Anyone Tried This With PT425 . . . ?

[mlhunter]

I need to disk fire breaks for prescribed prairie grass burns on fairly small fields. These areas have been disked with a large tractor and disk within the last year or two so the soil should not be too packed. I also want to maintain some food plots.

I need to have power way to raise and lower the disk other han the manual way. TUFLINE'S ATVD SERIES DISC seems to be the only one that has an electric wheel lift and that's more money than I care to spend if I can help it.

Has anyone tried welding a PT425 attachment plate to any kind of single disk or other attachment and pulled it backwards?

I'm not concerned with pulling it backwards as I think that's doable but other than that will the concept work?

 

[MossRoad]

I need to disk fire breaks for prescribed prairie grass burns on fairly small fields. These areas have been disked with a large tractor and disk within the last year or two so the soil should not be too packed. I also want to maintain some food plots.

I need to have power way to raise and lower the disk other han the manual way. TUFLINE'S ATVD SERIES DISC seems to be the only one that has an electric wheel lift and that's more money than I care to spend if I can help it.

Has anyone tried welding a PT425 attachment plate to any kind of single disk or other attachment and pulled it backwards?

I'm not concerned with pulling it backwards as I think that's doable but other than that will the concept work?

The problem with welding an attachment plate directly to an attachment is that it is going to put a lot of twisting force on the outside edges of the attachment and the lift arms if the ground is not level, soft, and you put down-pressure with the loader on it. If the implement is beefy it will not matter. But some implements meant for smaller equipment, like lawn tractors (my plug aerator and spring tine dethatcher come to mind) may not be tough enough to handle the loads the loader hydraulics can put on them if you push that FEL joystick forward.

 

[mlhunter]

The problem with welding an attachment plate directly to an attachment is that it is going to put a lot of twisting force on the outside edges of the attachment and the lift arms if the ground is not level, soft, and you put down-pressure with the loader on it. If the implement is beefy it will not matter. But some implements meant for smaller equipment, like lawn tractors (my plug aerator and spring tine dethatcher come to mind) may not be tough enough to handle the loads the loader hydraulics can put on them if you push that FEL joystick forward.

I see your point on the leveling issue as there needs to be some up and down movement on either side of the disk as well as the disk itself. Most of the food plot ground would be generally level with the tractor. However, the burn strips are not always level and that would be a problem.

Looks like I better consider another idea. Thanks!

 

[MossRoad]

I see your point on the leveling issue as there needs to be some up and down movement on either side of the disk as well as the disk itself. Most of the food plot ground would be generally level with the tractor. However, the burn strips are not always level and that would be a problem.

Looks like I better consider another idea. Thanks!

Well, just make sure the implement is beefy enough to handle the stresses of side-to-side pressure. If it is a ground engaging implement, it better be beefy!

 

[ponytug]

One advantage of the ATV pulled disc units is that they are completely wheeled. I have seen other brands with an electric lift/height adjustment that might enable you to raise it to get to your fire break area, and then lower it and drive. I haven't used any of them, so I can't comment on strength/effectiveness. Try Northern Tool- they have a nice looking King Kutter that is 33" wide. I don't know if the PT has the power to do much wider; I would start to think about using a rotary tiller with pick tines instead of lobo tines.

I think that for traction reasons alone, you are right to want the tractor on the undisced soil, but I would prefer to be facing forward...

All the best,
Peter

 

[MossRoad]

I would also be curious as to if the PT would have enough power to pull it through the soil. Based on my experience with our PT425 and turfs, I am skeptical and I have sandy soil.

 

[ponytug]

I agree. There are reasons for big wheels and granny gears on traditional tractors. My thinking was given the HP available, the 425 should be about the same ball park as a small ATV.

Then again, I have a friend who contracts this out because he can get done for less than it would cost him in diesel for his own tractor, because the guy who does it has a small dozer, and he does it at about 4 mph, in one pass.

All the best,
Peter

I would also be curious as to if the PT would have enough power to pull it through the soil. Based on my experience with our PT425 and turfs, I am skeptical and I have sandy soil.

 

[Red Zebra]

I would also be curious as to if the PT would have enough power to pull it through the soil. Based on my experience with our PT425 and turfs, I am skeptical and I have sandy soil.

I have PT425 with the potato digger (home made) and a 48 in landscape rake (with the heavy spring tines adapted from 3-pt). The digger does quite well by pulling but no deeper than about 6-8" per pass. Use it to break new soil before scooping with the bucket on the PT. The rake is primarily used for driveway duty. Works best pulling backward but can swing it around and push when running a windrow to fill in wash outs. My thoughts are you would not be able to get more than just an inch or two deep with disc and still be ableto pull them efficiently. I don't think my 425 would have enough low-end grunt to drag disc to make a fire break. Hope this helps