Your tractor tires will slip if you don’t add extra weights to them for increased traction. That’s why tractor weights come in handy, but ready-made ones are pricey.
The good thing is that you can make one with materials lying in your junkyard. And if you have to buy some, it won’t cost much.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to make tractor weights at home.
How To Make Tractor Weights At Home – Step-By-Step
Here are the methods you can use to make an additional weight for your tractor.
How To Make Tractor Weights At Home With Sand Or Pea Gravel
You don’t need much weight if you have a sub-compact tractor because the sand will suffice. You can use pea gravel instead of sand if you have it on hand.
Use a drill to make a hole just underneath the bucket handles.
Insert the draw pins into the holes and secure them inside the bucket with their washers and nuts.
Attach the correct size hitch pins to the hole on the ends(outside the bucket) of the draw pins.
To tighten the draw pins, clamp one with vice and turn it from the inside using a wrench or screwdriver.
Repeat for the other draw pin.
Tack-weld a small piece of rebar onto the ends of the draw pins, and if you get this right, the rebar should divide the bucket into two halves. The rebar is for reinforcement.
Fill the bucket with sand and pea gravel.
To use it, cover the bucket and hook the trailer drawbar pins to the hitch pins.
How To Make Tractor Weights At Home Using Concrete And Steel Drum
If you want something more permanent for tractor weights, try concrete, but it’ll cost more.
What You’ll Need:
55-gallon steel drum
Drawbar
Rebar
Gas torch
Grinder
Procedure
Cut the top of the steel drum using a grinder.
Drill two holes on the vertical sides of the steel drum using a drilling machine. The hole should be large enough to size the drawbar.
Insert the draw bar in the hole. The tip of the drawbar should pop out in the hole to serve as a pin.
To secure the drawbar (on the outside), weld some reinforcements around the drawbar.
Mix your concrete and pour it into the drum. If you don’t have enough concrete, toss some heavy rocks into the drum and pour the concrete last. Concrete is heavy, so keep the steel drum close to your tractor.
While the concrete is weight, bend the rebar to a U-shape and insert it into the drum. It should look like a handle.
Once the concrete dries up, your tractor weight is ready.
To use the weight, attach the chain to the rebar handle and hook it to your tractor.
How To Make Tractor Weights At Home Using Concrete And Box
Suppose you don’t have a steel drum, make a ballast box using concrete.
What You’ll Need:
Eight pieces of lumber
Plywood
Spade drill bit
Grinders
2 Metal pipes
Nail gun
Step 1: Make A Wooden Box
What you need is a 20 inches wide, 23 inches long, and 18 inches tall box.
Cut the plywood into five pieces; 4 should be 21 inches wide while the base wood will be 30 inches.
Cut four lumber to 24 inches.
Arrange them in the shape of a box and drive nails into each joint to secure them.
Cut another four pieces of lumber 19 inches.
Attach each of them in the joints and secure them with nails.
If you get this right, you should have a base and four standing pieces of lumber.
Nail the four pieces of plywood to the four standing pieces, one plywood in between two standing pieces.
Nail the 30 inches of plywood onto the base.
It would be best if you had a box with an open top.
Step 2: Attach The Metal Pipe
Putting a pipe inside the box with exposed ends for the hitch would be best.
Make two marks 8 inches from the base of the box and 10 inches from one side. Do the same for the other side of the box.
Use a spade drill to make holes in the markings.
Pass the metal pipes through the holes to see what length you need.
Cut the bars using grinders to fit the hole, leaving 5 inches sticking out on each side.
Take the box near your tractor so that the hitch link bracket goes into the box.
Mix your concrete and pour it into the box.
Leave it for three days to cure.
Step 3: Finish Up
Remove the nails on the box to expose the concrete ballast.
Give it another four days to cure.
How To Make Tractor Weights At Home Using Metals
The best way to make tractor weights at home is with scrap metal which you can get from a scrap yard.
Many people have old tractors, cars, or trucks sitting around in their yards that they want to get rid of. You can talk them into giving you the metal for free.
Procedure
Find a steel drum or metal box large enough to contain loads of metals.
Drill two holes at the base of the metal box and attach a cable or chain to it. It is what you’ll hook to the tail of the tractor.
Fill the metal box with scrap metals and other heavy items.
Metals are the best material to make weights for your tractor; you can toss sand, rock, and several other heavy loads inside it.
How To Make Tractor Weights At Home Using Calcium Chloride
Tractor weights are heavy and bulky, which makes them hard to move around.
You could replace the typical tractor weights with liquid ballast like Calcium Chloride solution.
Calcium chloride can weigh the tires’ weight without increasing your tractor’s full gravity. It is also less expensive than commercial tractor weights.
You can get one pound of it for about a dollar.
You’ll need an air/water adapter kit, two pieces of hose pipes and fittings, and a utility pump.
Procedure
Take off the valve stem on the tractor tires.
Thread the adapter to the tire valve.
Connect the adapter to the hose and hook it to the pump.
Locate the tiny valve on the adapter and press-hold it. It removes the air and lets in water.
Note
If you live in an environment with freezing, choose calcium chloride flakes and add 3.5 pounds to every gallon of water.
If your environment is characterized by extreme cold and freezing, add 5 pounds of a gallon to every gallon of water.
Conclusion
Whenever you have a heavy load to use your tractor to tow, you will need extra weight to provide traction and balance.
You can purchase implements in local stores, but you will save money and resources if you know how to make tractor weights at home.
It’s a great way to use the scrap metal that has been sitting in your yard. Go through the article for the information you need to carry out this process.
