 What you can lift will ultimately be up to the size of the lift cyl, capability and characteristics of the pump, and the relief settings in the system, along with various mechanical limits.. like tires and front kingpin durability.
Depending on the setup of the loader.. you should be able to get quite a few hundred pounds in the bucket pretty easy. The more weight in the bucket.. the harder she will steer... that's why the suggestion of the rear counterballance.
I favor the weighted barrel in the rear.. or a heavy implement like a box blade.. that way you get some dual purpose work out of the machine.. load and level.. etc. for instance.. here is a pic of my 660.. I used a surplus cattle feed tub, olted to a 3pt drawbar, and used some scrap iron as the toplink connection... total cost was 10-15$ of materials due to re-using the drawbar and old plastic tub i already had.. etc. I have one on my 850 loader tractor as well. really makes a difference when you have hundreds of pounds up front.. soundguy
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