Third.......Its hard on your front axel and Front Wheel Asist. (FWA) Think about it. If all the load from the loader (say 2000 lbs) and all the load from the tractor (say 3000 lbs) is on the front axel.....then that axel is supporting a live load and those little gears in the front axel are made to do all the work as you spin the tires!! FWA is generally known to be a weak link in the drive chain for CUT's. Putting all the load on the FWA is not too smart.
PUT FLUID IN YOUR REAR TIRES OR BUY CAST WEIGHT OR BOTH. Then keep a heavy implement on the back or get a properly weighted ballast box. I have a beet juice fluid in my rears in order to prevent corrosion to the wheels. Some folks don't want to load the rears (with calcium chloride) due to corrosion. So they use tubes.....which makes the tires hard to plug if you get a leak. Thus the beet juice option.
Lots of guys are putting windshield washer solvent in their rears these days. Not quite as heavy as Beet Juice but it's in the ball park.....and its a DIY project for the average guy.....and more affordable than the beet juice or (calcium chloride with new tubes). This is what I would recommend to most folks with a compact tractor.
Then PUT UP your ROPS.....and PUT ON your seat belt. These little CUT tractors are somewhat prone to roll-overs......and that seat belt may save your life.
Adding about 800 lbs liquid ballast to your rear tires does NOT affect the load on your rear axel in any way and greatly adds to the stability.....then another 1000 lbs on the three point.....and you have counterbalanced the typical weight put on your loader. You have reduced the wheel spin and added traction, increased safety, and made you FWA to carry far lighter loads. WIN / WIN / WIN. :)
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