So where does my PT1418 fit?

[davesisk]

I was just browsing Power-trac's site, and according to all the specs, my 12-year old 1418 looks more like a 422 than a 1430 (except that mine's red, matching the current 1400 series, vs. the green of the 400 series). It's an 18HP gas engine, weighs a little over 1000 lbs, sounds like a 400 series to me? Does anyone else have an old one similar to mine? I guess somewhere along the way, the model lines got shuffled around, eh?

Ya know, at one point, I had entertained the idea of just getting a halfway decent lawn tractor and attempting to build a front-loader for it. Although it would have been cheaper than the already fantastic price I got this old 1418 for, I seriously doubt it would have been as rugged and useful as this PT has turned out to be (probably mostly because of my lack of craftsmanship!). Anyway, I wanted a tractor that I could use to work in the yard, not one I'd have to work on first! (Of course, I did have to do a little of that anyway, but certainly not as much as being silly enough to attempt to build a front-loader and attach it to a small tractor that simply wasn't intended to be able to hold a front-loader, let alone the load!) Plus I wouldn't have had a stump grinder and power-auger to boot...

In a nutshell, I think I made a good choice!

Regards,
Dave

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

Dave:
For reasons not readily apparent, PT changed the colors a while back, so that, as I understand it, all the diesels are red, and all the gas machines are green - at least this year.
I think your machine is a 418 in red, without the quick attach system. (I'll bet that system could be added, but probably requires you to plumb in a valve for the locking cylinders.)
The 418 has now disappeared from the list, but I believe had the same frame as the current 422.
There aren't many used PTs on the market, because most owners are as happy with them as you are.

 

[davesisk]

So I see! I was very surprised to find one used, and local at that. When I was going to look at it, I figured it was probably a beat-up piece of crap (especially considering the price), but it appeared to be in pretty good shape, so I bought it on the spot and loaded it up on the trailer I had conveniently brought with me...<g> (If you've followed my posts, you know I spent 1 1/2 days replacing hydraulic hoses, and I've still got some wiring issues and a treadle sloppiness issue...but that's OK, I'll work through 'em eventually).

There's so many trees in my backyard that I'm glad it's small and manueverable. Sometimes I get wedged in, but I've used the bucket and steering to crawl sideways. About the only thing that would've been more manueverable would have been something like a Toro Dingo, but then it's skid-steer design would've done more damage to the yard. I think this machine was a great compromise, and (I think) easier to move around the trees than my next choice (a Yanmar 1300D compact tractor w/FEL) would have been. The PT was also cheaper than the Yanmar (which was the 2nd cheapest alternative I had found, short of building what I needed!), and about half the price of a used Dingo (if you can even find one).

And, I still think that the old 3-pin attachment method that mine uses looks suspiciously like a category 1 3-point hitch...<g>. A neighbor has a mid-size Kubota, I think I may give him a call tonight and go compare it to his 3pt hitch. I'm thinking it might be pretty easy to make some sort of adapter to allow me to use cheap 3pt hitch attachments...has anyone here done that?

 

[davesisk]

Oh yeah, Charlie, when I went to look at the PT, I thought I was going to look at a 418. But when I got there, the printed letters on the engine cowl said 1418. But then, it obviously has pretty much the same specs as a 418 (if they still made it...). And like I said earlier, if it were any bigger, I couldn't move it around in the backyard!

Regards,
Dave

 

[MossRoad]

Dave,
Can you take a picture of the arm attachments? The ball joints on the ends of my hydraulic cylinders and where the loader arms are pinned to the frame look suspiciously like the ball joints on my 3pt on my IH2500B.

I'll bet you're right.

 

[Sedgewood]

MossRoad <font color=green> I'll bet you're right.

When I call PT to ask if they had a Quick Hitch like attachment for the quick attach they had a hard time grasping just what I wanted to do but left me with the impression that the arms are indeed Cat 1.

 

[MossRoad]

Yep. Some of mine look like cat1 and some look like cat2 with spacer sleeves.

 

[davesisk]

Well, I've got a call in to my neighbor who owns a mid-size Kubota, and when he calls me back, I intend to drive my PT down to his house and compare the hitches. It's similar enough that I'm sure it's just a matter of a few pieces of metal and some bolts to make it work!

 

[Sedgewood]

davesisk <font color=red>Well, I've got a call in to my neighbor who owns a mid-size Kubota, and when he calls me back, I intend to drive my PT down to his house and compare the hitches. It's similar enough that I'm sure it's just a matter of a few pieces of metal and some bolts to make it work!</font color=red>

When I asked PT if they had a 3ph adapter sorta like a "Quick Hitch" my thought was to have a quick way to hook up the many 3ph attachments out there. Putting a "Quick Hitch" on your 1418 would get you into the world of 3ph stuff with some of the PT quick attach advantages.