2013 - Volume #BFS, Issue #13, Page #85
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New Way To Add Weight To Small Tractors, UTV’s
Mike Grubb, Georgetown, Ind., sells kits that let you mount inexpensive “pancake” weights on garden tractors, small utility tractors and UTV’s. 
  “The weights give you more traction and better stability on hillsides. They also let you move in reverse with less spinning and damage to your yard,” says Grubb.
  A wide variety of adapter kits are available, allowing you to mount weights on a tractor’s drive wheels or on the front, back or sides of the tractor. The adapter he designed to mount weights on wheels includes a pair of cross member brackets made from 1/4-in. thick steel, and a threaded steel rod that fits through existing 1-in. holes at the center of each weight. You bolt the cross members to 4 existing holes in the wheel, and then add the weights onto the rod in increments.
  “We supply only the adapters – you supply the weights,” says Grubb. “You can find pancake weights cheap or even free at yard sales, or buy them cheap at Walmart and other discount stores.” 
  Adding pancake weights to your rear wheels has several benefits over conventional weights, says Grubb. “Standard wheel weights are heavy, typically weighing 50 lbs. apiece, which makes them harder to handle. They’re also bulky and expensive to ship. In fact, shipping can easily double the final cost.”
  Any garden vehicle or implement equipped with standard 12-in. wheels can benefit from added weight, says Grubb. “That includes commercial mowers, zero turn riding mowers, front-mounted mowers and even utility vehicles such as Mules and Gators.”
  To install the system on tractor wheels, you set the cross members in place at right angles to each other, line them up with 4 existing holes in the wheels and bolt them on. Insert the threaded end of the steel rod into the center hole and attach from the back side of the wheel using a lock washer and nut. Then slide the weights over the rod until an inch or more of the rod is exposed. To secure the weights, fasten a locking ring to the end of the rod and tighten.
  He has also built an adapter for mounting pancake weights on the lower lift arms of a tractor’s 3-pt. hitch; a single adapter that attaches to the tractor’s drawbar; dual adapters to mount pancake weights on a tractor’s rear frame plate or on front; and a frame side rail mount for counterbalancing the weight of side delivery implements such as a sicklebar mower or one-armed front-end loader.
  He says he’s still adding new kinds of adapters as people request them.
  “I’ve heard of people who use my adapters to install pancake weights on ground-driven equipment for extra traction, and on tillage equipment for extra weight. One farmer even added pancake weights to one side of his gravity flow wagons as a counterbalance.” 
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mike Grubb, 1240 Walts Rd., Georgetown, Ind. 47122 (ph 502 797-4787; mgrubb@mikegrubb.com).



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2013 - Volume #BFS, Issue #13