Looking for feedback on PT attachments

Blade Runners · Oct 18, 2013

If you guys have feedback on PT attachments I would sure like to hear it. I know each person has different uses for their PT but can you touch on some of your more useful implements for whatever you do? Which ones work good and not so good?

woodlandfarms · Oct 18, 2013

What do you want to accomplish? There are like 40 implements. Maybe you can tell us what you want to do or what you think you want and get some guidance there.

Here is my list of implements. Everything I bought is 3rd party (or I made myself) except for the mower. Mower is the only true PT implement I have.

Heavily used
Grapple
Mower
Bucket (with removable tooth bar)
Landscape Rake (big one)

Moderate Use
Box Blade
Pickle Forks
Post Hole digger
Weed Sprayer - front mount
Back Hoe Attachment

Never used
Tree Puller (home made - broke)
Boom Pole - Just haven't needed it yet, and with PT's anemic lift.....

Wish I had
Going to build me a landplane. Haven't fully thought it out yet
Trencher - Looking for a used one I can convert
Stump Grinder - Just think PT's is to wheeny - Considering bulding my own until I realize the spinning mass would be heading right at me.

Things that I could do without
If I had a land plane, I would not have the box blade
Back Hoe takes a lot to figure out. Not something I am that skilled at
Stump Grinder can be used as trencher.

Things I do.

I manage 40 hilly acres. Lots of blackberries and trees to drive around, and I am on slopes.
I manage 1 mile of bad dirt road driveway, hilly - Landscape Rake and Box Blade for the bad ruts.
I trim 25 fruit trees - Pickle fork with a man basket and my wife in the basket
I clean up the fallen limbs (grapple)
I move dirt and rock (bucket)
I plant trees - Post hole digger and occassionally back hoe if a big tree

Blade Runners · Oct 18, 2013

Mainly aeration, then ground prep for full lawn renovation or overseeding, removing or tilling existing turf, overseeding (slicing) existing lawns without damaging turf, moving mulch, possibly handling and installing sod, planting trees/bushes, small tree/limb clean up work. Just about anything a lawn care/landscaping company could possibly do. I'm not really considering a PT for mowing. If the finish deck windrows it is useless to me. I am considering bush hogging with a pT though.

MossRoad · Oct 18, 2013

I have a PT425 2001 model year.
10 cubic foot light material bucket.
5 cubic foot rock bucket with teeth.
60" power angle snow plow
60" finish mower
48" brush hog
pallet forks

10 cubic foot light material bucket holds big loads. Cheap and effective. Very satisfied with this attachment.

5 cubic foot rock bucket with teeth. Tough little bucket for harder soil and rocks. Very satisfied with this attachment.

60" power angle snow plow. GREAT! Piles snow 6' high. VERY very satisfied with this attachment.

The 60" finish mower gets the most use. Fine more my average yard. Has held up well for 12 years. Lost a belt. Lost a bearing. Rear wheels need replacing this year. Mows 1+ acre every week April-September. Mows leave October-Nov. Very satisfied with this attachment.

48" brush hog. This attachment scares the bajeebers out of me. Destroys anything in its path and flings debris wildly. Also tosses heavy steel blades when the blade bolt breaks. It has cracks in the deck due to too much stress where the angles and the front wheels meet. Needs more reinforcement. Could be built better. However, it works as advertised. While I'm not satisfied with the build quality of this attachment, it does an incredible job of clearing brush. It needs repair often. I cuss it and kiss it. Kind of a sick relationship. I highly recommend this attachment BUT STRESS IT IS DANGEROUS AS ALL HECK!

Pallet forks. Cheap and handy. I bent the heck out of them doing things I was not supposed to do.... prying stumps. That's my fault. For moving things around like logs, boulders, railroad ties, pallets, etc... they are fantastic. I highly recommend this attachment.

MossRoad · Oct 18, 2013

Wish I had a 4-in-1 bucket.
Wish I had a tiller.
Wish I had a post hole digger.
Wish I had a trencher.

Can't justify any of them, just wish I had them.

Blade Runners · Oct 18, 2013

MossRoad said:
48" brush hog. This attachment scares the bajeebers out of me. Destroys anything in its path and flings debris wildly. Also tosses heavy steel blades when the blade bolt breaks. It has cracks in the deck due to too much stress where the angles and the front wheels meet. Needs more reinforcement. Could be built better. However, it works as advertised. While I'm not satisfied with the build quality of this attachment, it does an incredible job of clearing brush. It needs repair often. I cuss it and kiss it. Kind of a sick relationship. I highly recommend this attachment BUT STRESS IT IS DANGEROUS AS ALL HECK!

LOL @ bajeebers

Is the cracking because the top of the deck is too thin or are the caster arms cracking at the deck? The caster mounting plates look to be about 1/4"+ steel and are pretty big. Do you think it is possible to upgrade the blade bolts to lessen the chance of them breaking or are they in an area that just receives alot of abuse?

cqaigy2 · Oct 19, 2013

My brush hog cracked in the same area. Im thinking it's a couple issues, sharp angle at the attachment area causing forces to be concentrated and at least in my case, i take it out of float to get more pressure to get traction and then end up supporting the tractor on the front casters.

I used a sawzall with metal blade to widen the crack then attached a come-along to reposition and flatten the deck then 6011 to close it up. Welded on both side to beef up the area. It's been two years now, so far so good.

Blade Runners · Oct 19, 2013

I think the cause of the stress cracking is the height of the attachment point (carry handle looking thing on the deck). If you think about it, something as tall as it is, will act a lever and apply alot of force to the deck and the caster arms as the deck is being pushed forward. If the deck encounters any forward resistance the pressure is increased considerably. Down pressure probably just adds to this design flaw. Why is there is a need to make the deck attachment so tall? The only reason I can think of, is they are trying to get the loader arms into the best (strongest) position for pushing something. Then again, I don't think this is the case when you are pushing a box blade or snow blade. The loader arms seem to be lower when using these two attachments.

Would it be possible to push the deck with something similar in design to pallet forks attached directly to the deck?

cqaigy2 · Oct 19, 2013

Hmm, you may have something there. The only problem i could see with it being lower, is when the arms are low, the tractor want to crawl up onto them, but that seems it would only happen when there is a bit of resistance when moving forward.

Blade Runners · Oct 19, 2013

When you say crawl up on them, are you saying the tractor tries to put pressure on the loader arms due to pushing resistance, causing them to go lower? Keep in mind I have no experience with front end loaders so I don't know their characteristics.

One thing i noticed from looking at pics of the mower deck mount is it's roughly the same height as the rear hinge pins on the loader arms. This would seem to transfer pushing resistance directly back to the loader arm hinge points and somewhat minimize the pressure applied to the lift hydraulics. This might be the reason for having such a high mounting point on the mower deck. It probably minimizes the tractor wanting to crawl up on the deck as it does with lower mounted attachments.

ponytug · Oct 20, 2013

Regardless of why the design is the that way, it is the factory design. Some folks with the larger decks (non425 especially) have put in chains or braces. The design is clearly not as strong as it could be, but it would also appear not be a problem for most users.
YMMV...

All the best,

Peter

Blade Runners · Oct 20, 2013

ponytug said:
Regardless of why the design is the that way, it is the factory design.

An obvious point, but some factory designs can be improved also.

J_J · Oct 21, 2013

Blade Runners,

Have you read all the post on the Power-Trac forum?

There are many thousands of questions and answers here by knowledgeable individuals.

agjones · Oct 21, 2013

Like J_J says...read up lots of answers are already present in the forum...I find it easier to use google to search than the forum search...

FOr a landscape outfit that already has dependable dedicated mowers...

I'd suggest the:
4in1 bucket, power rake, planter or PHD auger, grapple (great tool), wheel trencher or stump grinder (good for low voltage and sprinkler line too) and the brush deck if you have the need for rough cut.

I rely heavily on the trencher for utility line repair and I find it to be the toughest ground engaging too that PT makes. But you may not need it in your setup...the tiller and box blade are both fine implements....but from your desc it sounds like the power rake would be a better fit.

MossRoad · Oct 21, 2013

Blade Runners said:
LOL @ bajeebers

Is the cracking because the top of the deck is too thin or are the caster arms cracking at the deck? The caster mounting plates look to be about 1/4"+ steel and are pretty big. Do you think it is possible to upgrade the blade bolts to lessen the chance of them breaking or are they in an area that just receives alot of abuse?

The deck it too thin in that area. It cracks right at a corner. Many folks have the same cracks. I just welded the crack shut and it came back a few uses later. I need to add some plate to strengthen the area. The casters are not the problem. The problem is the weight and stress put on the area, magnified by the inevitable abuse of the deck by the operator. As for the blade bolts.... stronger bolts may break something else. The bolt heads are the low point. Bad design. Gull-wing blades would probably resolve the issue 90% of the time. You'd hear some whacking and back off or lift before getting to the hub. As it is now, the bolt heads might as well be called "rock and stump detectors".