Got my new PT425 dirty

[mlhunter]

I got my PT425 to MO last Friday. I have five hours on it now and I am very impressed with the machine's ability.

My first use was at the farm cleaning up a fence line about 1/4 mile long. On the third pass the machine just stopped and would not move. Motor was running and everything else was working ok. I loaded the machine on the trailer with the ramps and come-a-long and brought it home. I called Terry at Power Trac and he said this wasn't uncommon and I should change the filter and bleed the air out of the tram pump. Oddly enough, before I did that I was able to back the machine off the trailer and drive it into my garage. To bleed the tram pump I had to remove the RPS valve mounting bracket to get enough room to get a wrench on the port cap where the bleed hose hooks up. Other than that it was pretty easy.

The next job was spent working with the 4-n-1 bucket on a 3 acre lot I own. I filled some ruts and smoothed out an area that some local teenager had "farmed" with his 4x4. It ran 2 hours without a hitch and I had trouble keeping that smile off my face! A neighbor came over and wanted to know all about the machine.

Wednesday I took the tractor back down to the farm and brush hogged for over two hours. It was 90 degrees with no breeze so I thought this would be a good hot weather test of the machine. It ran faultlessly for two hours, the fan ran continuously but I could painlessly hold my hand over it when I checked it. <font color="red"> After a couple of hours, the engine began to occasionally lose rpms as though it were starving for fuel. At one point the engine died but it started right up again. My immediate suspicion is vapor lock but I would like to know if anyone else has had this problem. </font>

In terms of throttle usage, I thought the brush hog worked best with the tractor at full throttle and controlling the forward speed with the treadle. When working in the dirt, I just went 1/2 throttle as that was a new experience for me. Even at 1/2 throttle I was amazed at the power it had.

 

[BillCroasmun]

Hello and congratulations! I got my PT180 delivered this last Monday and have about five hours on it as well. Last night while mowing I also had it mysteriously slow down and die out. I immediately thought "out of gas" but looked and it still had plenty. Then I tried restarting it and it ran fine for the rest of my mowing session (which didn't last long since I buried a blade tip in some uneven ground and bent it pretty good. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif )

 

[MossRoad]

Good job. You may want to find the posts about re-routing the fuel line through a piece of larger tubing to sheid it from the heat.

I've always been able to hold my hand over the fan without discomfort. Just watch yourself on the hydraulic tank. That gets too hot to touch.

Smart idea about going 1/2 throttle for a while. Just keep working up your skills until you are comfortable with the machine. Any new operators should take the machine out to a nice open place and practice for a while. I'm slowly working my 12yr old into it. I let her drive around the yard at low throttle every few days. We've now worked up to testing the bucket. But she is no where competent enough for powered impelements, yet. A couple more years and she'll be mowing the lawn.

 

[Robert259]

Another problem that many of us have encountered is trash in the gas tank when delivered. You might want to check for this and also check the fuel line to see if it is collapsing. When I had this problem, it was intermittent. I noticed that the fuel line was collapsed and that is when I found the trash. It appeared to be fine particles of sand clogging up the discharge port of the fuel tank.

 

[BillCroasmun]

Thanks MR! I went out to mow for another 45 minutes or so during lunch and about 30 minutes into it the mower started quitting on me again. I looked at the fuel line and it had a large air pocket in it. The filter was also empty. I called Terry and he wanted me to check the fuel cap first to see if it wasn't venting correctly. I was close enough to stopping and I had waited long enough that the engine ran long enough for me to park it.

I came in the house checked TBN before jumping back into work and read your timely message about the previous "fuel line" thread. Read through it and now if it stops again this evening I'll start working on shortening and shielding the fuel line.

You guys and this forum are great! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[mlhunter]

<font color="blue"> Hello and congratulations! I got my PT180 delivered this last Monday and have about five hours on it as well. Last night while mowing I also had it mysteriously slow down and die out. I immediately thought "out of gas" but looked and it still had plenty. Then I tried restarting it and it ran fine for the rest of my mowing session (which didn't last long since I buried a blade tip in some uneven ground and bent it pretty good. </font>

Congrats to you also! I found my fuel line lays across a PTO hose so I'm thinking that may be my issue. It doesn't look like too big a deal to hang the hose away from the hydraulic lines.

 

[mlhunter]

<font color="blue"> You may want to find the posts about re-routing the fuel line through a piece of larger tubing to sheid it from the heat. </font>

I found that post and read the whole post, it was very informative.

I could see that fuel is generally getting out of the tank, through the filter, and to the engine. I found my fuel line actually touches two hoses of which one is a large PTO hose. I'm thinking the PTO hose is a likely suspect for heat and that may be my issue. As a first step, I'm going to hang the hose away from all hydraulic lines and see how that works. If that doesn't take care of the problem, I'll go to Plan B which is to insulate the hose.

 

[mlhunter]

<font color="blue"> I noticed that the fuel line was collapsed and that is when I found the trash. It appeared to be fine particles of sand clogging up the discharge port of the fuel tank. </font>

I couldn't find anywhere where the fuel line was collapsed and gas appeared to generally getting to the fuel filter and the fuel pump. If routing the hose away from the hydraulic lines doesn't cure it I'll go here next!

 

[BillCroasmun]

Well here's my discoveries so far. Fri after work I went out to mow again and it kept quitting on me... The gas line didn't feel hot but I wrapped it in wet cloth just to see if that would make a difference but it was no help.

Didn't have much time to work on it after that on Fri. or Saturday so Sunday mornin' comes and I'm ready to see what happens. After ten minutes of run time it starts to quit again (too soon for vapor lock issues I would think). Immediately throwing the throttle to idle seems to keep it from quitting but gradually giving it gas kills it pretty quickly.

Out of curiosity after it set for a while I pulled the line on the output side of the fuel filter and let some gas flow through. Gas ran out steady at first then sputtered with some air, also the filter filled with air again as it was pouring through. Is that normal? I would have figured (with a full tank) that it would have poured steadily and kept the filter full of gas. Am I off base here? Having never diagnosed fuel issues before I am a little lost... /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[pairodime]

Sounds like a the gas tank isn't venting or the fuel line is blocked. I had a blockage that was very hard to find last year. Good luck.