I could only fit 250 pounds of sand bags into my weight box, so with sand, box itself, and chain (in box), I have about 405 pounds hanging off the back. That will have to do for now. It seems more stable on slopes. I hauled a couple of bucket loads of bricks to my new pond and dumped them in what will be about 3 FOW. The hitch came in handy too for pulling my trailer around.
Snrub, you have more experience with tractors than anyone else I have met. I appreciate your insight. Your posts are always well thought out.
That may be enough. It depends entirely what you are going to be doing with it. For 90% of what you will be doing that probably will be more than adequate. For just tooling aroud with a little fire wood or doing yard maintenence you don't need any rear weight.
But if you are going to be doing some prolonged serious digging, to complete a dirt project for example, having adequate rear weight will make the tractor work better, last longer, and be safer.
When you first start to do any heavy digging with it, as you lift the load and go into reverse, just pay attention to how the tractor acts. If it seems a little goosey on the back it indicates you could use some more weight. It is telling you if you go to raising the bucket to full height it is not going to be as stable or safe as it could be, so be much more careful. You will get a feel for it. If you dig a full bucket of dirt, go into reverse, and the back tires seem like they want to come off the ground or do come off the ground, you don't have enough rear weight. Either take smaller buckets full or get some more weight.
I did not mean to make a huge deal about the front ends. They are not weak and are made to be used. But just as using a tool properly will make a tool last longer, using it improperly may shorten its life. If the tractor manual recomends added rear weight when doing loader work, if a person wants his tractor to be safe and last a long time usually the manual offers good advice. Now if all you have in the bucket is a few flower pots, of course you do not need to worry about having the weight box on. But if you have a ten ton load of gravel delivered and you are going to be scooping it all up, carrying it around, and doing some heavy work with the loader, by all means have the weight box or some other rear weight (like a blade) on. The tractor and loader will work better, work safer, and likely last longer because both axles are sharing the load properly.
