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Observations weight balance and pallet forks

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DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster  View my Photos  Pics

2002-08-31          41881

Well, this didn’t start out to be an experiment but it turned into one and a graphic learning experience.
I am trying to sell my 4100 and thought it might have more eye appeal if it had something hanging off the back. So I drove up to the old chicken coop/now woodshed and storage shed and hooked up the clamp on forks to pull the 5’ rear blade out of the coop where it was stored on a pallet. I didn’t worry about rear ballast cause I was only picking up 185# (plus the pallet and forks) and I was gonna drive real slow down to the driveway.
By the time I got down to level ground I knew something was wrong. I got off the tractor and reached down, grabbed one of the lower arms on the 3ph and lifted the rear end of the tractor off the ground with one hand!
Thank God I didn’t go fast or hit the brakes. Damn good thing I kept it in 1st gear.
So I off loaded the blade and the pallet, leaving the forks on the bucket, and tried it again. This time it took two hands but the rear end came right off the ground. It felt about the same as lifting a 75# sack of something off the deck.
Good grief.
No wonder the owner’s manual goes overboard with the ballast recommendations. Those forks weigh 82 pounds and that is enough to de-stabilize a totally un-ballasted 1500# tractor.
Lesson: Never, never, ever use the FEL without at least two times the weight of what is in the bucket hanging off the rear end. And be most circumspect when using clamp on bucket forks.



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Observations weight balance and pallet forks

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Koby
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 16
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster

2002-09-01          41885

Thanks for sharing your experience, Mark. In its current configuration, does your 4100 have any ballast at all? You've got me wondering if I have enough. ....

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Observations weight balance and pallet forks

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Koby
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 16
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster

2002-09-01          41886

Oops, must have missed something, you did say totally unballasted. Good learing experience though. Good luck with your sale. ....

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Observations weight balance and pallet forks

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DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada
TractorPoint Premium Member -- 5 Tractors = Very Frequent Poster  View my Photos  Pics

2002-09-01          41892

Totally unballasted, expect for me. I reckon a safe ballast for that little 300# load would have been 600#. So a full set of wheel weights plus 400# (or a box scraper) on the 3ph would have done the job. ....

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