Too Little Ballast; Too Much Ballast; Ballast Limitations - New Holland T7030 Operator's Manual

Too little ballast:

Rough ride
•
Excessive wheel slip
•
Power loss
•
Tyre wear
•
Excessive fuel consumption
•
Lower productivity
•

Too much ballast:

Higher maintenance costs
•
Increased driveline wear
•
Power loss
•
Increased soil compaction
•
Excessive fuel consumption
•
Lower productivity
•
For maximum performance in heavy draft conditions
weight should be added to the tractor in the form of
liquid ballast, cast iron weights or a combination of
both.
Front end ballast may be required for stability and
steering control when weight is transferred from the
front to the rear wheels as rear mounted implement
is raised by the tractor 3--point hitch.
When a rear mounted implement is raised to the
transport position, the weight on the front wheels
should be at least 20% of total tractor weight.
CAUTION
Additional front ballast may be needed when
transporting large 3-point mounted equipment.
Always drive slowly over rough terrain, no matter
how much front ballast is used.
SECTION 3 - - FIELD OPERATIONS
For optimum performance and efficiency, two wheel
drive tractors should
approximately one third of the total tractor weight
(less implement) is on the front wheels. Four wheel
drive tractors should be ballasted so the weight on
the front wheels is approximately 40 -- 45% of the
total tractor weight.
Add additional front end ballast, as required, for
stability during operation and transport. Ballasting of
the front end may not always provide adequate
stability if the tractor is operated at high speed on
rough terrain. Reduce tractor speed and exercise
caution under these conditions.
When using front mounted implements it may be
necessary to add weight to the rear wheels to
maintain traction and stability.

Ballast Limitations

Ballast should be limited by the tyre capacity or
tractor capacity. Each tyre has a recommended
carrying capacity which should not be exceeded,
(see page 3--152).
If a greater amount of weight is needed for traction,
larger tyres should be used.
Ballast can be added by bolting on cast iron weights
or by adding liquid calcium chloride in the tyres.
Bolt-on cast iron weights are recommended because
they can easily be removed when not needed.
IMPORTANT: Do not exceed the tractor gross
vehicle weight shown on the following page. This can
cause an overload condition that may invalidate the
warranty and may exceed the load rating of the tyres.
The maximum recommended gross vehicle weight is
the weight of the tractor plus ballast plus any
mounted equipment such as sprayers, tanks etc. in
the raised position. See the following tables:
be ballasted so that
3--145