[sierradmax]

I finally took delivery of a 2012 B2320 with a LA304 FEL yesterday. She's upgraded with a block heater and the high output alternator.

I know the manual suggests a weight for ballast but what do people here suggest?

Future upgrades:
additional lighting
60" MMM
72" grader blade
PTO generator
3 point log splitter

 

[Sam Mac]

Load the tires with rim gard or RV anti freeze first and then add more with a weight box if you need to. Just my 2 cents.

 

[UrbanTractor]

Wow, Congratulations! Beautiful tractor.

I like the options you added. How many amps does the high output alt give?

Short of hooking up a rear implement (backhoe, brushhog, etc), the easiest way to get rear ballast, is with a rear ballast box. They are very reasonable from Kubota. You can fill them with a permanent ballast (like concrete), or with temporary ballast like sand, barbell weights, etc that can be varied.

Another good approach is to couple tire ballast with something more versatile like the HeavyHitch. With the HH, you can add suitcase weights to fit the task and still have a versatile 2" receiver/draw bar capability.

If you go with the ballast box and fill with concrete, stick several pvc pipes in to give storage options. Take a look here at what MAyor did with his -- it's great! Also, this one. Some guys have even taken a compromise approach, and partially filled with concrete, leaving space for more storage/tools, and adding lengths of old heavy gauge chain when they need more ballast.

 

[AStanton]

The tractor looks too shiny to use.
I put Rimguard in the rears of my B3030 and carry 600 lb plus pay loads in the bucket with no rear attachments or problem. I been saying lately, if I had to do it again, I would probably have the rears foamed. With foam: you can run over nails; you don't have to maintain an air pressure or worry about Rimguard leaking out.
Good luck with your new tractor.

 

[APinNY]

Congrats on the new tractor. Looks like you shined the tires so you probably have already waxed it too. Best of luck with it.

I have Rimguard in the rear tires. It works well but if I had to do it again I would get a ballast box or Heavy Hitch so I could lighten the tractor when mowing. When the ground gets saturated, even turf tires dig in a little bit and tear up the lawn if you're not careful. If you're not going to mow with it then it doesn't matter, and having both types of weights would be beneficial.

 

[JRC0528]

A rear ballast box has another advantage over loaded tires that is often forgotten. A Ballast box not only adds weight to the rear axle, but also REMOVES some weight from the front axle! This means that the load in the FEL is more evenly distributed over all 4 wheels rather than only the front axle.

 

[brucew]

I don't know the answer to your question, but I wanted to tell you I think that is a really nice looking tractor!

 

[TooManyGT]

Thats one clean machine! Trust me it wont stay that way long, one you start working it you wont want to stop!

I have loaded tires and keep a ~400lb box blade on the back with about 140lbs of weights added to it. This works really well when I'm doing heavy lifts but gets a little bulky in tight spaces. I just bought a ballest box for when I'm working in the woods. I don't mow with mine so I like the added weight of the loaded tires.

Brad

 

[slkpk]

Sure looks nice and have fun with it. slkpk