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My ballast box

9K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  andy b. 
#1 · (Edited)
This post is a little late being I did this in the autumn of 2009 before I took delivery of my 2520. It's on other forums,so it's only fair that I put it here also. I'm by no means a pro,but when you have just about everything needed at your disposal,things can turn out pretty decent sometimes. I wasn't able to do step by step of the construction,as this was done at work,mostly on my own time.

Here are a few pics of my box before paint. I was planning to rattle can it the way it was,but a friend and coworker who knows bodywork offered to "mud" up the inperfections and spray it for me. I thought,"it's only a ballast box",but if he wants to do that for me,I'm all for it. So I went to the JD dealer and bought a quart of paint, gallon of thinner and a pint of hardener.....70.00 Paint wasn't bad,the hardener cost the most......40.00!! Enough for a gallon though.

I made the box out of 1/2"x12" cold rolled plate that we had leftover from a job. The price was very right............FREE! Actually,so was everything else. I guess we,as employees are pretty lucky because as long as our "government jobs" aren't too demanding we can pretty much use anything.

The box tubing is 1-1/2 square with 1/4" wall. The pipes are 2" schedule 40. There are 7/8" drain holes under each pipe. The 2" is fine for holding eveything except my axe. The pieces of angle are 3"x3"x1/2". I had to cut 1" off the front so it would be flush with the front edge.The box measures 24" wide,18" deep,and 24" high. The box weighs 380lbs......empty!
For the side pins, I used 1"-8 x 5-1/2" grade 8 bolts with a piece of 1" schedule 40 pipe over the bolts for bushings. The OD of the pipe will give me just about 1-1/2" which fit down in the I-Match perfectly. I cut the threads off another 1"-8 bolt and drilled a hole in the end for a 7/16" locking linch pin and used it for the top pin which also fit perfectly. I also added a piece of 3/4"x3"x4" inside the box to give me 1-1/4" worth of material to thread for the side holes.

When I was in the building process,someone mentioned putting a hitch in the box. I didn't think I would ever have the need for a hitch on my ballast box. I don't know how many times I wish I did. So,that was something I added last summer. I didn't want to "booger" the box all up,so I did it the "clean" way. Worked out pretty well too. The weights I use for the box turned out to be another work "freebie".
We use certified calibrated weights for checking load cells. Well,these particular weights were being phased out. They are 20kg (44lbs). We switched to 25kg (55lbs). So right place right time,I was able to get 12 of them. Having the ability to vary your ballast box weight is such a nice feature,because it doesn't always need to be maxed. I can vary the 3PT weight from 380-904lbs!

Anyway comments are welcome guys.

Greg
 

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#4 ·
Excellent work!

I'm by no means a pro
Wow Greg! That looks very professional.
The welds look polished!
 
#6 ·
Thanks guys,but I'm thinking it's more the welder and not the guy using it.:)

Greg
 
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