Ballast thoughts...
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Ballast thoughts...
For those of you who plow, do you have any recommendations on ballast? For years I have used bagged sand that weighed 60 lbs. per bag. Since my previous plow truck was almost 100% tied up in the winter with plowing (had a salter on the back), I rarely needed to put more than 5 bags in the back.
The plow for my new truck will require 900 lbs. of ballast. Since I will not be using a salter and the truck won't be dedicated to plowing, I will need to lug 15 bags of sand in and out when I want to use the truck for other tasks.
I wish I had access to a forklift, I would just put it on a pallet and load it up.
Anyone come up with a unique solution?
The plow for my new truck will require 900 lbs. of ballast. Since I will not be using a salter and the truck won't be dedicated to plowing, I will need to lug 15 bags of sand in and out when I want to use the truck for other tasks.
I wish I had access to a forklift, I would just put it on a pallet and load it up.
Anyone come up with a unique solution?
Junior User
Joined: Jul 2006
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From: San Diego CA
I have a thought, not sure its a good one. Get yourself a cheap cherry picker from Harbor Freight. Find yourself a 900 pound plate of steel and weld hook points to it. Then you just have to put it in and out with the cherry picker. If its flat you could just leave it in the drive way and park over it during the summer. 3/4 to one inch thick carrys alot of weight. Just an idea I had.
Tim
Tim
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Joined: Sep 2006
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From: Maryland
900 lbs equals approximately a 5' x 4' x 1" thick steel slab. Not a bad idea at all, but it will cost you probably $1+ per pound. I have a few thousand pounds of John Deere suitcase weights laying around. At 100 lbs each they do a pretty good job as truck ballast. I also have 150 lb wheel weights that lay fairly flat in the bed as well.
I have thought about but never followed through with making a weight rack to fit the receiver and use the 100 lb suitcase weights. 600 lbs hanging on the hitch would be as good as 900 lbs in the bed, but it would also render your hitch useless for those instances where you need to pull a Chevy out of a ditch!
I have thought about but never followed through with making a weight rack to fit the receiver and use the 100 lb suitcase weights. 600 lbs hanging on the hitch would be as good as 900 lbs in the bed, but it would also render your hitch useless for those instances where you need to pull a Chevy out of a ditch!
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I have a thought, not sure its a good one. Get yourself a cheap cherry picker from Harbor Freight. Find yourself a 900 pound plate of steel and weld hook points to it. Then you just have to put it in and out with the cherry picker. If its flat you could just leave it in the drive way and park over it during the summer. 3/4 to one inch thick carrys alot of weight. Just an idea I had.
Tim
Tim
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Posting Guru
Joined: Oct 2010
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900 lbs equals approximately a 5' x 4' x 1" thick steel slab. Not a bad idea at all, but it will cost you probably $1+ per pound. I have a few thousand pounds of John Deere suitcase weights laying around. At 100 lbs each they do a pretty good job as truck ballast. I also have 150 lb wheel weights that lay fairly flat in the bed as well.
I have thought about but never followed through with making a weight rack to fit the receiver and use the 100 lb suitcase weights. 600 lbs hanging on the hitch would be as good as 900 lbs in the bed, but it would also render your hitch useless for those instances where you need to pull a Chevy out of a ditch!
I have thought about but never followed through with making a weight rack to fit the receiver and use the 100 lb suitcase weights. 600 lbs hanging on the hitch would be as good as 900 lbs in the bed, but it would also render your hitch useless for those instances where you need to pull a Chevy out of a ditch!
Based on the math you provided, that flat plate of steel would cost quite a pretty penny. I could pass it along to my customers, but with the competiveness of the snowplowing market, sand was always a cheap way to go.
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