Better Farming - November 2016

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52 FarmNews First > Better Farming November 2016
Ballasting a mechanical
front-wheel drive tractor
When ballasting a MFWD tractor, consider the weight of the front and back of the machine, as well as
the weight transfer from implements.
by JAAP KROONDIJK
Just hang a full set of weights on
the front of my new mechanical
front-wheel drive (MFWD)
tractor and it will pull like a bear, I
remember a customer telling me
years ago! He had just purchased a
new 220 horsepower MFWD tractor
that he was going to use for some
serious work. He had ordered the
tractor with a nice set of radial tires,
and his statement sure sounded like it
was going to work - but did it?
Next to equipping a tractor with
the right size of tires inflated to the
right pressure, ballasting the tractor
properly is equally as important. And
gone are the days when you simply
filled up the tires with calcium to gain
weight. That approach would likely
ruin the effect of radial tires and
make them as stiff as bias tires.
By simply looking at a MFWD
tractor, you can see that the front tires
are smaller than the back tires. Using
that observation you can draw the
next conclusion: the front of the
tractor is not capable of pulling nearly
as much as the back. But, this fact
gets overlooked all the time. If you
want a tractor that will pull equally
on all four wheels, you need an
articulated style with equally-sized
tires on the front and the back.
Another acronym used for a
MFWD tractor is FWA, which stands
for front wheel assist. I think we
should keep this terminology in
mind: the tractor is rear-wheel drive
with a front axle that helps put
traction to the ground. Typically, we
think the tractor is front wheel drive,
and the front wheels do the work. But
what happened to the back of the
tractor? It still needs to do the
majority of the work, hence the
bigger tires and likely a set of duals as
well.
Most tractor manufacturers
recommend a weight split from
between 30 to 40 per cent weight on
This tractor has been properly ballasted. Notice the heavier
weights on the back of the tractor, as opposed to on the front
(also pictured on this page).
MACHINERY AT WORK
Notice the lighter weights on
the front of the same tractor.