dt466 Posted September 4 Share Posted September 4 I have a Farmall M that my Dad bought over 50 years ago. He got it used off a dealer lot set up like it is now. I didn't give it much thought until someone commented that "those are big weights". Had a wheel off a few days ago to replace the axle seal, so I weighed the wheel and weights without the tire and rim. It weighed 1095 lbs hanging on a crane scale. A while back I weighed a wheel with axle clamp and bolts at 207 lbs. That leaves 888 lbs of weights. There are two factory weights on the inside at 145 lbs apiece, so the aftermarket weight is about 600 lbs. I've never had the head off, but i have no reason to believe it has more than stock horsepower. There is no fluid in the tires. Is it overweighted? How much? Dean 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirt_Floor_Poor Posted September 4 Share Posted September 4 If you’ve had it over 50 years and that tractor is still operational, I guess it’s not too much. It is a lot of weight, but I’d just leave it alone personally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snoshoe Posted September 4 Share Posted September 4 Roughly equals one barrel of fluid 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wjohn Posted September 4 Share Posted September 4 My SM has big weights about like that on the inside plus two half weights per side on the outside. I have no idea who made them or what they weigh but I'd guess the big ones are close to yours. On top of that, this tractor has fluid in the rears. There were some large bolts left sticking out of the frame rails when I got it that make me think it had a loader on it in a past life. I have to replace an axle seal also (just a slow leak so I've been living with it for now) and have been dreading messing with these. I'll probably pull the weights off completely at that time and leave the fluid in. I do want to pull an 11.5' IH 470 disk with it in the future so I'm not 100% sure how much weight I'll need for that, but as it stands right now it all sure seems excessive. So, for whatever it's worth, your tractor has way less weight on the rear wheels than mine. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedar farm Posted September 4 Share Posted September 4 I wouldn't worry. The weight is on the tires not the axles. If all that weight was hanging on the back of the tractor I would be more concerned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacka Posted September 4 Share Posted September 4 Weights will make that Old M pull.Never hurt it.I believe I got weights that style on my 1026 with those 4 bolt hole style. There are no markings at all on them. I also wondered if they were aftermarket or homemade cast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Kirsch Posted September 4 Share Posted September 4 The question that hasn't been asked yet is: What do you do with the tractor? As someone said that's about equivalent to what the tire would hold in saturated CaCl solution, plus a set of factory weights. Really the only times you'd need that much weight is for tractor pulling in the 7500lb class, plowing, loader work, and hauling loaded wagons. So if you're not doing any of those there is no technical reason to have that much weight on there. You might also want to leave them on just because that's the way it has always been and it makes the tractor unique. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksfarmdude Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 I'd take off the big one's No need to have that much weight for that old tractor unless your really pulling it just puts more rolling resistance on the transmission and brakes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDpartsman Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 I have 3 sets of weights on my 400 and it in my opinion is perfect as it really helps put the power to the ground for plowing but also isn't so much that it can't slip the wheels. When I first got it the tires where completely loaded it had 2 sets of weights and had a picker on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DT361 Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 I don't have an owner's manual, but per the Nebraska test (Test 328; online PDF), they added about 950 per wheel - 710lbs cast, and 246lbs water on 11.25-36 at 16psi. So add to that the tire, tube, rim and center for a total "as tested". FWIW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff-C-IL Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 I would agree with most of the posts above - most importantly what are you using the tractor for? Loader work - ADD MORE! Cultivating/spraying - remove it all for less compaction! Some farmers added lots of weight way out on the axles (like yours), it supposedly makes the tractor less likely to tip on hillsides or ditches. It should help. If those have been on there 50 years, I'd say they can't have been too bad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dt466 Posted September 6 Author Share Posted September 6 Thanks for all the replies! I don't have a loader on it and don't plan to add one, but I bought a 3-14 IH plow which should be a good match for it. I'm looking forward to a plow day and making it work a little, so I'll probably leave the weights as they are. Interesting information from the Nebraska test as well. I hadn't thought about looking that up. That's the equivalent of about 6 1/2 IH weights per wheel. Dean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.