Considering Weights and Mods to our Ford 3000

lastcowboy32

Well-known Member
So, haying season is over.

We changed our equipment lineup in that we sold our Ford 4000 and replaced it with a newer, bigger, 4WD tractor.

Before, when we had the 4000, we would have trouble filling up haywagons behind the baler with more than 110 bales (small square) or so, before we would have trouble with pulling the baler and wagon. Our fields can be muddy. Sometimes, we could only put 30 or 50 bales on... or we would sometimes even bale the worst spots on the ground with no wagon.

Now, that's not a problem with the new tractor. We've baled everywhere on the farm during one of the muddiest seasons in memory, and we can load wagons with 140-180 bales and have no problems pulling them around.

BUT... now the wagons are too heavy for our Ford 3000 to pull up the ramp into our bank barn.

We also have a 2N that we move wagons with. Both the 3000 and the 2N have no trouble hauling the wagons home, but we have to unhook the big tractor from the baler to get the wagons in the barn to unload.

The big tractor is also, well... bigger and longer, so the wagons don't get pulled in as far, which makes unloading harder.

Sooooo, what I'm considering is this...

What if, for next year, I make something that's maybe 1000 to 1500 pounds, with a three point hitch on it. I also modify our 3000 to have a front mounted hitch.

We use the 2N to pull the wagons back to the farm, where the 3000 awaits with all of this weight on the three point hitch, ready to pull the wagon up the ramp backwards and then push the empty out of the barn.

According to TractorData, my 3000 weighs around 4000 pounds, which is probably pretty evenly distributed between front and back.

TractorData also says that it should be able to lift 1700 pounds with its three point hitch. So, 1200, maybe even 1500 pounds of weight would be possible. I could make it so the tractor can rest the weight on the ground when it doesn't need it, as it waits between loads or during unloading.

It would seem that I should get quite a traction boost from this weight. Yes? Also, it would seem that backing the wagons into the barn and pushing them out is an easier method to steer the wagons. Seem like a good plan?

I would get double duty out of the weight device, as I could also use it on the big tractor to balance it during loader operations.
 
BUT... now the wagons are too heavy for our Ford 3000 to pull up the ramp into our bank barn.

What exactly happens when you try to pull the heavy wagon up the ramp with the 3000? If the wheels slip then adding weight will increase the traction and may allow the 3000 to pull it up the ramp. But if the 3000's wheels do not slip and it simply can't pull the weight up the ramp then adding weight will not help.

I would get double duty out of the weight device, as I could also use it on the big tractor to balance it during loader operations.

The 3000 has a cat I 3 point hitch and the bigger 4WD tractor is more likely to have a cat II hitch, so you would need to have 2 sets of pins on your home made weight device, one set for cat I and one for cat II.
 
(quoted from post at 13:39:59 10/23/19)
BUT... now the wagons are too heavy for our Ford 3000 to pull up the ramp into our bank barn.

What exactly happens when you try to pull the heavy wagon up the ramp with the 3000? If the wheels slip then adding weight will increase the traction and may allow the 3000 to pull it up the ramp. But if the 3000's wheels do not slip and it simply can't pull the weight up the ramp then adding weight will not help.

I would get double duty out of the weight device, as I could also use it on the big tractor to balance it during loader operations.

The 3000 has a cat I 3 point hitch and the bigger 4WD tractor is more likely to have a cat II hitch, so you would need to have 2 sets of pins on your home made weight device, one set for cat I and one for cat II.


The problem going up the ramp is traction. Especially when the tractor gets on the wood of the hayloft floor, while the wagon is still on the slope. One time the tractor started slipping and my wife was standing on the side waiting for the haywagon. All it took was for her to step onto the drawbar and jump up and down a couple of times...the tractor caught some traction and finished.

The big tractor has a newer ball style on the three point hitch. If you rotate the balls one way, they are CAT I. If you rotate them the other, they are CAT II. So, the weight device will work fine with CAT I pins on it, as long as CAT I pins are rated for the weight.

Actually...my Ford 3000 has removeable balls, and I have the CATII balls for it. (The balls for the 3000 and 4000 were interchangeable, and I have a habit of having both CAT I and II on hand.) I'm covered either way.
 

I'm also thinking that, steering wise, having the wagon connected to the front of the tractor will be a much better ergonomic situation. I won't have to turn around to watch the wagon to steer it into or out of the barn.
 

And, with weights on the back end of the tractor, it will be much safer to pull hard in reverse, as the torque of the rear tires acting on the tractor's chassis won't try to make the tractor wheelie.
 
Pulling up hill in reverse would prevent wheelies, that's not a bad thing!

The part of this plan that would bother me is the 2N. Sure, it'll
pull the load. Stopping it would be the problem. Not because of
bad brakes, but because the tractor doesn't have enough weight.
A wagon loaded like that will simply push the tractor around.

I might be tempted to put pie weights on the 3000 so you can use
it in either direction as required. This is the set on my 3000.
About 1250 lbs total. Loaded tires would work too and be cheaper.

mvphoto44460.jpg
 
I'm with Royse;
Pie weights and fluid.
A 3 point tractor with the 3 point
impeded by a weight is only half a
tractor. If you can't afford pie weights
maybe mount something to the axles.
I used to have a 2N that I built a snow
plow for. Inner wheel weights weren't
enough so I bolted some elevator weights
onto the axles. They added 300 lbs per
side.
cvphoto39826.jpg
 
(quoted from post at 21:39:42 10/23/19) Pulling up hill in reverse would prevent wheelies, that's not a bad thing!

The part of this plan that would bother me is the 2N. Sure, it'll
pull the load. Stopping it would be the problem. Not because of
bad brakes, but because the tractor doesn't have enough weight.
A wagon loaded like that will simply push the tractor around.

I might be tempted to put pie weights on the 3000 so you can use
it in either direction as required. This is the set on my 3000.
About 1250 lbs total. Loaded tires would work too and be cheaper.

mvphoto44460.jpg

The 2N was used to haul wagons home this year, and had no problems being shoved around. The fields that we bale are muddy, but they have good access paths or roads that are a short drive for the big tractor and baler. It's very easy to get the loaded wagons to a dry, level spot for the 2N to ferry them home along a path that's almost level with good traction.

Also, if we didn't need to unhook the baler and stop baling to unload, I would load smaller loads on the wagons, maybe 110 to 130 bales and send them off to the barn for unloading; while the baler continues on. As it was this year, we would load four wagons as big as we could, ferry three back to he barn with the 2N or 3000, then bring the fourth one back with the big tractor to pull all four wagons up in one at a time for unloading.


I have power adjust rims on the 3000. Will they take pie weights?

I would rather avoid fluid, as the rims are already almost 50 years old, and I would rather not give them a reason to rot out. I hear that beet juice is the new, non-corrosive alternative, but I looked into it for the new tractor, and YIKES! something like 1900 dollars.

So, there are a couple of other reasons why I would like three point hitch weights.

That has to do with the fact that, I like how light the 2N and 3000 are for the most part. They are my tedding and raking tractors. We baled a lot of muddy ground this year. The big tractor, with four-wheel drive, was able to run the 7 foot haybine over the ground without much rutting, putting the hay into windrows to let the ground dry in between. The 3000 and 2N were able to drive with the wheels right on two adjacent windrows to pull the tedder along and tedd two rows at a time.

Once the hay and ground were dry, the 3000 and 2N were able to pull the rakes over the hay without pounding it into the ground.

In the end, we baled a lot of ground that should have produced a lot of ruts and "mud bales"... but we managed to have very, very few mud bales.

I like my light tractors (the 3000 and 2N) to be light for most of their tasks, but I would like to just be able to make that 3000 "heavy" for the exact task of pulling the wagons up the ramp.

Truth be told, the darn little 2N has better tires on it and, under current conditions, it pulls up the ramp almost as good as the 3000. But I don't think that its three point hitch arms, or frame or anyplace else that I could put weights on are as heavy as the 3000.

But... after all that... I have all winter to look around for pie weights, if they came up economically... or whatever. I have time to adjust my plan, based on what I can find.

Thanks!
 
The lighter pie weights will fit on PA rims.
So will other weights, but most others require drilling holes in
the wheel centers for the mounting bolts. I didn't care for that.
Beet juice here is sold by the gallon, so price varies with tire size.
Same with CaCl, used antifreeze, windshield washer fluid, etc.
 

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