PT 180 Info

[SpringHollow]

If limited resources, I would much rather have a PT that mows reasonably well vs a great mower that does not do all of the other things. But then I have never used fertilizer nor weed killer either. Fertilizer just makes one have to mow more often. I like my seat time but for getting things done, not mowing. Now bush hogging, that is different. There is a good sense of accomplishment when doing that work.

It normally takes about 60 - 90 minutes to cut our lawn with a push mower. When the grass gets real long as is typical in the Spring, it takes about 5 minutes to mow it with the 8' bush hog on the PT. It takes that long because of all of the cutting in around trees etc. But the result is only okay because my ground is not smooth and level. With 8' of width, it does not follow all of the ups and downs real well. But it gets the grass cut to a reasonable length. When the grass is that tall, it would take many hours with the push mower.

Ken

 

[Persistent]

Thanks guys for the replies.
I was afraid the 18hp might not be enough to use the 48" deck well.
I really dont want to go any smaller of a deck...I guess I could look at the 45" deck...but I would rather speed up my mowing time not slow it down.

ernemats....hey thats great. I'll have to PM you and get some directions.
I would like to look at that 422 you have. Do you mow with it? How does it do around here?
I know last year we had so much rain I was mowing every 4-5days to keep up with it.

 

[J_J]

No one has mentioned the 2000 psi relief setting on the 180.

The 180 requires about 11 HP to develop the 8 GPM's at 2000 psi.

That means that the PTO pump displacement is about .5 cu in.

I believe the hyd motors on the 48 in deck are about 3 cu in.

So 8 GPM into a 3 cu in hyd motor, will run it at 616 rpm, and the torque will be about 955 in lbs.

You might get away with a 44 in deck from a lawn tractor and mount a hyd motor on it.

If you went to a 8 GPM pump with 3000 psi, you could run the 48 in deck. That pump will require about 16 HP.

Or just keep the regular lawn mower you have now.

Sharp blades is the answer to a good clean cut.

The 180 PTO has 8 GPM at 2000 psi.

The 422 PTO has 8 GPM at 2500 psi.

The 425 PTO has 8 GPM at 2500 psi.

Have you considered a used 425 with attachments.

http://www.power-trac.com/usedPTs.htm

 

[ernemats]

I mow some with it but I mostly use the pt 1845 to mow as it has a 72" deck compared to the 48" deck on the 422 and also where we mow is mostly hill side and . For the 422 I have the 48" finish mower, the mini hoe, fertilizer spreader, small bucket and also have it set up to use with a log splitter. As j j said check out the used power tracs on power tracs web site, also sometimes you see them on ebay .

 

[J_J]

You could also take this unit to the field/lawn and sit on your 180 and control this mower by remote control.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWHCoIJ8HaE

 

[KMA]

If the two main uses for the PT180 would be mowing and snowblowing, then I'd suggest considering something else. I have a PT422 with a transplanted EH72FI engine (25-28HP or so), and even with the added horsepower it is barely enough to power a 42" single stage snowblower I converted to use a hydraulic motor. It works pretty well, but in deep and/or heavy snow I have to go very slow. I don't think the PT180 would work well enough for anything more than a few inches and you'd be better of with a walk behind blower. On a side note: we got 14" of snow the other day and having my PT snowblower was a godsend... I have to clear a 400' driveway and mostly use my ATV with plow, so the snowblower helped reduce the amount of snow that needed to be pushed. :thumbsup:

For mowing, I have the 48" finish deck and it does okay. It does clump up in thick grass due to the deck design mostly. In general it works faster than a typical homeowner's ride on mower, but you might be better off spending the money on a prosumer or used professional ZTR and get much, much better results in less time. You can get a lot of mower for $5-6k. I shaved 30-45 min off of my mowing time after switching to my Ferris 61" ZTR, along with getting better results. In other words, most PT422 owners seem to wish they had more power, which is why I think you see very few recommendations for the PT180. If you were doing light work with the bucket (e.g. moving mulch), then it would be a nice solution.

Good luck!

 

[cqaigy2]

You could also take this unit to the field/lawn and sit on your 180 and control this mower by remote control.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWHCoIJ8HaE

That looks like it would be fun to mow with.

 

[KMA]

You could also take this unit to the field/lawn and sit on your 180 and control this mower by remote control.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWHCoIJ8HaE

That looks like it would be fun to mow with.

Wow, that is really cool! Looks like that model has been replaced with the TREX... not sure of price but definitely over $10k I think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76n_Ey0ERSw

Here's another companies products I found poking around... (sorry for going way off topic)

Commercial Grade Remote Control Slope Mowers

 

[BobRip]

The nice thing about the PT is you can easily adjust the speed with a little more or less pedal pressure if your mower bogs down. I think this would make the horsepower a little less critical. I own a 422. I don't see a lot of comments from 418 owners. Is this a real rare machine?

 

[MossRoad]

Yep. I don't think there are many out there.
There's a used 422 on PT's website. It looks pretty rough. Says it has a rebuilt Robin. It does have the twin steering cylinders. I think he wants $4500. Wonder how much TLC it would need. The hoses are probably original.

Anyhow, I'd be leery of expecting too much out of the 180.