How To Properly Balance Your Tractor – Ag Matters
If your using your tractor for multiple purposes; like pulling, pushing and loading, making sure your tractor is properly balanced is of utmost importance. The proper ballast can effect fuel efficiency, crop production, the "wear and tear" on the equipment and your safety. Cornell Cooperative Extension lists some things to prepare so when the weather break does happen you're ready to hit the field.
Mary Wrege from Oneida County's Cornell Cooperative Extension, says "If you’re striving for greater efficiency and less spending in 2015, a tractor ballast check can help you improve on both fronts," but "proper ballasting is complex."
Extension.org provides an excellent overview about ballasting tractors. There are online calculators that can help guide you through the process. It provides results specific to each of your tractors, so you'll need the tractor make and model, tire sizes, hitch coupler and drawbar type, etc. The calculator will analyze your information and provide a printable worksheet to help you properly weight and ballast your tractors.
Monitoring tire slippage when you head to the field can help confirm you've accomplished your objective. Most late-model tractors are equipped with technology that provides real-time tire slippage as you move across the field.
Tire slippage should be between 10 percent and 20 percent. If your tires slip more than 20 percent, you’ll need to add weight. Less than 10 percent slippage indicates your tractor may be over-weighted. Remember: Slippage can vary from field to field as soil types and conditions change. It also changes significantly with the type of equipment you’re pulling.
SOURCE: Cornell Cooperative Extension Oneida County - Mary Wrege
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