What's the process of shifting involve? Just curious, as some PT owners have pondered two speed wheel motor setups, which would be awfully hard to coordinate.
My 2001 PT425, for instance, was set up as a compromise between good mowing speed and moderate torque. As a result, is is a good front end loader for moving large amounts of loose material rapidly, but it does not have enough guts to dig into hard packed earth. That has been alleviated somewhat with the newer wheel motors on the current generation of PT425, but it would still be nice to have a maximum wheel torque mode and a high speed travel mode.
There is a shift lever on the left side. The machine must be somewhat still. Often the gears will not mesh, so if it won't change gears you need to inch forward or reverse ever so slightly. The machine comes out of the old gear before going into the new one, so half way into the shift, the machine is free wheeling in neutral. This is a dangerous situation, because it has no brakes whatsoever. Don't ever shift on a hill, unless you are sideways. It takes some getting used to, and most of the time I just leave it in low when cutting hilly areas.
This machine does not have wheel motors, but rather hydraulic transaxles. They grab really well with the dualies. I can easily go straight up a 30 degree slope, in low gear, without losing traction. The draft control is done with springs, which actually is more responsive than the PT pressure valve. The weight distribution is not nearly as good as the PT, because the engine is up front. This thing would make an awful loader.
The engine, though, is very nice. It is a 31 HP B&S Vanguard, which is actually a Daihatsu, made by Toyota. It is a 950 cc motor that has a full cast iron block, three cylinder. This machine is much better protected against overheating, as it has an easy to clean screen on the radiator, combined with an audible beep when it gets over 220 degrees. When the grass is wet it never overheats, only when it is really dry. The only knock is that I wish it had just a little more power. I can't go as fast as I want to on the hills, but after all I am trying to mow with a 7 foot deck.
The operator comforts are much better. It has a really nice suspension seat, and a really nice steering wheel. The wheel on my PT is a complete joke, my kid's toys have better steering wheels than the PT. It has a cup holder and a big storage compartment. There is a really sweet cab option for the Ventrac, but I doubt I will ever have a real need for it.
