BX2200 vs PT422

[marrt]

I was considering a BX2200 when I discovered the Power Trac 422. Here is a comparison of the PT422 vs the BX2200:

Advantages of the PT422 vs the BX2200:
- On the PT422, all the attachments are up front where you can easily see them.
- The turning radius is very small due to the articulation and the tractor does not damage the lawn even with bar tires.
- The PT422 essentially includes a FEL in the basic design...all you have to buy is the bucket. And it can lift over 800 lbs, almost twice the BX2200.
- The PT422 has a standard quick attach feature that allows you to chance implements in less than 15 seconds without getting off the tractor.
- The PT422 has full time four wheel drive, via HST, with large 23" tires on the front and rear. With the four way articulation (45 degrees left and right and 12 degrees up and down) the ride should be much better than the BX2200 with its GT size tires and no vertical articulation. Also, traction should be better as all tires stay on the ground longer in rough conditions.
- The PTO can put downward pressure on the implements
- Most of the tractor's parts are "off the shelf" components and replacements appear easy to find.
- Price is must cheaper, at $7000 for the basic tractor.

Disadvantages:
- Its not a Kubota
- It doesn’t have a 3 point Hitch (although the Power Trac implements are very inexpensive with their factory direct pricing (e.g., 60" mower is $1200))
- You would have to go in reverse to use some implements (e.g., a plow and box blade)
- The engines aren't diesel so fuel economy is worse and they won't last as long. However, a new engine is less than $1500.
- They don't have a dealer network and resale value would be iffy.
- Torque is less than the BX (34 ft./lbs for the PT vs 40 ft/lbs for the BX)

In general, it appears the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, especially when price is considered. Assuming your primary use is general landscaping maintenance and “get away from the wife” projects. Thoughts?

 

[rmc]

Marrt

I own a BX2200 but one of your disadvantages that we make me stay away:

"- They don't have a dealer network and resale value would be iffy."

Dealer network is an item that not just sells a tractor but supports that tractor in the future. Without a dealer network parts maybe harder to obtain in the future ( down time), repairs of odd problems, just general acceptence by the buying public.

Resale value also is a key to a tractor. The cost of a tractor is not just the purchase price but what does it cost you over the length of it's life. A product that only last say 2 years at a cost of $100.00 to purchase thus cost you $50.00 per year, but a product that cost you say $125.00 but last you 3 years is a cost of $41.67 per year. You need to average the cost over the life term. But also you need to purchase within your means.

Just my 2 cents

 

[Jeff396]

<font color=blue>“get away from the wife” projects</font color=blue>

Man, I hope your wife doesn't pop up here occasionally like mine does!/w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Just curious....how is the 12 degree up and down articulation controlled and where would it be of use?

Jeff

 

[TresCrows]

Take the bicycle for example, since the device was inveneted it has remained bascically the same layout. Sure in the 50's they put fake gas tanks and tailfins on them and the Europeons gave them skinny tires and 10 gears and the loopy Californians put fat tires on them and took them into the dirt but still despite many attempts to design a better bicycle or mousetrap the device remains essentially the same, two big wheels with a diamond frame and a chain drive. Well, same with tractors, the basic layout was settled on I imagine in some long ago muddy corn field by Mr JD or some other equally mechanically inclined individual with great foresight. Yeah, brands come and go, and the tear drop bomb shaped cowlings of the 30 and 40's gave way to the classic shapes of the 8N's and and so on and then Kubota and others decided it needed 4WD etc but the basic design/layout remains the same--two big wheels in the back for traction and two small wheels up front to aid manuverability (not interefere with loader and other reasons) and it has remained that way and will always be that way because some things work the way they are and no improvement is needed or desireable. No thanks, I do not want the new mousetrap. Get the tractor, whether it is the BX or L3410 or some kinda JD, get the tractor.
J

 

[PTRich]

I own a PT425. I do not care about dealer network because my machine is simple. If it ever did break down (wich I do not think it will) I know I would have no problems fixing it myself or with help from the closest small engine repair shop. I do not care about resale value, I drive my cars for ever and I plan on driving my tractor the same way. I did see a PT425 with 1000 hours on it sold on EBay. I do not remember the exact figures but I was amazed how much money they did get. The implements are very heavy duty and since they are hydrlic driven there are very few wear parts and the torque is amazing on the PTO. I have lifted over 1,000lbs with my tractor before with no problem. The front tires are very wide so they do not dig into the ground. Power Trac is not a flash in the pan. They have been making mining equipment for many years and used that knowledge when they built these fine machines.

PTRich

 

[marrt]

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>

Just curious....how is the 12 degree up and down articulation controlled and where would it be of use?

<hr></blockquote>



The “up and down” articulation allows the front wheels to operate on a different plane than the rear wheels. See the attached picture. The advantages are two-fold: 1) traction is enhanced as all wheels maintain ground contact longer in rough terrain and 2) ride is better because the rear moves independent of the front. As I understand it, there is no "control" to the up and down articulation. It moves freely as the tractor moves.

 

[MossRoad]

Dang Marrt! Trying to stir up a hornets nest? /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

TresCrows is right in his analogy of trying out a new mousetrap. Some people want tried and true because it is a good design and they know it works well. However, that does not mean it will always be the best way to do something. People used to store food in lead cans because their parents and grandparents did. We now know that it causes brain damage. Now I'm not saying that owning a tractor that looks and operates like the same old tractor that your grandparents had will cause brain damage. But some day, sometime, somewhere a better design will come along and then grandpas tractor will be pulling floats in parades. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Wether that better design is the PT400 series or not, I don't know. But I do know that it was the right choice for me after I carefully compared it to the BX2200, the JD4100, the NHTC21D and a Cub 7205 and drove all four units.

It appears that you live closer to the Power Trac plant than TresCrows does. Have you considered a trip to the plant and checking them out?

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

Marrt:
As you know from prior posts, I recently bought a Power Trac 1845. Our farm, initiated by my father in 1943, has been through a fair number of tractors, often selected on the basis of TresCrow's response to you. We got them because they were the way tractors are supposed to be. I am not sure how my brothers and I survived working hills with a John Deere B and an International 450. The Ford and the International 300 were better, about as good as our current well-used John Deere 950 and 2240. The Power Trac is the most recent selection not because we don't have experience with the conventional configuration, but because we do.
TresCrows' bicycle analogy and the argument he presented was best answered in the thread a couple of days ago:<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=off&Number=121403&Search=true&Forum=All_Forums&Words=monkeys&Match=Entire%20Phrase&Searchpage=0&Limit=50&Old=allposts&Main=121403>Thread</A>
Sorry, TresCrows, couldn't resist./w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif
If you look at my profile, you'll see that we also have a Jacobsen Turf Cat II that I bought very used a couple of years ago. That has a front mount 6' hydraulic finish mower. After using that on lawns, my sons and I never want to go back to the Kubota B7100 or the John Deere 755, both with mid mount mowers - we still have both. Now, with the 1845 Power Trac, I have found that it is easier to use with loader and as capable as the JD 2240, but with a little less lift height. It is far better with post hole auger than any 3 point, it is far superior mowing to any of the mid mounts or the JD 950 with 6' Woods brush hog. It is safer on slopes than anything we've owned. If you have had experience with a three point hitch, you have already cursed its inventor even before you try to beat Moss Road and change implements from the seat in 10 seconds on the Power Trac. Skid steer quick attach systems can be adapted to conventional FEL's but I'd bet the Power Trac system is still easier and faster.
If dealer service is your main criterion, don't get a Power Trac. Otherwise, I can't think of an argument for conventional configuration except that you just plain like it. I have no rebuttal to that one. In fact, I'd sort of like to have that John Deere B back, but I doubt I'd give it as many chances to kill me as I did when I was 14, and if work needed to be done, the Power Trac would be my choice.

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

Marrt
I'm sure you've already seen it, but if not, get a fresh cup of coffe and read the thread Glennmac started a while back:
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=off&Number=51950&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1>thread</A>

 

[TresCrows]

I love that monkey post--funny!!!!!!!
OK, first you guys tell every newcomer he needs a 4000 lb tractor for his one acre and now --what---- a dune buggy with a loader on front--or something /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif .
I do not have any thing against the Powertrac or recumbent bicycles either but long after the demise of the diamond frame was to have occured and long after the Swagway is forgotten as some strange politically correct skateboard, you and I will still be riding tractors with two big wheels in the back and two little wheels up front and straining our necks to see what the rotary cutter just cut up ---kerr--wap--ker--- flunka--darn it, what was that, darn it was the ol'rusted Powertrac I bought back in '02, wondered were I left that darn thang. Darn that thing, scrathced the paint on my new 36 'bota. Hey, did not some smartarse guy named 3crows warned me about those things--dang, darn, etc.
J