Powertrac safety question

[HuckBB62]

I was looking at tractors for my friend, and I'm highly impressed by the Powertracs, and I noticed that they sell ramps to load the small ones in pickuptrucks. The ramps look more than up to the job but if I remember right, tailgates are only rated at 300lbs. Am I wrong?

 

[MossRoad]

Hello. I have a PT425 and the ramps from Power Trac. I do not trust my tailgate, so I removed it when I was loading my PT into the bed. Taigates are easy to remove(about 30 seconds with no tools) and tractors are too expensive to risk dropping on the ground from two feet! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[J_J]

I sure do agree with you about the tailgate. I was standing on my tailgate, when one support wire broke. Didn't hurt to much.

 

[MossRoad]

Ouch!

 

[Carpenter]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I sure do agree with you about the tailgate. I was standing on my tailgate, when one support wire broke. Didn't hurt to much. )</font>

I just had the recall work done on my 2001 Chevy 2500HD to prevent that very thing from happening. I still would remove the tailgate before loading my PT. I once was standing on the tailgate of a 57 Ford holding a bale of alfalfa when the tailgate gave way and it hurt alot.

 

[Phils]

I've only transported my 422 twice, both times leaving the tailgate on. I have an older pickup ('91 K2500) that uses metal bars to hold the tailgate, not cables, and there was no problem.

However, this last time, I had the brushhog attached to the PT and one of the PT-supplied ramps now has a curve to it. Not a big deal so far, but I'd have thought that they'd build and sell ramps that would hold one of their lightest machines without bending.

Phil

 

[J_J]

I remember those bars on the older pickups. Maybe I will try and make a pair for my F-250, or braze up a new set of wire cables. The old ones were kind of rusty.

 

[MossRoad]

I have the flat bars on my 1985 Chevy pickup truck. They are very easy to disconnect as the hole in the bar that goes through the pin in the top is slotted. All you have to do is lift the hinge in the bar UP when raising the tailgate instead of letting it fold DOWN and you can remove the bar. Flip both bars off their pins and the left side of the tailgate lifts UP, then the whole gate slips to the left and off it comes. 30 seconds tops.