Buying Advice Advice for city slicker

[Kaon99]

Hello PT guys,I just now registered as Kaon99 and posted a long message that never showed up. Guess I did something wrong. I will save my message this time, in case I have to repost it.Well, after agonizing for months, I am about 95% decided on a PT425. I think I have the wife and the financing under control, but I have a lot of questions before I put in my order. I am thinking about dropping a bundle of bucks on attachments and extras: bar treads, arm rests, forks, 60" mower, 48" rotary mower, tiller, PH digger, small bucket with teeth, large bucket, 48"x48" trailer, potato digger, custom attach plate, 48" boom, box blade, core aerator (maybe, if it works).Here are my questions:1. Are the arm rests work the extra $100? Is the seat the same seat with and without the arm rests?2. Is anyone unhappy with the 60" mower due to inadequate power on hills? I want the extra width but about 1/2 of the 4 acres that I mow is on a pretty good slope. 3. Will the tiller break up and till compacted ground? Or do you need to break things up with something else first (like the potato digger)?4. What augers are most useful with the PH digger? I was thinking of the 6" auger for posts and the 12" auger to plant stuff.5. Does anyone have the trailer? How clumsy is it to use on rough terrain, as opposed to something like a carry-all built for the forks? I want to haul sod over some pretty rough places. 6. How rugged is the potato digger? Can it be used like a plow to break up compacted soil? This question is related to question 3. on the tiller. I want to put in a garden in a area that is hard packed right now.7. How effective is the core aerator on compacted soil? It’s expensive, but if it works I will probable get it. My other questions have to do with shipping. My thinking is that shipping costs are a lot less if you ship everything in one order rather than piecemeal. (That assumes, of course that you will eventually need everything you order.) Any personal experiences on this? For example, what are typical shipping costs to ship a 300-pound attachment 600 miles?I also have been toying with the idea of buying a trailer and having my brother in Tenn pick up everything for me. That way I would supposedly avoid Va sales tax and end up with a trailer instead of a shipping bill. The catch is that I am about 600 miles from Tazewell and I am pretty leery pulling my PT425 through Tenn on I-40 with all the 18-wheelers. Has anyone done something like this? What problems did you run into?I know ya’ll are busy folk, but I will very much appreciate any advice you can take the time to give me. I am a city slicker getting ready to do thing tractor thing and I am more than a little nervous. Thanks in advance for your help. – Ken in Mississippi

 

[deadstick]

I'll answer what I can....

1) I don't think the armrests are worth the extra $100. I thought I would use them alot but they end up getting in the way. The seat is the same. My seat was damaged in shipping and I received another one (actually I have two, somehow I got another one shipped as well /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif) and they came with no armrests attached

3) My experience with the tiller has been great. This sucker will plow up very compacted soil here in Texas and I mean this stuff is like concrete. It also pulls up some very large rocks that might be hiding in the soil. I've actually had the tiller pull up a 1'x2' rock very easily. The only issue I have had with it is certain sized rocks get stuck between the tines and the casing. I have learned to just turn the PTO off and rock the tiller back and forth using the tractor and the rock will usually fall out.

I bought the PT-425, large and small bucket and the tiller originally. To Austin TX it cost around $600 in shipping using Overnite. I recently just purchased the 60" mower and it cost me $169 to ship to Austin, TX, again with Overnite. I've heard that some people had issues with Overnite shipping. The only issue I had was that they slightly damaged the seat. I just put a claim in and I now have two extra seats....

 

[JackIL]

I have an 18 foot tandem axle trailer that I pull behind my Tahoe. I have made several 1000 mile round trips on I-80 with it to Ohio to pick up and deliver equipment and had no problem with "18 wheelers" or other traffic on the road. I have been careful to stick to the 55 mph speed limit. I should mention that the truck and trailer are set up with a Reese Equalizing Hitch (no sway control) which makes for a very stable system. In addition, the trailer has electric brakes connected to a controller in the Tahoe.

I don't see why you are so concerned about pulling a trailer 600 miles from VA to MS if it is set up properly. Any thoughts?

Jack

 

[MossRoad]

Welcome aboard! You'll enjoy TBN for sure/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I'll try to answer as much as I can, so here goes.

Arm rests... unless you do lots of long straight runs, you could probably do without them. I only tend to use the right one when going backwards over great distances. They are occasionally nice, but should be the last thing that you spend $$ on.

60" mower... Love mine, but only finish mow on flat land so have no experience on this situation.

48" brush hog... Awsome beast! Eats everything in its path and spits out very tiny pieces when done.

Shipping costs... cost me about $500.00 to ship to South Bend, Indiana. I could not have driven there and back for anywhere near that cost. Used Overnight Freight and I had paint rubbed off in several locations. I didn't care, as it is just a machine and the paint is irrelevant, except for rust protection. Called Power Trac and they sent me some touch up paint.

Trailers... I just bought an 18' car hauler with a steel deck and have little experience towing. I wanted the trailer for other projects besides the PT, so that is why I went that route.

Good luck with your decision and keep us posted as to what you decide. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Kaon99]

Dear JackIL,

I am nervous about towing over a ton of expensive equipment 600 miles because I have never done it, and I have seen trailers on the side of the highway in ruins. First of all, the heaviest thing I have for towing is a 1992 Ford explorer. My truck is a lightweight Toyota. Do you think the Explorer is beefy enough? Also, I have been told that you really need good brakes on the trailer. What do you recommend? You seem to have some specific ideas about what is the right way to tow stuff. I would really appreciate some details as I don't want to learn on I-40. Thanks for any advice you can give me. - Ken

P.S. I was nearly run over from behind by an 18-wheeler on I-40 when I was pulling a big U-haul trailer from Pennsylvania. The speed limit is 70, but some of the truckers go over 80. I think I probably need to stay off of I-40.

 

[Kaon99]

Dear Mossroad,

Thanks for the reply. I will check with the shipping company that you used. For much less stuff than I listed in my post, I was quoted a shipping price of $800. Pretty stiff huh? My wife wants new furniture so I have look as frugal as possible on the tractor thing. - Ken

 

[MossRoad]

I didn't have to check with a shipping company myself. I just asked Power Track how much it would cost to ship the items that I wanted to order and they gave me the price. If you print out their price sheet from the web, check off the items that you want and then give them a call, they can tell you how much it will cost to ship to the nearest terminal to you. Pretty painless.

 

[bubenberg]

kaon99, if you have not placed your order, i would hold off with oredring a 4x4 trailer .... watch the griff i am going to get again for not telling all .... within a few weeks there is going to be a news release about a new attachement ...which will please us all. PT'ERS ..... NO I AM NOT GOING TO TELL THIS TIME .... no leaks from me .... BUT it will be well worth the wait KAON 99 AND ALL OTHERS toooooooo.

the onsight training eventhoug we have allot of machinery was very worth my while ... my mechanic francis is of the same opinion and he has 27 years of experience in small engines etc.

even thoug i use the

 

[pajoube]

bubenberg,
Now you have gone and done it, let the cat out of the bag and still have not said anything.
How long do we have to wait?
Will it come out in the PowerTrac sight first?
PJ

 

[bubenberg]

YES, and we all will love it!!!!!! me toooooo!