55 gallon drum weight
F350Lawman
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 411 Goshen, NY Pics |
2003-08-06 61108
not sure if it was on this board but I saw a post awhile back about using a 55 gallon drum for a weight. Other than that I don't remember much.
This is what I am planning on doing. I was goign to buy 2 -3 point hitch ends ( $2.99 at JD) and weld them onto rebar that I will drive through the center of the drum (standing up). I will also place a 4" pvc pipe standing in the drum from top to bottom. I will fill the barrel 3/4 of the way up with cement taking care not to get any into the PVC pipe. When I get almost 3/4 full will place the ends of 2 chains into the barrel at the front and rear. I will use these like check chains to hold some weight and stop sway of the barrel front and rear. The empty PVC will hold long tools like rakes and shovels. The top 1/4 of the barrel will be empty and can hold my tools, lunch, chains etc.
Paint it JD green and I have about a $20 weight box that holds my tools and looks ok
Any ides? How much will this weigh about?
Reply to | Quote Reply | Add Photo
55 gallon drum weight
DavesTractor
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 148 Red Bluff, California |
2003-08-06 61111
Concrete is about 105lbs per cubic foot. 55 gallons is 7.35 cubic feet, or about 772lbs. Take 75% of that to get about 580lbs. A cubic foot of steel weighs about 500lbs and makes a real compact weight. Somebody check my math, but I think it is close. ....
Reply to | Quote Reply | Add Photo
55 gallon drum weight
harvey
Join Date: Sep 2000 Posts: 1550 Moravia, NY Pics |
2003-08-07 61113
Just a thought: Buy a regular 2 pt hitch draw bar and place thru barrel about 1/3 way toward middle and add 2 pieces of flat stock with 3/4 inch holes above it for a top link hitch. Anchor all in concrete. Did you mention a COOLER? ....
Reply to | Quote Reply | Add Photo
55 gallon drum weight
Art White
Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 6898 Waterville New York Pics |
2003-08-07 61126
Just try and keep it as tight to the rear of the tractor as possible. You will loose some additional leverage but gain in manuverability. ....
Reply to | Quote Reply | Add Photo
55 gallon drum weight
blizzard
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 282 Central Maine Pics |
2003-08-07 61136
DavesTractor,
For the weight I get: 792 lbs.
waterweight = 55(gal) * 8(lbs/gal) * .75(%full) = 330(lbs) Specific Gravity of concrete = 2.4 ; (150 lbs/cu-ft )
330(lbs water) * 2.4(concrete/water) = 792(lbs concrete)
I donno exactly why our concrete densities differ. Are you using a lightweight concrete?
bliz ....
Reply to | Quote Reply | Add Photo
55 gallon drum weight
Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada Pics |
2003-08-07 61137
Blizzard, I think you have forgotten that the water LEAVES the concrete after it cures. You are still calculating the weight as INCLUDING the water.
Best of luck. ....
Reply to | Quote Reply | Add Photo
55 gallon drum weight
plots1
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 563 mo Pics |
2003-08-07 61140
My 55 gal drum weight was 442 lbs. totally full of water using a cattle scale. ....
Reply to | Quote Reply | Add Photo
55 gallon drum weight
F350Lawman
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 411 Goshen, NY Pics |
2003-08-07 61149
Harvey,
How much was the drawbar. I guess my local Deere dealer will have one in stock? ....
Reply to | Quote Reply | Add Photo
55 gallon drum weight
harvey
Join Date: Sep 2000 Posts: 1550 Moravia, NY Pics |
2003-08-07 61174
They are about $20 at tractor supply. Or you can get a piece of 7/8 bar stock, drill both ends for pins. Unless you are a welder I'd go this route. If you're a welder you can go lots of routes. If you use a draw bar wrap it with card board so after concrete sets you can drive it out and use it for other stuff. againg make sure you have some old wire or chain laced thru the whole mess.
But I would seriously consider a top link bracket. even it is only a clevis with a 3/4 hole thru the side of the barrel. Drop a piece of chain thru the inside before you pour your concrete to make sure you have it solid. ....
Reply to | Quote Reply | Add Photo
55 gallon drum weight
blizzard
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 282 Central Maine Pics |
2003-08-08 61201
I believe most of the water chemically combines with the cement. Too much water can seriously weaken the concrete.
A Google search "densities of common materials" gave 150(lbs/cu-ft) or 4000(lbs/cu-yd) or 2.2-2.4(S.G) as a rule-of-thumb figure from many sites.
I don't want to get into an argument, but a difference of almost 50% in weight could be a safety or performance problem if your'e near the ends of the weight range.
I just bought an empty 20X20X20(inch) weight box for a 3130.
I like the idea of some 'storage space' so I think I'll use scrap steel for weight and make a cover for it.
bliz ....
Reply to | Quote Reply | Add Photo
55 gallon drum weight
Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada Pics |
2003-08-08 61211
Apologies, I saw 772# and then had a 'brain fart' and skimmed past the 580# statement.
I think if I recall correctly the figure we always used was 150#/cu. ft. also because I recall it was an almost perfect 2 tons per cu. yard, that is for 28 day cured concrete as a finished product.
If you work the math based on 75% of a 55 gal. drum then it would hold 41.25 gallons, and there is 7.481 gal. / cu foot, therefore 5.51 cu. ft of concrete, at 150# / cu. ft. that would be 826.5 pounds, plus the weight of the drum, steel, etc.
How 'bout someone fill a drum 75% full of concrete and then put it on Plots cattle scale and tell us what it weighs.....
Best of luck. ....
Reply to | Quote Reply | Add Photo
55 gallon drum weight
DavesTractor
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 148 Red Bluff, California |
2003-08-08 61228
Guys, when I posted earlier about 105 lbs per cubic foot I was going from memory. That was my first mistake. I just checked my charts and sure enough it is 150 lbs per cubic foot. Sorry I added to the confusion and thank you guys for straightening me out on this. That does make more sense as we weighed 25 gallons once and it was real close to 500lbs. ....
Reply to | Quote Reply | Add Photo
55 gallon drum weight
plots1
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 563 mo Pics |
2003-08-08 61233
The scale I used isn't mine, and It's probley 75 years old.Don't know if it is correct or not. but I'm sure it's fairly in ballpark range. I do know it's a bear to move around by myself for any distance when full, it's HEAVY. ....
Reply to | Quote Reply | Add Photo
55 gallon drum weight
DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada Pics |
2003-08-08 61244
Moist earth weighs about 105 pounds per foot. That is probably why that number stuck in you head. ....
Link: Weights of common materials
 
Reply to | Quote Reply | Add Photo
55 gallon drum weight
Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada Pics |
2003-08-08 61279
Mark, you live in a desert, why for heaven's sake would a figure for MOIST earth stick in your head ???
Wishfull thinking ????
ROFLMAO.
Now if we needed the weight of a pack rat, or sagebrush....
Wait a minute, we could start combining threads again, could a woodchuck chuck more sagebrush than a pack rat before a CB cap got them both?
Sorry, time to cut back a little on the medication maybe. ....
Reply to | Quote Reply | Add Photo
55 gallon drum weight
Chief
Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 4297 Southwest MiddleTennessee Pics |
2003-08-08 61280
Great web site for future reference Mark. Thanks for posting that! ....
Reply to | Quote Reply | Add Photo
55 gallon drum weight
DRankin
Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 5116 Northern Nevada Pics |
2003-08-08 61285
There is only one Murf.
The meds are probably ok, it's what you are washing them down with.
And, as my wife is fond of saying, there is no telling what will stick in my mind. She is usually referring to "Chief's Disease" (CRS) though. ....
Reply to | Quote Reply | Add Photo
55 gallon drum weight
TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley |
2003-08-09 61336
Yes, a good reference site. I guess I could imagine why a game master might need to know how much a ft3 of cotton husks weighs or its specific gravity but I might have to ponder a bit. The things you find on the net.
The site did cure a couple of points of wrong information I held. I thought concrete went about 125 lbs. a ft3 but I guess that's just how some contractors would like to mix it. I thought that water was 66 lbs. a ft3 but now I remember now that it's 66 lbs. a gallon.
I'm sure my wife would have the notion that my mind is like a dust cloth. What sticks to it is what she wants out of the house. ....
Reply to | Quote Reply | Add Photo
55 gallon drum weight
Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada Pics |
2003-08-11 61513
Gee thanks Mark ... They say laughter is the best medicine, I'm just trying to increase the level of 'preventative medicine' to make sure my friends stay well. As for the 'wash down' I'm sorry to say that it's only pure, icy cold, clean, Canadian H2O. My alcohol intake is strictly regulated these days, or at least thats the story my wife & doctors get, and I'm sticking to it, nudge, nudge, wink, wink. ;->
Tom, there is actually a usefull side to some of those archaic facts, and not just to adjudicate a game of Trivial Pursuit.
A lot of farmer-types build and or customize trucks that they use in the farming operation. There are very few small businesses that are generally run as well or efficiently as a farm. If a farmer wants to build a truck body to transport a certain commodity, say corn husks, form a processing facility where it is waste, or at least a by-product, in order to gain very lost cost feed for his animals he would want to know the maximum size of container he would need in order to carry the maximum load without exceeding the available payload for the truck he is using.
Best of luck. ....
Reply to | Quote Reply | Add Photo
55 gallon drum weight
TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley |
2003-08-12 61610
Murf: I was thinking more of these computer knights in shining armour rescue the maiden quest games and all the lubricious over to top traps that could be built.
For example, you know that you can rescue the maiden by blowing up a wall of the evil villain's castle. You know that explosives can be made from copra and you know an island where some is and how much you need. However, if you choose that tactic you fail and hero turns into goat because you don't know that the only boat available will sink if loaded with enough copra. Oh well, maybe a boat could be made from corn husks.
It could get pretty silly but at least for me I think the designing would be more fun than the playing. But who knows, silly can be good?
....
Reply to | Quote Reply | Add Photo
55 gallon drum weight
itsgottobegreen
Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 329 Mt. Airy, MD Pics |
2003-10-16 66389
I know that a 55 gallon drum filled with concrete with a 3 point frame mounted to it is a good idea. I have seen it done several way and all of them work. I can't give you a sepific weight, but i know there heavy. It is a quick afternoon project you can do you self. It is cheaper than buying a ready made weight box, wheel weights, ballasted tires, etc. ....
Reply to | Quote Reply | Add Photo
Go Top
Share This