A couple more video clips

[woodlandfarms]

Wife is not much of a camera woman. Will try someone else at a later date.

One sequence is of how I have to brush hog. Not code, not that safe, but it works. Yes, the PT stays stable elevating the mower that high, and the mower leans back so the blades never face me...

One sequence of slope mowing. It was just a small hill around 30 degrees. But the tractor definitly slips. Need to ask Terry about what I am doing wrong.

Finally, the wife trying out the back hoe. Give an idea of how it works...


YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

 

[Bob999]

One sequence of slope mowing. It was just a small hill around 30 degrees. But the tractor definitly slips. Need to ask Terry about what I am doing wrong.

At 30 degrees I would expect some slippage. Two factors that can influence the amount of slippage are tire pressure and a properly adjusted draft control. Of course the draft control has to be turned on!

 

[KentT]

One sequence is of how I have to brush hog. Not code, not that safe, but it works. Yes, the PT stays stable elevating the mower that high, and the mower leans back so the blades never face me...

At the risk of sounding like the saftety police -- please consider doing us all a favor and add some thick plexiglass or some type defensive cage to the front of your ROPS if you're going to lift it that high! We want to see more of these videos on a ongoing basis!

Seriously, I've lifted mine a couple of feet, but felt apprehensive doing that -- I certainly wouldn't want to lift it that high... things (sometimes bad things) just happen too quickly for me to react in time!

Nuff said on that subject -- I don't want to sound like a nag...

One sequence of slope mowing. It was just a small hill around 30 degrees. But the tractor definitly slips. Need to ask Terry about what I am doing wrong.

As previously mentioned, it may be a factor of draft control. Though my PT-425 doesn't have draft control (only float) I found a few occasions where lifting the cutter slightly would put enough weight on the front to stop the slipping/crabbing...

Finally, the wife trying out the back hoe. Give an idea of how it works...

Couple of observations here...

First, the Lackender hoe looks MUCH heavier duty than the PT one, but it also looks longer and heavier. I wonder how much potential lifting capability you sacrifice to the longer boom and heavier weight...

Second, I've found that the bucket curl on the hoe is MUCH stronger than the down-pressure provided by the lift arms and the weight of the PT. Consequently, that's the force I dig with, most of the time -- curling the bucket on the end of the boom, not curling the PT's QA plate. If you can put the boom more straight out in front of you (instead of having the QA curled down), you might find that the increased length of the lever (bucket) from the fulcrum (PT) will allow the PT's weight to put more down-pressure on the digging point of the bucket, to resist the curling of the bucket. Curling the bucket with it extended as far out in front of the PT as possible will tend to lift the front of the PT less... at least that's the way it seems to work for me. Does that communicate and make sense?

Please keep the videos coming! It allows all of us to "live vicariously" though them... even if it does generate some "diesel envy" for those of us with green PTs...

 

[woodlandfarms]

Thanks for all the replies.

I run 12 to 15lbs on the inside and 8 on the outside. Will try to up the draft a bit to see if that helps. I am surprised it breaks at such a shallow slope so will check adjustments.

As for the safety police. Appreciated and understood. It is a risky maneuver, but on the 1850 when you lift the mower the front end goes up, back end is down out of eye line, and then a rubber flap lowers it further. I actually have not had any debris come my way using this method, but I did take a cheap shot in simple mowing when I bumped a stump and the decks nose dug in to the ground and I got to see the spinning blades of doom.

I have been mulling bolting my sides up so the deck will not sway, this would guarentee the deck not coming my way, but would also hamper any sort of float and give across normal ground. Have to think it through...

As for Lackender, yeah it is a 7 ft boom. A bit long for my PT. Clearly heavier, but you are only lifting a bucket of dirt. Now that said I realize I have plans to pull logs out of the stream and use this device. I doubt the weight difference is much more than 150lbs... And thanks for the technique, still learning all the implements (we have only 25 hours seat time and I am just trying to get comfortable with backing up ;-)

Carl

 

[Bob999]

I run 12 to 15lbs on the inside and 8 on the outside. Will try to up the draft a bit to see if that helps. I am surprised it breaks at such a shallow slope so will check adjustments.

I run about 7.5 lbs for steep mowing work. The manual that came with my 1845 suggested pressures as low as 5-6 lbs. and I think for traction that is not a bad pressure.

However the OEM 2 ply tires would roll off the rim at such low pressures. I now run 6 ply tires and have tubes in them and run at 7.5 lbs and find it works pretty well.

I suspect using different pressures inside and outside may tend to decrease traction a bit--you may want to try using the same pressure all around--and on the lower side for steep mowing. Of course for bucket work and perhaps with the hoe higher pressures would be desirable.

 

[woodlandfarms]

Wow, that low of pressure. Great advice. I guess I no longer need a compressor and can inflate my tires orally....

 

[KentT]

Wow, that low of pressure. Great advice. I guess I no longer need a compressor and can inflate my tires orally....

Following Fourteen's advice on my PT-425, I run 11 PSI on the front and 9 PSI on the rear. The higher PSI in the front theoretically offsets a load in the bucket...

 

[cqaigy2]

Thanks for the videos. I sure wish my dial-up was faster though.

 

[RegL]

Thanks for all the replies.

I run 12 to 15lbs on the inside and 8 on the outside. Will try to up the draft a bit to see if that helps. I am surprised it breaks at such a shallow slope so will check adjustments.

As for the safety police. Appreciated and understood. It is a risky maneuver, but on the 1850 when you lift the mower the front end goes up, back end is down out of eye line, and then a rubber flap lowers it further. I actually have not had any debris come my way using this method, but I did take a cheap shot in simple mowing when I bumped a stump and the decks nose dug in to the ground and I got to see the spinning blades of doom.

I have been mulling bolting my sides up so the deck will not sway, this would guarentee the deck not coming my way, but would also hamper any sort of float and give across normal ground. Have to think it through...

As for Lackender, yeah it is a 7 ft boom. A bit long for my PT. Clearly heavier, but you are only lifting a bucket of dirt. Now that said I realize I have plans to pull logs out of the stream and use this device. I doubt the weight difference is much more than 150lbs... And thanks for the technique, still learning all the implements (we have only 25 hours seat time and I am just trying to get comfortable with backing up ;-)

Carl

Carl, this is my solution. I replaced the two back stop bolts and nuts with a steel rod, drilled out on the ends for linchpins. If I line up the holes in the pivoting arms with the holes for the stop bolts, I can run the rod all the way through and lock the deck so I can curl the deck to almost vertical. when I want the deck to pivot front to back like normal, I just run the rod through the stop bolt holes as you should be able to see in the pic.

 

[MossRoad]

Just a word of caution... I've had the brush hog blade let lose two or three times. It doesn't stop for anything. It does not fly in a straight line. It travels in excess of 50 feet. Since implements change so fast on the PT, have you considered knocking down the big stuff with your bucket first, then mulching it with the brush hog at a lower angle? That's what I do in situations where things won't push over with the hog at ground level. It works really well. I highly recomment it.

That hoe looks really handy. Have you considered an electric solenoid valve with a pushbutton on the joystick so that you can switch one of the joystick functions to the bucket curl while the button is pushed? A few folks have installed them and they look really handy.

 

[SpringHollow]

Hi Carl,

The 12-15 is for running singles, the 8 is what all 8 tires should be when running duals if you want maximum traction. The way you have yours (and I have mine) gives you the ease of switching back and forth between singles and duals without having to change pressures all the time but it does sacrifice some traction on the side hills. However it does still keep you from flipping!

Ken

 

[woodlandfarms]

Ken... thanks for the notes on the tires. Will try 8 later this week when I get going on the serious slopes. I keep getting flats, which is OK cause I have two spares. Most of them are knocking off the air inlet. All are being switched to metal which seems to hold up better so far....

As for the blades flying off and using the bucket. I knocked some stuff over today and will try tomorrow with the mower and see if that works.

Still chasing oil leaks...

Carl

 

[ponytug]

Dear Carl,

Great to see the videos! I can't wait for the PT muscle car reborn add.

I second the advice of the safety cop, oops, I mean Ken T. Repeat after me, "I will not lift the brush cutter under power, I will not..." We want to keep you as a long and useful contributor and friend here. A heavy mesh brush screen might help, but I wouldn't want to bet heavily on it since you are trying to deflect a small, heavy object moving at high speed, rather than a glancing blow from a tree limb or a dropped rock.

I've used brush cutters on tractors and they throw objects incredible distances, and the mower parts do shatter. I don't know which is more scary, the high powered thunk from something hitting the mower underneath, or the whistling sound of a baseball sized rock flying away. I think it may be the sound of the riccochet that comes whistling back by you...

Trust me, I think that you want to keep the brush hog on the ground.

It looked to me like you could have used your FEL to knock the trees down and then mow them. More work certainly, but a lot safer.

Sorry to see about your crack. I'd have a pro do it- and perhaps reinforce the corner.

All the best,

Peter

Wife is not much of a camera woman. Will try someone else at a later date.

One sequence is of how I have to brush hog. Not code, not that safe, but it works. Yes, the PT stays stable elevating the mower that high, and the mower leans back so the blades never face me...

One sequence of slope mowing. It was just a small hill around 30 degrees. But the tractor definitly slips. Need to ask Terry about what I am doing wrong.

Finally, the wife trying out the back hoe. Give an idea of how it works...


YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

 

[RegL]

Is raising the brush hog pointed away from you really any more dangerous than using a rotary boom mower, like this?

Tiger Corporation: Rotary and Flail Mowers for Highway Maintenance - Boom Mowers

 

[MossRoad]

The brush hog can tilt and swing on 2 axis. Add the height of the lift arms and if you get hung up on something your head and torso can end up on the same plane as the spinning blades. Add to that the distance between you and the blades can be as little as 3 feet in that situation. A recipe for catastrophe, in my opinion.

It has been mentioned many times by many folks that we know the dangers involved and asked that we not get into a safety police discussion. We are all big kids here and know the risks of what we do. However, I've come to a conlcusion about my conversations with all of the folks in the Power Trac forum... on a purely selfish level, I want to keep you all around for my own personal enjoyment! So, it never hurts to discuss safety issues like we frequently do here. And if we are all aware of them and have the information, it is our choice how to use that information.

As alwys, I'll be the first to admit to doing unsafe things.

 

[woodlandfarms]

And I appreciate the advice even if it is something I don't wan to hear... I was raised on a farm, but that was a long time ago and the city has changed who I am...

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

And I appreciate the advice even if it is something I don't wan to hear... I was raised on a farm, but that was a long time ago and the city has changed who I am...

Good attitude. We always have the option not to follow advice, or even to be a little irritated by it. But when someone warns me about some danger I hadn't thought of, and it saves my rump, I remember how long it's been since I knew everything.

 

[MossRoad]

I remember how long it's been since I knew everything.

That's pretty funny!

 

[cqaigy2]

I remember how long it's been since I knew everything.

boy aint that the truth.

 

[Red Zebra]

That hoe looks really handy. Have you considered an electric solenoid valve with a pushbutton on the joystick so that you can switch one of the joystick functions to the bucket curl while the button is pushed? A few folks have installed them and they look really handy.

"What you talkin' 'bout Willis"? Is there a linky to a thread on that?