Useful attachments adapted to PT ?

[2manyrocks]

I was thinking of asking Terry if the design is somehow related to weight distribution and the draft control before I start trying to change anything?

Another possibility is to find some wheels for the mower deck that are larger in diameter so the cutter blades have more ground clearance over the mulch.

My concern with waiting a season for the mulch to rot is that I don't want the brush to reestablish itself to the point that it becomes difficult to mow it. IMO, this brush cutter deck and the blades on it just aren't as heavy duty as the rotary cutter for my tractors. It seems like the blades on this deck tend to clang into each other or the deck or something when they encounter something too big to cut through. I worry that the mulch in places is deep enough to cause problems for this deck.

 

[ponytug]

I was thinking of asking Terry if the design is somehow related to weight distribution and the draft control before I start trying to change anything?

Another possibility is to find some wheels for the mower deck that are larger in diameter so the cutter blades have more ground clearance over the mulch.

My concern with waiting a season for the mulch to rot is that I don't want the brush to reestablish itself to the point that it becomes difficult to mow it. IMO, this brush cutter deck and the blades on it just aren't as heavy duty as the rotary cutter for my tractors. It seems like the blades on this deck tend to clang into each other or the deck or something when they encounter something too big to cut through. I worry that the mulch in places is deep enough to cause problems for this deck.

Draft control just lifts the arms, or more correctly applies a user adjustable pressure to the arms to shift the center of mass toward the tractor (adding traction), and off the mower (reducing its apparent ground pressure), allowing the mower to ride over surface imperfections more readily. It won't shift the deck angle, except when the pressure is set too high. Under normal use, I believe that the rear wheels should remain in contact with the ground. I would ask Terry about whether your pressure might be set too high.

The rear wheels can be height adjusted by changing where they bolt, and the front castor arms have rings on them to raise or lower the front deck relative to the wheels. It is very easy to adjust, if you want.

I'm suggesting that you talk to Terry, because Power-Trac does modify various items year to year, and I don't want to presume that the procedure on your tractor matches mine.

All the best,

Peter

 

[scotts562]

I have a lot of sizable wood chunks laying in the fields after having forestry mulching done. If I were mowing an established field, it wouldn't be so much of a concern.

The rear of the mower is aimed pretty much at the operator position when the deck is raised to the point where the front wheels are just starting to lift off the ground. I'd rather see the front of the deck tilted up and the rear discharge pointed downwards.

Is there something else I can try?

View attachment 858503View attachment 858504View attachment 858505

The older PTs came with a 3 point top link like this : Top Link 13

It replaces the round bar link that connects the top of the attachment plate to the tilt dump swivel point on the loader arm. The screws allow you to shorten the length of the rod which will bring the back of the mower down. If you go this route, it is a good idea to have a spare on hand because the ring the pins go thru is a bit weak and they break ocassionally.

 

[MossRoad]

I think with your stated background and such, you probably know all this, so don't take offense if I sound like I'm asking you if you tried turning it off and then on again?

It's just my basic trouble shooting nature from being in I.T. support for so many years.

Looking at the photo, your front wheels are spaced as high as they go.

The rear's have two more holes below the wheels. Move the rears down to the bottom holes. That gives you another inch or so in height at the rear.
(click to enlarge).


The dump/curl is currently adjusted to the blue line in the photo, as you were testing how far you could get the front to come up by curling back, I think.

So push the joystick all the way forward into float mode to set the deck on it's own 4 wheels and adjust the dump/curl to the middle of it's stroke on the green line.
(click to enlarge)


That's give you as much free swing fore and aft in the mount as is available from that neutral position.

I do not know how to adjust your draft control, as I don't have it on the PT425. So proceed from that point with the goal of keeping the deck on all four wheels all of the time. If the deck starts to drag VS roll over the ground, the way I understand it, the draft control should sense the forces of the implement against the tractor and lift it up off the ground enough to overcome those forces.

Try cutting the area with the deck level. Move through it slowly. It will destroy anything in it's path that it can roll over.

If there are just loose pieces of debris there, it should just beat the heck out of them and fling the pieces.

Are there still stumps sticking out of the ground? That's another animal.

If the stumps are under 2" my PT425 will just splinter them to toothpicks. I don't know anything about the deck you're using, so others will have to help you there.

The key for me is going slow the first few times through an area. Backing off on anything that starts to seem impossible and clearing the area around it to see what it is. If it's a 4" stump, it'll get dug out or chainsawed level with the ground. 2" or smaller and I'll attack it from the side again.

And again, that's just my experience with the PT425. Your's is a whole 'nuther animal.

 

[2manyrocks]

I'm not offended. I appreciate all the help I can get.

I couldn't even get the 1445 to move after it was delivered. Called Terry. Told me to cycle the parking brake switch a couple of times, press the treadle peddle, and then wait for it to move. That finally worked.

Another thing that strikes me as odd is it seems to take a second or two for the 1445 to respond to a change in direction between forward and reverse? I was expecting it to behave like my Terramite which has a nearly immediate and seamless change between forward and reverse, but the 1445 acts like there is a delay while the fluid flow changes directions?

Didn't have the wrench I needed on me when I changed the front wheel height to see what difference that makes. Had to order some washers so the top pin doesn't dig into the swivel housing. I plan to measure to see if I can substitute some taller wheels.

 

[MossRoad]

Just curious as to what engine RPMs you're operating at when doing tasks.

I know very little about the larger machines. I know on our PT425 I almost always run at full throttle, as it's a gas engine meant for 3600rpms to keep it cooled properly under load. It's silly responsive as far as direction changes go. A sharp reverse can throw my body against the steering wheel.

 

[marrt]

Another thing that strikes me as odd is it seems to take a second or two for the 1445 to respond to a change in direction between forward and reverse?

You might consider asking Terry about this behavior. I had this happen on my 1845 and the pump needed a rebuild. I'm not trying to scare you and your pump is different than the one used on the 1845. But this doesn't sound normal for a variable displacement pump. The only time I experience a delay is when the pump has to build pressure to release the automatic emergency brake. I'm not sure if your tractor has the feature. Once the brake is released, the tractor performs normally until the emergency brake is manually applied or if the tractor is turned off.

 

[ponytug]

I'm not offended. I appreciate all the help I can get.

I couldn't even get the 1445 to move after it was delivered. Called Terry. Told me to cycle the parking brake switch a couple of times, press the treadle peddle, and then wait for it to move. That finally worked.

Another thing that strikes me as odd is it seems to take a second or two for the 1445 to respond to a change in direction between forward and reverse? I was expecting it to behave like my Terramite which has a nearly immediate and seamless change between forward and reverse, but the 1445 acts like there is a delay while the fluid flow changes directions?

Didn't have the wrench I needed on me when I changed the front wheel height to see what difference that makes. Had to order some washers so the top pin doesn't dig into the swivel housing. I plan to measure to see if I can substitute some taller wheels.

My guess is that your hydraulics have some residual air in them and as you use it more the pause on forward/reverse wil gradually go away. The brake issue would seem also to support that. That is very normal for a new hydraulic system, and not atypical for a system that has been serviced.

As @MossRoad wrote, I suspect that you probably need to curl back farther than you were in the photo. Look at the tower. There is a limited range of motion for/aft by the tab under the plate with the two bolts. To have the maximium flexibility, the curl should be pulled back until it is in the middle on flat ground. If you want to lift the mower, pull the curl as far back as it can go before raising the arms. I would play around with it a bit on level ground, low to mid throttle, and try working it long enough that the hydraulic tank warms up.

Once you have curled back, how does lifting go? BTW: don't use draft control and float at the same time. Also, don't try to lift in draft mode. Both have draft mode working against your desired actions.

All the best,

Peter

 

[2manyrocks]

I started off running about 1/4 throttle a couple of days ago. Today, I tried increasing to 1/3 to 1/2, but there is still a delay in getting the 1445 to move. I don't think it's temperature related because our overnight temps were in the 50's and it was about 70 degrees when I ran the 1445 today.

Increasing the throttle helped with the F/R responsiveness.

Backing up reminds me of trying to back up a trailer without jackknifing it.

Raised all four wheels on the cutter to increase the deck's cutting height to the max and then cut over a portion of field that had some mulching debris. It threw pieces.

I tend to think my best option is to see if I can find some wheels to raise the cutter deck more.

As ponytug posted, there is an unused mounting hole in the deck about 4" in front of where the support is currently bolted to the deck. Nothing about the deck in the manual I received with the 1445. You'd think Terry would get tired of having to answer questions that they could have addressed in an owner's manual?

 

[ponytug]

I started off running about 1/4 throttle a couple of days ago. Today, I tried increasing to 1/3 to 1/2, but there is still a delay in getting the 1445 to move. I don't think it's temperature related because our overnight temps were in the 50's and it was about 70 degrees when I ran the 1445 today.

Increasing the throttle helped with the F/R responsiveness.

Backing up reminds me of trying to back up a trailer without jackknifing it.

Raised all four wheels on the cutter to increase the deck's cutting height to the max and then cut over a portion of field that had some mulching debris. It threw pieces.

I tend to think my best option is to see if I can find some wheels to raise the cutter deck more.

As ponytug posted, there is an unused mounting hole in the deck about 4" in front of where the support is currently bolted to the deck. Nothing about the deck in the manual I received with the 1445. You'd think Terry would get tired of having to answer questions that they could have addressed in an owner's manual?

Sorry, I should clarify, when I wrote temperature, I meant temperature of the hydraulic oil. You can put a hand on the side of the tank to check. Colder oil holds more air, and will make controls more sluggish.

Power-Trac expects folks to check in, and Terry is your new best friend, as well as being a super nice person. Call before you get into an issue, and after you do. He is the guy.

Based on my experience with my brush mower, I suspect that bigger wheels are not the solution. My rear wheels are in the second lowest bolt holes, I.e. second highest deck height.

All the best,

Peter