Treadle to hand control conversion on 1430

[jfischer]

I know this is a question that might not be asked very much, but thinking of buying a 2005 (or there about) 1430.

Problem is, I am in a wheelchair, so can't use the treadle control on it, and wondering of what, or how hard it might be to convert it over to a hand control. I have some ideas on how I would like to make it, and would like to make is so others could use the treadle if they needed to drive it. I would like to keep it on the left side of the steering wheel, so I could use my right hand for the controls of the bucket, and other things on the right.

Also, I know it has 26x12x12 tires on it, but can't get a judge on just how high the seat is.
If anyone has one, could they measure how high the seat is off the ground, and how far the side panels might be, in order to get an idea of how close I can get the wheelchair to it.

Hope to be a New owner (well new to me) of a PT soon.
Thanks, Jeff

 

[ponytug]

Should be do-able. The treadle control is a hydraulic line adjusting the swash plate on the drive pump. Since, Power-Trac has made a number of experimental, and custom machines over the years, I would ask them about doing it for you. Secondly, I would take photos of the PT to a good local hydraulic shop and ask them about modifying it to what you want.

You might consider having a hinged arm for the joystick built out from the console to give you something to rest your arm on. You might consider making a joystick that does L-R and FWD-REV. (If you are doing all this, I'd move the bucket control to another joy stick and another hinged arm.)

The standard seat is not bolted in a single position, enabling easy service of the hydraulic oil tank. You probably want to consider having it bolted down completely. For getting in/out, parking next to a berm, or ramp and then cranking the steering will push the seat out over the berm. You could put a handle on the ROPS, but if you do, I would recommend that you check to make sure that it won't hit your head as you use the 1430.

I hope this helps.

All the best,

Peter

 

[RegL]

Should be do-able. The treadle control is a hydraulic line adjusting the swash plate on the drive pump. Since, Power-Trac has made a number of experimental, and custom machines over the years, I would ask them about doing it for you. Secondly, I would take photos of the PT to a good local hydraulic shop and ask them about modifying it to what you want. You might consider having a hinged arm for the joystick built out from the console to give you something to rest your arm on. You might consider making a joystick that does L-R and FWD-REV. (If you are doing all this, I'd move the bucket control to another joy stick and another hinged arm.) The standard seat is not bolted in a single position, enabling easy service of the hydraulic oil tank. You probably want to consider having it bolted down completely. For getting in/out, parking next to a berm, or ramp and then cranking the steering will push the seat out over the berm. You could put a handle on the ROPS, but if you do, I would recommend that you check to make sure that it won't hit your head as you use the 1430. I hope this helps. All the best, Peter

Not sure when pt changed to hydraulic treadle. My 2003 is cable. Might be able to get a longer one and run it up to the console.

Sent from my iPhone using TractorByNet

 

[SpringHollow]

I would talk to PT about ways to modify it. They are great about helping people figure out how to do things. There is not a huge amount of room in the cab so I am not sure how easy getting in and out would be.

Ken

 

[jfischer]

Thanks Ken, I am sure that will make a difference on what kind of treadle control it has. I was not sure if it had a hydraulic control if you could tee off all the hoses and still be able to use the regular treadle or the hand control. When the time comes to going to see the machine I will call Terry and talk to him about that.
I think the model year I am looking at is a 2003, so will have to see it in person to see if is hydraulic, or cable.

I will give them a call when I find out more info on the machine I am looking at, as I am sure that will make a difference on what kind of conversion I will have to make on the machine.

I am just waiting for it to warm up a bit. before going down to look at the machine.

Peter, thanks for all of your suggestions, and I will try to get down to check it out to see if it is even possible to get on and off it without a lot of trouble. Seems they do make a lot of changes on the machines, depending on the year.

Looking forward to hearing from more on this, and to getting to see the machine in person. It looks simple, and that is what I like in todays world.
Jeff

 

[MossRoad]

I've thought about doing this many times to make a handicapped usable tractor.

First, it would be easier to get a model that has hydraulic treadle VS cable treadle.

Second, I'd use a 2 spool valve with a single joystick and make it able to do all four directions, as in forward, backward, left and right. That way you'd be able to control direction and speed with left hand and operate the FEL with the right and be able to keep both hands on the controls at all times. I think it would be a pain in the rear end to have to keep moving my right hand back and forth between the steering wheel and FEL controls.

As for keeping the original controls AND adding the new controls, it would be easy with the hydraulic treadle. Just tee them off and have parallel controls. Steering, we'd have to discuss more. As I recall, the pump sends fluid to the steering valve, then out through the steering valve power beyond port to supply pressure to the 3 spool FEL valve that controls raise/lower, dump/curl, and the AUX PTO. I would be worried about back feeding parallel steering valves while still trying to provide pressure to the 3 spool FEL valve....

Perhaps a manual dual selector valve that could switch between the existing steering valve and the new steering valve would work for this situation. You could use one, or the other, but never both at the same time.

Does that make sense?

 

[jfischer]

I've thought about doing this many times to make a handicapped usable tractor.

First, it would be easier to get a model that has hydraulic treadle VS cable treadle.

Second, I'd use a 2 spool valve with a single joystick and make it able to do all four directions, as in forward, backward, left and right. That way you'd be able to control direction and speed with left hand and operate the FEL with the right and be able to keep both hands on the controls at all times. I think it would be a pain in the rear end to have to keep moving my right hand back and forth between the steering wheel and FEL controls.

As for keeping the original controls AND adding the new controls, it would be easy with the hydraulic treadle. Just tee them off and have parallel controls. Steering, we'd have to discuss more. As I recall, the pump sends fluid to the steering valve, then out through the steering valve power beyond port to supply pressure to the 3 spool FEL valve that controls raise/lower, dump/curl, and the AUX PTO. I would be worried about back feeding parallel steering valves while still trying to provide pressure to the 3 spool FEL valve....

Perhaps a manual dual selector valve that could switch between the existing steering valve and the new steering valve would work for this situation. You could use one, or the other, but never both at the same time.

Does that make sense?

All the above makes perfect sense.

I am not to worried about making the steering work off a joystick. I have a John Deere now that I have a Snow plow with angle control on it and a Johnny Bucket, of which I have learned to operate pretty good. The right hand is used for the forward/backward control on it, and it has 2 spools on separate controls that I use to raise and lower, and curl the bucket. Not sure how fast the steering goes back to center, as most of the time I am coming into something when I am digging, or going to dump it, or during the snow season I end up raising the bucket at the end of where I am plowing in a straight line, or change directions of the angle on the blade.

I would want a control that will stay in the forward, or reverse position, that way I could steer, and use the right hand for the joystick, or slow down and be able to change how fast I am approaching something. Giving it some thought, and as I stated above, I will have to see what the machine I am going to look at has for the treadle control.
Jeff

 

[MossRoad]

You ever drive an articulated machine?

I ask, because I know my PT requires a bit of steering correction because once you tell it to turn at a certain angle, it will keep turning on that radius until you change course. It cannot straighten itself out. Not possible. There is no caster/camber/toe, etc... as on a vehicle with a front axle. Heck, there is NO front axle at all. :laughing:

 

[MossRoad]

I would think with the correct valve, if you had a single joystick to control forward speed and turning direction, you could push forward as far as you want to obtain desired speed, and turn while maintaining that speed. But you'd have to hold that position to maintain that speed. You are talking about a cruise control (sort of) and I frown on that (don't take it personal, I'm smiling as I type! ). I'd want a dead-man control so that if my hand slipped off the joystick, it would return to center and stop the tractor and the turn.

The tricky part is going to be finding a valve that has just enough light spring pressure as to not fatigue your wrist and arm when operating. You wouldn't want a beast in there that you'd be fighting for hours at a time.

 

[PILOON]

My friend converted his B7000 to hand control as he can not flex his ankle.
Simple what he did.
He simply welded a pipe female fitting to the side of the rocker peddle and screw in about a 16" length of aluminum pipe.
Push for forward and pull for reverse.

He has been running this for about 5 years now.

 

[jfischer]

You ever drive an articulated machine?

I ask, because I know my PT requires a bit of steering correction because once you tell it to turn at a certain angle, it will keep turning on that radius until you change course. It cannot straighten itself out. Not possible. There is no caster/camber/toe, etc... as on a vehicle with a front axle. Heck, there is NO front axle at all. :laughing:

Yes, I have driven both a articulated and a skid steer back when I was a walking guy 35 years ago.

I used to work on all kinds of equipment, was a mechanic, and worked on most any kind of construction equipment from a Bobcat to a Gradall. Our company sold them all.

I remember the feel kind of, but was just wondering since it had been so long, and remember the feel to be kind of like driving a fork lift with rear steering in a way.

 

[jfischer]

I would think with the correct valve, if you had a single joystick to control forward speed and turning direction, you could push forward as far as you want to obtain desired speed, and turn while maintaining that speed. But you'd have to hold that position to maintain that speed. You are talking about a cruise control (sort of) and I frown on that (don't take it personal, I'm smiling as I type! ). I'd want a dead-man control so that if my hand slipped off the joystick, it would return to center and stop the tractor and the turn.

The tricky part is going to be finding a valve that has just enough light spring pressure as to not fatigue your wrist and arm when operating. You wouldn't want a beast in there that you'd be fighting for hours at a time.

I will have to see what that 1430 I am looking at has for control, as I have found some did have a cable for control of that.

I would really rather it be able to be put at a set speed. Comes in handy when you are plowing snow and such. I have a 1/4 mile private road I live off of, and I do it and my side road. Being able to set it at a set speed seems to come in handy for me when I am loading a bucket and such also. I just put it at a creep and go into something and raise and curl it at the same time.

I guess it is all in what one gets used to, and why all want a foot control, and are always asking how to convert the older tractors like I have now from hand control, over to foot control. I would hate to have that and have to be pushing it all the time mowing grass, but I have a zero turn mower I mow the grass with, and you are always changing the sticks on them with mowing around a ton of trees. I put a hydraulic/electric lift on it for the deck, and have to hold both sticks going forward while I lift it, or stop and do it.

 

[jfischer]

My friend converted his B7000 to hand control as he can not flex his ankle.
Simple what he did.
He simply welded a pipe female fitting to the side of the rocker peddle and screw in about a 16" length of aluminum pipe.
Push for forward and pull for reverse.

He has been running this for about 5 years now.

I could see how that would work on one of them.

Bad thing on the PT is you have a pedal on both sides of the steering tower, so you have to be able to push on both sides, run it off the one side and push or pull it, and that might work, just need to see much space is there, as I am 6'0 and legs are pretty long, and they always seem to get in the way. Why I could never put a cab on my older tractor, as I have to lift my one leg up and put it over the steering wheel to get it to the right side when I jump over to it, as my tractor doesn't have the walk through transmission tunnel like many of the newer ones do. Seems when they have that, they are too high for me to jump over to anything to get on them.

I will tell more on what I find out when I get to see it and I will take my neighbor with me to check it out and put it through a workout, and see if he thinks we can make anything to work on it. His job is a full time machinist and see what he think we can come up with.

 

[MossRoad]

My old IH2500b had no joystick for the FEL. Just two levers. I could operate the left one with my thumb and the right one with the heel of my palm. The two directional pedals were on the left foot. Two brakes on the right foot. Left (or right, can't remember) heal operated the diff lock. Right foot also had a foot throttle. Man, there were levers and pedals all over that thing. Amazing how coordinated one can become with a few hours in the seat.

 

[woodlandfarms]

If it is hydraulic, and you have money, the joystick would be a great way to go. If not, I would take the lines off the treddle and run them up the left side of the column and attach to the side of the steering box. You have to watch your arms (tractor arms when mounting. I guess if you had to go cheap, you could easily attach a rod to the treddle and just pull up and down.

I think the PT is about 6" higher than a normal chair. For your wheelchair conversation, you would probably want to crab the tractor to load and unload. I am sure it would be easy to get your chair close in a crabbed position, but I am not sure how you get the chair away from the wheels to move forward and back once you are seated on the tractor. I am sure there is a way (long pole?)

 

[jfischer]

I know the feeling with all the pedals and levers. I have the two turning brakes on my JD of which I don't really use, (even though I have made handles I can push if needed) I have used them when snow is REAL deep and wanted to crab to one side when I had the blade at full angle and that did help. Don't have the diff lock on mine, but that would be another thing that I could lift my leg up and put my shoe on.
That is about how I run my implements, I use the palm for one and the front of my fingers for the other, but it does get the job done, and once you get the hang of it, isn't that bad. Back when I worked on Bobcats and such, then didn't have the controls on the sticks back then, so you always had yours hands doing one thing, and your feet doing another. I never got real good at running a Gradall or Motor Grader, guess I never had enough seat time in them.

Just wish I knew the height of the seat in a 1430, maybe someone out there can measure it for me. I have made platforms I jump over to for my JD and Hustler mower.

See if I can find a pic to attach here.

 

[jfischer]

If it is hydraulic, and you have money, the joystick would be a great way to go. If not, I would take the lines off the treddle and run them up the left side of the column and attach to the side of the steering box. You have to watch your arms (tractor arms when mounting. I guess if you had to go cheap, you could easily attach a rod to the treddle and just pull up and down.

I will have to see once I get a look at this model and how they connected the treadle. I have seen a few pics of models that do have the hydraulics for the treadle, but someone stated that theirs had a cable for the control of it.

I think the PT is about 6" higher than a normal chair. For your wheelchair conversation, you would probably want to crab the tractor to load and unload. I am sure it would be easy to get your chair close in a crabbed position, but I am not sure how you get the chair away from the wheels to move forward and back once you are seated on the tractor. I am sure there is a way (long pole?)

The front of my chair is about 22-23". In the post before this one I put some pics of what I use to get on my Zero Turn, and JD now. I just push them away from the tractor, or flip the stand I made back for the Hustler to get on it. Then I can reach when I am on them to get them close enough to the machine.
Jeff

 

[ponytug]

Seems to me that you are quite handy, which is an essential trait for a PT owner. I do think that the PT ROPS will give you some additional hold points to help you get in/out of the tractor.

If you do get the 1430, I would recommend that you consider adding the intake preheater, given where you live. It will help the Deutz start right up in the winter time. You could also add one of the KAT heaters being discussed on another thread.

Thanks for the questions. You have me thinking about some modifications for my machine for hand controls.

All the best,

Peter

 

[jfischer]

Peter, I am always working on something around here. Seems the older I get, the less I want to work on things though.

I always ask as much info as I can before diving into a project, and have been looking around at what others have done. Biggest thing with the PT is I have not seen a lot that are pushing more snow then what I do with my JD now. I have found that with it Weight is a big thing for traction. and it is only 2wd, but I have gone though and done some big snows. This last year I went to a large straight ribbed tire on the front (don't have any pictures with them on it) but it helped a lot with the crab effect I had with the blade at full angle. I have only pushed some 8-10" snows this year, but was no problems to do my road, and not have to hit the turning brakes on it.

I would think about adding the intake Preheaters to it, as I remember years ago working on single cylinder Deutz, and having to crank them by hand on some machines, and that one gave the arm a workout, so I would think they should help in the cold.

Now if it would just warm up a bit and all the snow melt so I could go down and look at this machine

If I can get to something I can usually make it, or weld something up so I can use it. I have both a mig, and tig welder that I have gotten pretty good with.
Jeff

 

[MossRoad]

The beauty is having the snow plow on the FEL arms.... I stack snow 6' high with my little PT425. I can only imagine how much more I could do with a 1430.