Commercial Power Trac Owners

[Yardscaper]

I am just curious as to how many of you out there that own Power Tracs use them day in and day out in commercial applications. I own a landscape company and own a PT 1430 and a PT 2445 trailer package. Also, which attachments do you use and how beneficial are they?

 

[MossRoad]

I don't use mine commercially, but there is a local landscaper that uses their PT425. I think they have the large bucket, post hole auger, tree planter auger, trencher. Haven't seen anything else that they have, yet.

Also another landscaper(the one that let me test drive one of their two PT422s) had the small bucket, brush hog, forks, augers and sweeper.

 

[BrianP]

I Picked up my PT 425 in the late fall. I used it to help another landscaper I work with on a few of his projects. Grading by swing set - weedmat- then 15 yard of stone. Needless to say It was a back saver & a playrole saver. I had been wanting my PT for 3 years & finally got it. He thought I was crazy driving from NY to pick up a machine I never drove or looked at in person. Thanks to MR videos I did it any way. The story leads to this. He has been wanting to buy my PT for the last 3 months /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif . This year I plan to use it in my Lanscaping business & will keep you posted. Brian

 

[46mac]

I use my PT 425 in a greenhouse/nursery operation. I have both buckets,trencher,auger,tiller,brush cutter, 4'mower,mini-hoe, and the pallet forks. The large bucket gets the most use, but the other equipment sure comes in handy. The only thing my old Kubota gets used for any more is loading mulch. With very little maintance the PT is a real work horse. I should say Tazewell is only 128 miles from me and that's been handy.

 

[bubenberg]

welcome to the forum! we use our pt 425, old version, to do topdressing, seeding, aeration and leveling in hard t get to areas or tight spots. especially like around newly build condominiums, where larger equipment has a problems getting around.

we mow large properties with the 60"pt finish mower and two 57"mowers Kunz Acrease attached, or the 48" pt rough cut mower and the 5 foot Kunz rough cut mower in tow.

with the two grapples we perform land clearing, tree service clean up, mulching, snow removal we do the sidewalks and cut ins for the big articulated loaders in a large shopping center.

we sub for a deck builder to drill the holes for larger deck structures and we install almost any kind of fence. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[landscapercarl]

We have had our 2422 for 2 years 800 machine hours. We have the forks, bucket and backhoe. We take this machineon almost every job. We use it to dig holes for trees excavate for patio and walls haul in material (gravel etc..) this machine is equal to having 4 guys on a job site. We can run accross lawn and not tear anything up. we are impressed and other contractors and suppliers are interested in its ability. We will probably buy another in 2 years. Filters can be bought locally fromsupply places also to save a few dollars most places can cross references filters and come upwith one that is real close to the company supplied ones.

 

[RegL]

( we sub for a deck builder to drill the holes for larger deck structures )


Bubenburg, I have thought about adding this service also but can't quite figure the best way to price it, as one would probably not be on the job very long just drilling the holes. Is it best to charge by the hole and have a minium for showing up?Hope you don't mind sharing. Thanks.

 

[Schultz]

How many hours on your PT?

 

[bubenberg]

by the hour, if you hit opstacles like i have for the last three days, for instance, i would go broke. we may have dug 12 holes in day, one obstruction after the other. the situation is this, they back filled a lot, and back filled some of the lower areas with cement slabs to come even with the large tree stumps which lined the property before. do i have to say more.

also that way you get to charge for your travel time. if you want some rate answers send me an e-mail, please.

 

[bubenberg]

on the record around 900 but i have a float of about 400 wher that thing just di not count but we kept track with a chaep stopwatch.

 

[blackwell]

We run six Pts, all except the 180 are mostly used in different businesses, landscaping, stone scaping, fencing, house construction, etc. I am not sure how many attachments we have, over 30 total, all of which I would say are useful, some more than others. All of the attachments are not perfect, but over all (in my opinion) PTs are the handiest machines we have ever owned. The 1430 has over 2000 hrs, the 425 1500+, the 2445 over 1200, 1850 over 1000, 180 about 60 hrs., 1460 less than 50 hours. With good care, I think we can get another 1000+ hours on the 1430 which is still in good shape. Would like to soon get a new 1430 with the remote hydraulic linkage like our new 1460. Sure is sweet!
EB

 

[toy]

I beleive that you have the most hours posted on a 425 with 1500+ hours. Has there been any problems with the 425. I like to here when someone has got a lot of hours on their machine have you had any problems with it yet ? is t holding up pretty good ? Has anyone else got more hours on their 425?

 

[duane]

Blackwell,

Enjoy reading your posts. I've not heard about the hydraulic linkage that you talked about. Can you describe what it does for you.

Duane

 

[blackwell]

Duane,

The newer PTs have a remote servo valve attached to the two-toe treadle and 4 small hydraulic lines run to the tram pump. This eliminates the push/pull cable and hydro-back (self-centering device). The treadle is much eaiser to operate and will remain that way, thus less operator fatique, plus no more adjustments and replacements on cables. This makes the machine even more operator friendly.

Even more control is available with electronic displacement controls. On some specialty equipment we have built using EDC, we have controled horsepower input, adjustable and fixed flows reguardless of engine rpm, adjustable rates of acceleration and deceleration on all functions, however this would double the price on most PTs and is difficult to troubleshoot when problems occur. PT has it about right, simple and easy to troubleshoot.

I also like the wet disc brakes on the larger machines, another trouble free solution.
EB

 

[blackwell]

Toy,

We have replaced one wheel motor shaft seal, repacked steering cylinders, one push/pull to pump, and one to throttle. This is all we have in our maintiance records other than filters, oil changes, plugs. Still has origional hydraulic hoses. We run our machines hard, do light maintiance on 8 hour, and heavy maintiance weekly.

I still think spending two shifts (16 to 20 hrs) training each operator on each machine and scheduled maintaince is money well spent.
EB

 

[toy]

Sounds like it is holding up pretty good. I agree about the servicing training and servicing schedule. I do the light service every eight hours, but I only have about 80 hours on the machine so I haven't had to change the oil and filters but once. I lubricate the ball joints practically every time I use the machine. I also visually check the machine for any oil leaks or loose parts, take care of a problem when it first apears a lot of times saves a major expense later on.