How are they on hills

[thingy]

Well men,thanks for all the help and advice. Since I started this,figured I'd end it,,it don't look like the 425 will do what I need it to do,,would not want to use a mirror to till with and do have some hills to mow. thanks again,,thingy

 

[MossRoad]

O.K. Sorry it won't work out for you. But stop by anytime. We're alway's here!

 

[thingy]

Moss thanks for you alls honest help,,,still might go down and look this summer,,might even get ahold of gravy and come down and see his,,,butfor my place it probably don't fit,,,but for many out there who don't have those kinda hills and that much garden,,looks to me like it would be the thing,,,many people have an acre or two of flat ground and a little garden,and need a hand moving and picking up stuff,,,looks like the 425 would be a better way to go than a bigger 4wd 18,000 dollar big three or four,,,course many have plenty of money,[I guess],,,thingy

 

[BobRip]

Moss thanks for you alls honest help,,,still might go down and look this summer,,might even get ahold of gravy and come down and see his,,,butfor my place it probably don't fit,,,but for many out there who don't have those kinda hills and that much garden,,looks to me like it would be the thing,,,many people have an acre or two of flat ground and a little garden,and need a hand moving and picking up stuff,,,looks like the 425 would be a better way to go than a bigger 4wd 18,000 dollar big three or four,,,course many have plenty of money,[I guess],,,thingy

Do not drive Gravy's PT. You will take it out on a 25 degree hill, see how well it works and you will have to buy one. This will cost you thousands ($10,000 to be more exact). I went over to a friend's father's house just to see his PT and then had to buy one.

 

[J_J]

Well men,thanks for all the help and advice. Since I started this,figured I'd end it,,it don't look like the 425 will do what I need it to do,,would not want to use a mirror to till with and do have some hills to mow. thanks again,,thingy

Let's set the record straight on the tiller direction, just about if not all tillers, till going forward. I think Thingy got confused when someone said that they till going backward. This is mainly done to get rid of tire tracks. Even going backward, the tiller is still tilling with the top of the tines going away from you. Multiple passes is good for fine pulverization.

 

[toy]

Well men,thanks for all the help and advice. Since I started this,figured I'd end it,,it don't look like the 425 will do what I need it to do,,would not want to use a mirror to till with and do have some hills to mow. thanks again,,thingy

I beleive I would go to Tazwell and sit on one and try it out before I made my decision just for the fun of it, who knows it might grow on you . They might have a place nearby to let you try it on that is similar to yours and if they do then you would know for sure. If nothing else they are fun to drive and use and I beleive you would enjoy the trip, and the demonstration.

 

[thingy]

Yeah,I think I will go down this summer,,,,does that tiller offset any?,if you could offset it like some of the 3 point tillers,,that would cover up one track and thats all you really need,than you could go forward with it,,,thingy

 

[KentT]

Yeah,I think I will go down this summer,,,,does that tiller offset any?,if you could offset it like some of the 3 point tillers,,that would cover up one track and thats all you really need,than you could go forward with it,,,thingy

It's not offset, it's centered on the QA hitch. But, keep in mind that you only have to go backwards on the last pass when you're tilling out your tracks. The rest of the time you can till going forward. It's not as bad as it might sound.

As an example, I have a King-Kutter 48" box-blade that I put a QA plate on to use with mine. You'd typically think I'd have to use it in reverse all the time. But, I find myself using it going forward as much, if not more, than using it going in reverse. I only go in reverse if I want to pull a mound of dirt into low spots, or if I want to use the rippers. The rest of the time I use it going forward, where it does a much better job than my snow/dirt blade. Using the bucket tilt/curl function, I can control the cutting angle on the front (actually the normal rear) of the boxblade and control the depth of cut. (With caster wheels on the snow/dirt blade I can't do that as readily.) The boxblade has the advantage that you can set the rippers in the middle setting and use the tilt/curl function to control whether they're contacting the ground or not (similar to having a hydraulic top-link on a regular CUT). Then it has something that a rear 3-point does not have -- down pressure. I can (and often do) put enough down-pressure on the boxblade to lift the front wheels.

With the tiller, you use the bucket tilt/curl function to control the depth of cut also. So, from what I'm told you can usually go over the ground twice -- driving forward -- and typically get it to full depth. Then quickly till it once going backwards and you have a "track-free" garden...

You really need to test drive one of these for an hour or so -- they do not work at all like a normal tractor does. For example, with the tiller out front on the lift arms, you can precisely put it up against fences and into corners that you likely wouldn't even try to do with a typical tractor....

Take a half-day and go to Tazewell -- it'll cost you only your gas money and perhaps lunch -- and you'll have a much, much better sense of whether one of these will work for you...

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

Take a half-day and go to Tazewell -- it'll cost you only your gas money and perhaps lunch -- and you'll have a much, much better sense of whether one of these will work for you...

Probably won't even cost you lunch: Ask Terry to take you out and buy you lunch as part of his sales pitch.

A small wager. I'll bet a PT 425 will do better at all the jobs you have for it than any other machine available, and I certainly include slope mowing and tilling.
I'll even bet that lunch in Tazewell, but unfortunately the good buffet place downtown closed up.

 

[thingy]

Well,guess I'll go down. I wish it would be able to do them slopes too,,,I'll talk to them,,somebody said they had some real hills available down there,,,,
Any tractor,[by that I mean regular small tractor,deere,kabota,,even my chinese tractor] will make it up these slopes I got,with out any trouble,,,so its not straight up or anything,,,I figured it was about 20 degrees at the worst using 4ft pole level and yard stick way,,will look for another inclinometer.
Its just this pt has hydro drive and such,,and thats what started me asking about them,going up and down,,,we'll just have to go look at one and let them see if they can sell it,,,,KentT,thanks for that tiller pointer,,yeah,that might work out. thingy

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

Any tractor,[by that I mean regular small tractor,deere,kabota,,even my chinese tractor] will make it up these slopes I got,with out any trouble,

If you can work your hills with a conventional tractor with any degree of comfort, and you're right about the slope angle, I think the new 425 will work them up, down, across or any angle you want, with either mower. As with any steep hill, when going up you'll have to slow the tractor down to keep your mower rpm up, which I have to do with the 1845, and I'll bet is even necessary with the 1850. Although the 1845 and 1850 are specifically designated slope mowers, the 422 and 425 are much more comfortable on hills than conventional tractors. I haven't driven the 4 series a lot, but I certainly would take them for slope mowing and tilling over the B7100 Kubota that I had for some years.

 

[ernemats]

I was just out today checking the slopes we mow. We mow a lot of slopes with our 422 with 48" mower that are 20 degree slope. Some we mow across and some up and down. It will mow up with the mower running if you have it wide open and go slow and the hydraulic fluids are not too hot and if the distance on the slope is not too long. I think the new 425's with the stronger wheel motors should be able to mow 20 degree slopes.

 

[ernemats]

Here is a picture of part of what we mow and the ditch I dug with the mini hoe.

 

[thingy]

Thanks erne,,yeah,I'm going down sometime this summer/fall,,will get me one of those angle checker things to be sure of what I'm talking about here,couple areas on my hills might be more than 20 degrees,,cause I sure wouldn't want to be on anything that steep sideways,,,course maybe you got one of those slope pt's??,is that a 422?,,hate to lose stuff to,,I had a thing like that for measureing angles a few years ago,,it musta got snatched by one of my guests??[probably got hid by me is all,in one of those spots where I'll know where it is,yep],,thingy

 

[thingy]

Ernie,whata got there a gas well in your back yard?

Pictures are hard to judge the steepness,,but,if thats 20 degrees,,mine is at least 30,[no kidding here],,guess I could take a picture too,but,like I said,they are decieving,,how do you know the angle there? I used the method told to me by ken,[believe that was ken],,described in this thread,,4 ft stick,level taped on it ,yard stick,,and his calculations for finding the degree in relation to inches,I came up with about 20 degrees that way,,,thanks thingy

 

[ernemats]

I have a 422 pt. I have a magnetic angle finder I got from harbor freight for less than $6. mounted on the flat spot behind the left headlight to check slopes. I don't know how accurate it is but I think it is close. I have gone across slope at up to 25 degrees (not very often) but I feel very uneasy on anything over 20 degrees.

 

[thingy]

Ernie,thanks again,,well than that must be 20 degrees there in your picture,,I bet mine is closer to 30 in spots than,,but like I said,pictures don't show steepness real good unless you got alota trees or poles,next time I go to lowes I'll look for one of those angle thingys like I had,,it was for carpentry work and such,a good one too,,,thingy

 

[ernemats]

Yes that is a gas well in my front yard. The slope on most of what you see near the gas well is only about 10 degrees but up near the house it is over 20 degrees for a distance of about 75 '.

 

[thingy]

Well,good,you hopefully are getting free gas to that boiler,that was some kinda out door boiler isn't it,,?? ,you might have it made there?,,yeah,picture looked a little steeper towards house,,but still not as steep as mine looks in person that is,,but,like I said,,thingy