Expectant PT1430 daddy

[iono]

Howdy,

First I gotta say just how great this TBN power trac group has been for me. I stumbled on this group via my random (maybe drunken) walk through the internet while researching compact tractors. I never dreamed I would wind up ordering a machine I never heard of, made in East Nowhere Virginia, for use in the Texas hill country. But thanks to this group, after spending days devouring the archives, thats exactly what I'm about to do. Say hello to the newest expectant daddy of a PT1430. To quote my neighbor in Dripping Springs, who so kindly demoed his 425 for me last evening (hi deadstick), "I wouldn't have bought this thing if not for the TBN group".

Anyway, so it's my turn to post my list of questions to this esteemed group of real users before placing my order. Hopefully the order goes in Monday and delivery is later in the same week.

First of all, my application will be using the 1430 to assist in clearing about 50 acres of juniper on very rocky and hilly terrain. I will probably rent a bobcat with a tree shearer for the major cutting and use the PT for stacking, cleanup, and chipper loading. That's the initial big work -- the rest will be typical ranch work like bush hogging, cutting trails, and general "movin-stuff-around".

My attachment choices are:

- 60" brush hog
- 4 in 1 bucket + teeth
- large bucket + teeth
- mini hoe

So.... help me spend my money /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif ...my questions are:

- can the PT 60" brush hog really handle a steady diet of small saplings (up to 2" diameter)? Mine is going to see a lot of those. And how well does it survive when you hit a stump or rock?

- does the 4in1 have any weaknesses? For example, can you grab something with the jaws (like a post) and have the bucket withstand the full force of the 1430 (both up/down/curl and back/forth with wheels)? Can it handle bumping into rocks ofen?

- anyone know a good source for a small tree shearer that would work on this machine? Something similar to the Hy-Reach at http://www.precisionmfg.com/index.html

- i'd rather have a grapple fork than a grapple bucket, but PT only makes the latter. can anyone recommend particular grapple forks that work well on this machine?

- it would be very convenient to have a metal box that attaches to the rear using the trailer hitch for holding tools or a chainsaw. any recommendations or sources? or even building plans or photos?

- any general recommendations for operating in 100+ degree heat? (other than "stay under the canopy as much as possible!") /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif


Many thanks for your time and participation in this group. Before long I hope to be a contributing member!

 

[duane]

Iono,

How about the stump grinder and forks. Sounds like you could use them as well.

With the bushhog, if you can knock it down, the bushhog will cut it!

Duane

 

[Sedgewood]

Welcome iono,

<font color="red"> - i'd rather have a grapple fork than a grapple bucket, but PT only makes the latter. can anyone recommend particular grapple forks that work well on this machine?
</font>

Check out my "extreme minihoe" postings to davesisk's "Grapple designs?" thread back in April. I cobbled up a thumb for my minihoe and turned it into a real monster. And quickly bent the minihoe boom! With a reinforced boom this thing'll rip those junipers right out by the roots, haul 'em, stack 'em and you'll be done by noon!

What a hoot. I don't know how you'll wipe that stupid grin off your face - I'm still trying to get mine off )

Have fun,
Sedgewood

 

[Schultz]

Regarding the stuff box on the back of the tractor. You could weld a 2" receiver like Charlie has and then buy a cargo hauler for it. Make some sides and your all set.

Here&#8217;s a link to the cargo hauler I was thinking of, it might be a little big but they have smaller ones too:
cargo hauler

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

<font color="red"> You could weld a 2" receiver like Charlie has and then buy a cargo hauler for it. </font>

My wife gave me a cargo hauler for Christmas. I'll try to remember to post a picture. It sticks out back pretty far, and is easy to run into things while turning, but it carries chain saw, fuel, fencing tools, etc. Northern has several choices. It does need higher sides unless you are skilled with bungees and straps. I can still open the engine cover enough to check the oil, but it does interfere.

 

[iono]

Sedgewood,

<font color="blue"> Check out my "extreme minihoe" postings </font>

I saw that thread and that "thumb" you made is just awsome. I do plan to try a design like that, though I don't know if it will have enough force to uproot whole trees (but of course I will find out! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

From that previous thread, I never understood what caused the hoe damage.... was it the hydraulic pressure of the bucket against the thumb? Or was it the lifting of a very heavy object?

I'm sure we'd all be interested if/when you come up with a design for reinforcement of the hoe for use with a thumb.

- Iono

 

[Sedgewood]

<font color="red"> From that previous thread, I never understood what caused the hoe damage.... was it the hydraulic pressure of the bucket against the thumb? Or was it the lifting of a very heavy object?
</font>

The minihoe was never intended to have a thumb and is not designed to withstand the forces one can apply with one. The boom is only made of 1/8 inch wall square tubing, and not well braced where it attaches to the quick attach plate. Without the thumb you generally are only lifting whatever will fit in the bucket (though I can see one using the minihoe as a mini lift boom or perhaps on occassion the rear of the tractor if you hook under a root. With the thumb you can grab an immovable object and lift, twist, turn, push, pull (or as a friend would say "grab it and growl" As I quickly discovered, this is it's most useful feature, and puts the minihoe in a whole new catagory. But one it wasn't designed for. In my case, the thing that really did it in was pushing over an 8 inch popple and then grabbing the root ball from the side and by lifting, pushing, and pulling all at once the boom folded where it attaches to the plate.

<font color="red"> I'm sure we'd all be interested if/when you come up with a design for reinforcement of the hoe for use with a thumb.
</font>

So would I But alas, fixing the minihoe is the least of my problems. I'm just now getting underway with rebuilding the salvage from my "Fire in the Engine Room" disaster back in April. Follow the fire related links at my PT wiki for some details.

Only 38 hoses to go,
Sedgewood

 

[MossRoad]

<font color="blue"> Follow the fire related links at my PT wiki for some details. </font>

Great details, John. Nice website, too /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[iono]

OMG sedge! I only glanced at the "fire in the engine room" thread previously, but touring your site gave me a full grasp of the horror and tragedy. My extreme condolences (and the same goes for your insurance ordeal).

I got an answer from Scott at PT to the question:
<font color="blue"> - does the 4in1 have any weaknesses? For example, can you grab something with the jaws (like a post) and have the bucket withstand the full force of the 1430 (both up/down/curl and back/forth with wheels)? Can it handle bumping into rocks often? </font>

His answer was that the 4 in 1 can handle any force the machine is capable of delivering, even in the "post grappling" scenario I posed. Of course he's assuming normal operating scenarios -- ramming the bucket full speed into a cement wall is probably excluded. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

So that's comforting, but I'd still be interested in hearing from any "real world" users of the 4in1.

 

[Sedgewood]

<font color="green"> OMG sedge! I only glanced at the "fire in the engine room" thread previously, but touring your site gave me a full grasp of the horror and tragedy. My extreme condolences (and the same goes for your insurance ordeal).
</font>

Thanx iono, it's been quite an ordeal. Someone said a while back (sorry I forget who it was) "I can't imagine a summer without a PT". I don't need to imagine it - I'm living it! And it ain't nearly as much fun as imagining it might be :-( One small consolation is that when I get finished emptying the engine tub and filling it back up again with new parts I'll have an intimate knowledge of the 1845 and a much better idea how these things go together.

Sedgewood

 

[iono]

1430 arrives intact... but sickly

Sigh. My 1430 arrived in good shape, but I've quickly discovered a major engine problem. It will run about 15 minutes and then the RPMs slowly drop off to near zero, then slowly climb back to normal. Once this happens, putting any load on the engine causes the cycle to repeat. Once the engine cools it will start and run 15 minutes again but... (rinse and repeat).

I am absolutely bummed. Terry at PT has only a vague guess as to the cause (faulty fuel filter, which I've yet to find locally). So rather than wait 3 days for a replacement part from PT which may have no effect, I've put in a service call to a local Deutz dealer and they will have a tech out here by Friday. The person I spoke with at the Deutz 800 number guessed that it needs a minor adjustment to the governor, which requires some skill and a special tool.

Guess until Friday I'll just sit and stare at it thinking how great it's gonna be. Someday.

Grumble.

Anyone with ideas for a quick-fix or things to try?

 

[JohnMiller3]

Re: 1430 arrives intact... but sickly

<font color="blue">( fuel filter ) </font>

Possible contaminated fuel? then the in-line filter gets partially restricted can cause exactly that symptom...

Should be able to buy a "generic" replacement at any large auto parts outlet for under $3. bucks...

You also may want to "drain" your fuel tank and put fresh fuel from another container... so you don't get in a "catch-22" situation...

Good luck... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Bob999]

Re: 1430 arrives intact... but sickly

The fuel filter is a Deutz 117-4696. This crosses to a Purolator F50284, or NAPA 3195, or WIX 33373.

 

[iono]

Re: 1430 arrives intact... but sickly

<font color="green"> The fuel filter is a Deutz 117-4696. This crosses to a Purolator F50284, or NAPA 3195, or WIX 33373. </font>

Cool. The local parts stores have been unable to cross-index that number. Guess there's no harm in trying the filter and fuel changes while I'm waiting.

Thanks.

 

[Sedgewood]

Re: 1430 arrives intact... but sickly

<font color="red"> The fuel filter is a Deutz 117-4696. This crosses to a Purolator F50284, or NAPA 3195, or WIX 33373 </font>

Hmmm.... I have the 117-4696 crossed to a NAPA 3358 - wonder where I got that info. Darned if I can remember. Anyone know what the differences might be? I'd like to update my reference if need be.

Sedgewood

 

[Bob999]

Re: 1430 arrives intact... but sickly

<font color="red"> Hmmm.... I have the 117-4696 crossed to a NAPA 3358 </font>

I should have listed the 3358 also. According to the info I have both the 3358 and the 3195 are acceptable.

 

[Sedgewood]

Re: 1430 arrives intact... but sickly

<font color="red"> I should have listed the 3358 also. According to the info I have both the 3358 and the 3195 are acceptable </font>

Oh, ok, thanks Bob, I'll add the 3195 to my list.

Sedgewood

 

[RegL]

Re: 1430 arrives intact... but sickly

Hi all, This is the first time I have posted but have been doing some reading. You guys got my confidance up so, despite having never seen one in person, I called up PT and ordered a 1430+ bucket+ brushhog+ stump grinder. More later if the tractor works out. Actually, I'm not sending the check out untill tomorrow so there is still time for anyone here to try to talk me out of it. I'm sure I will have a lot of questions later but just a couple for now. I hope to get the 60" snowblower befor winter. Does anyone have experance with it, how well does it work and is it durable? My other question concerns the brushhog. I know from reading here that it will knock down just about anything but my concern is cut quality while field mowing. I mow some fields commercially which are usually 3-5 foot tall grass and weeds. The rotery cutter I use and others I have seen are open at the front of the deck. In the pictures saw of PT's unit looks as though the deck is skirted all around. I'm wondering if thats going to lay the grass down so the blades will not pick it up and cut it cleanly. Can't make money having to cut twice to pick up a lot of straglers. Not that the cutter will be waste, I always have brush to knock down. I guess for now, I would like to thank everyone for the good info thats being passed along here and hope I can contribute in the future. Reg. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif <font color="black"> </font>

 

[MossRoad]

Re: 1430 arrives intact... but sickly

Welcome to TBN!

My 48" brush hog for the PT425 is open in front. I haven't got but two hours on it, though, and that was on dead brush, not green grass.

 

[iono]

1430 stalling saga continues...

Well, a mechanic from Stewart & Stevenson paid a visit to my 1430 today to diagnose the RPM lossage problem described previously. I had decided to forgo messing with the fuel system myself since I'm not a mechanic, the silly thing is only days old, and I shouldn't be the one responsible for fixing someone else's problem on a brand new machine. Also, the people I'd talked to about the problem (at both Deutz and S&S) guessed the problem would more likely be with the governor.

Turned out to be the fuel system after all. The line from the tank to pump was clogged severely (I don't know how it ever ran for 20 minutes before the RPM problem would begin). That led to an inspection of the fuel tank where we found copious crud on the bottom as well as rusty inner walls and bottom. A telescoping magnet thingy was swished around the bottom of the tank and pulled out a large wad of metal filings. The mechanic identified some particles as definitely being welding slag -- the rest looked more like grinder filings. So far I've fished out about a tablespoon of the stuff.

A call to Power Trac resulted in:

1. An insinuation that I had put in contaminated fuel.

2. A comment that it would be fine because there's a good fuel filter in the line.

3. When I stated that this was not "fine", it was suggested that I continue to fish around with the telescoping magnet to remove the crud.

4. I asked the general question: "What is PT willing to do to make this right"? The answer was very long, so to paraphrase: "Nothing, it's not a problem".

I don't consider this acceptable and I'm really quite hacked off, but given my inexperience with engines I don't know how to refute this. I've considered calling Deutz to ask if they will honor the engine warranty given the condition of the fuel tank and the recommendations provided by Power Trac.

What do you guys think? I'm wondering both how to approach this situation with PT, and also how to deal with it on my own assuming, as appears to be the case, that PT is going to offer nothing. And should I be concerned about the rust in the tank, or just the particulate matter?

Out of curiosity, I fished the (very clean) magnet around in the hydro oil and also came up with a few metal filings -- nothing like in the fuel tank, but still... OK, group assignment... everyone go fish a magnet around in their fuel and hydro tanks and report back what they find.