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Jonathan King
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2002-09-24          42879

Looking to purchase a ballast box for a Category 1 3ph. Kubota,Massey Ferguson nor Deere sell them. Deere sells an iMatch which has an adapter to connect to the 3ph and then connects to iMatch accessories.To use it on non iMatch the adapter must be removed. I just purchased my first tractor JD4300 with 430 Front end loader. Surely someone makes a ballast box? Worse case I will use Andy's concrete box shown in Mike's Corner or I will weld up some plate steel and make my own. Time wise I would prefer to buy it.

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DavesTractor
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 148 Red Bluff, California
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2002-09-24          42880

We have made rear ballast out of half barrels of concrete (about 500lbs), but they always look a little "country". Steel plate makes a very compact weight and can be made to look very nice. We quickly plasma cut some strips of plate and tack them together, then build a nice looking box around them out of flat bar, welding all edges and grinding, then some paint. Always much heavier than people would expect.

Just a little trivia, concrete weights about 150lbs per cubic foot. Steel is about 490lbs a cubic foot, or about 40 lbs a "board foot". Gold is about 1200lbs per cubic foot, and would make a fine looking weight....

In case the link below doesn't work (operator error on my part) it is http://www.reade.com/Particle_Briefings/spec_gra2.html

It gives weight on about everything you can think of.

....


Link:   Weights of various materials

 
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kay
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2002-09-25          42881

Not sure why you cannot attach the Deere i Match directly to the 3ph, and then use the ballast box from Deere that is i Match compatible. I like the idea of having a ballast box that quickly can be attached or dropped via the i Match, and is the way I have been planning to go, as soon as I can get to Deere. I plan to use it on my Deere 4300. Are you talking about an older ballast box that is not i Match compatible? I am interested in knowing about such problems, but didn't think there were any.

"Deere sells an iMatch which has an adapter to connect to the 3ph and then connects to iMatch accessories.To use it on non iMatch the adapter must be removed." ....

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TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2002-09-25          42883

It wouldn't surprise me if none of the tractor manufacturers carries a ballast box, except for something to go with a quick hitch system (I believe that is what iMatch is and it's probably pretty good since it has to compete with several after-market systems).

People who swap implements a lot tend to like quick hitch systems. Many of the systems require an adapter for each implement, which runs up implement costs a bit but quick swapping may be well worth the cost. Many compact owners may not swap implements enough to make these systems attractive. New owners usually find that implement swapping gets much easier and faster after the first few times.

Implements like ballast boxes gin poles etc. tend to be made by tractor owners and are also usually available from regional fabrication shops as well as national after-market suppliers. Heck, I don't even know if a 3ph snow blower or blade can be bought in blue, green or orange. I guess tractors manufacturers figure it's not worth their trouble to be heavily in the implement business.

I guess it's one thing to say that JD etc. doesn't make a ballast box, but that's not the same thing as saying they aren't available. I know my NH dealer has tons of after-market produce catalogues and keeps up with regional ag manufacturers. I know that I've never asked my dealer a question about any kind of implement that he hasn't offered to sell me one or make a recommendation. I imagine he does have to dig some things out of his catalogues though. That's the sort of service I'd expect from a dealer.

....

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MRETHICS
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 190 Star City, Indiana
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2002-09-25          42885

I know what you mean Jonathan.

As a Dealer, I was elated when Deere came out with the I-match system. Which is........drum roll......a quick hitch.

But heres the rub.

The I-match quick hitch is a true Cat.I quick hitch, and there are alot os small implements, both Deere (in the past) and non Deere have not made all the implements to fit the specs of the I-match hitch.

But wait......Deere has other options.

1) The claw hitch. This is a knock off of the old "Eagle Claw" used on JI Case Ag tractors 30+ years ago.

The "Claw" will solve most problems of compatibility, you will still have to get off the seat and install the top link, but that takes little time. The big problem with them is...........You can't get them.........yes..that's right Deere offers this as an option, but we have several on order and the orders are unable to be fulfilled for reasons unknown.

2) Slideing lower draft links. (These we can get)
These are handy devils, you back up tp the imp at hand, stop within a few inches of contact, get off, slide the links back and attach them to the imp., then hook up the top link, get on the tractor and back up to latch the lower links and.......VIOLA.....your hooked.


Most dealers do not order there CUT's with the slideing link option. We used too, but the added cost made us uncompetitive in the marketplace. I busted my rump telling first time tractor buyers the advantage of this type of 3pt, and watched them pick my price apart, to be competitive with another color, so we dropped it.


My advice to you, is get the slideing draft link option. it will make your life much easier.

....

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Jim on Timberridge
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 172 La Crosse WI
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2002-09-25          42886

i bought the adjustable links for the 3ph lower arms after a year. don't recall the exact pricing but they cost me around $250 -- if i had gotten them as an option when i bought the 4700, the cost would have been around $175.
Either way the $$$ is high, but once you have them, they make life a lot easier: 90% less work hooking up (getting off and on the tractor to nudge it up to the impl, and wrenching my back pulling the impl's into position.
jim ....

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DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
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2002-09-25          42889

Those links are great but are not available for many smaller models. I have gotten to the point where I keep the heavy stuff on pallets onto which I have installed casters. Of course you have to park that on a concrete slab or an asphalt driveway so that the wheels will roll. I also keep my post hole digger strapped to a hand truck…. Much easier to install that way. ....

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MRETHICS
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 190 Star City, Indiana
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2002-09-25          42890

Yea, I know Mark, we can't get the slideing links for the 4100. Too bad, I think I could sell a few.

I have a customer who is a contractor and changes implements several times a day, he came up with a weird but usefull solution.................basketballs.

He sets his imp. down on basketballs that are deflated somewhat.

he gets to the jobsite, unloaeds the imp. with the loader, and sets them on these basketballs. For instance, on his York rake, two balls under the rake, and one under the stand in the front, and he can wiggle them around with ease to hook them up.

Hey..... I said it was weird.

....

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H. PETERSON
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 7 COXSACKIE,NY
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2002-09-25          42903

I RECIEVED A BALLAST BOX WITH MY 419 LOADER FOR MY 790. MY DEALER SAID IT WAS INCLUDED IN THE LOADER SET UP!!! IT HAS THE "I MATCH" LOGO ON IT BUT IT HOOKS TO THE TWO LOWER ARMS AND THE TOP LINK WITH NO PROBLEM. AN IT ALSO LISTS AN EXTENSION THAT IS ADVAILABLE.
MY JD MANUEL STATES THE APPROXIMATE WEIGHT FOR THE FOLLOWING MEDIUMS.
SAND KG/(LB) 240(528) WITH EXTENSION 80(176) TOTAL363.6(800)
CONCRETE 314(692) 104(230) 461.6(1018)
PORTLAND CEMENT 420(926) 140(308) 603.6(1330) ....

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TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2002-09-26          42914

I can see that basketballs (weird as it may seem) might make for improved wiggling over my 8" x 8" and 10" x 10" timber blocks and 5' bar. On the other hand, I leave implements on the blocks and don't have to worry about my flock of implements doing a fast-break down the drive.

I can appreciate that many people want the convenience of quick-hitches, but swapping hasn't been a problem for me. Most of my implement swaps are under 5 minutes, although the hoe and forks take maybe 15 minutes. The auger is quick but weird in its own right.

I don't stress back muscles and link pins are usually finger loose. There are a few swapping tricks that make things easier. Maybe I learned some tricks before I heard about quick hitches and now I not too motivated by quick-hitches. All tricks are based on the idea that it’s far easier to move an implement than it is to move the tractor, and anything that helps scoot an implement around is good.

I do have an inexhaustible supply of timber blocks from timbers left over from building old forestry bridges. If I didn't have the timbers to cut blocks from, then basketballs might be very interesting and I could retire my bar back to it’s role of breaking rocks in the bottoms of post holes.
....

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MRETHICS
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 190 Star City, Indiana
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2002-09-26          42930

Hey TomG, The fast break comment was exactly what I said when I drove up and wittnesses the latest in my x-files.

But, they were more stable that I thought, the basketballs are almost flat, and conform to the piece in wich they are supporting, they will only let the imp. move 3 or 4 in. (7.5 cm. to 10.1 cm. approx. to people who live within the metric system.

But in your case Tom........hey!!!!!!free wood!!!!

The basketball guy is a time management freak, in his case, he has to be. With the cost of labor being what it is, and the fact that when seeding, there are only so many hours in a day, he makes every minute count. ....

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JimH
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2002-10-08          43532

John Deere sells them. Had one thrown in on a deal for a new 4110. Standard cat #1 hook up. JD web site has them listed, plus extension baox ....

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