Toolz . . . Perhaps "argument" was too strong a word, but I think you will find that I have come to admire the PT equipment and have been very complimentary of it. And I think that you will find, if you search some other forums where new members have posted inquiries about what tractor to buy, that I have now begun to suggest the PT equipment as versitile and cost effective. Unfortunately, after much debate and help from PT owners, I have come to the conclusion that the PT is not what I need (and I tried).
As for my land, the problem areas lie in the the fact that a creek meets a river and the area around that intersection has steep but beautiful hills. There is a 60' elevation change from the front of the lot to the valley floor. The lot can be divided into 3 sections, the upper lot, which is lightly rolling land; the valley, which is basically flat, and the transition areas which vary from gentle slopes through woods to near drop offs. The house was build at the intersection of the 2 ridges and is near the top of the property elevation. One of my neighbors calls my property the "lot from hell" because of the special way we have been forced to lay out our plans. The house is up the hill, but the pool is 150' west at the bottom, along with the pool house. My daughters playhouse sits about 130' north in the valley down the steepest path we mow. Where the house sits is partially visible to the road, but only becuase I had a bulldozer cut through the hill for my driveway instead of driving up 8' only to come back down 12' to where the house sits, so we find people stopping at the end of the drive just to get a glimps of the house.
EB . . . GET A GRIP. Maybe you need to read what some of your fellow PT owners have said about PT equipment on hills!
<font color="red"> I had to sell the 425 because I had problems with getting it up the hill - not traction - it was very stable - but it did not have enough wheel torque </font>
and then there is <font color="green"> The PT is a great utility machine and will do many different things. Thats why I purchased mine, but it will never replace my mowers. </font>
or finally <font color="purple"> I think you have more of an extreme situation with your hills than I will ever run into. So far, it sounds like the Ventrac will handle the hills better than the PT. I've never seen a Ventrac in person, but have never heard anything bad about them, only good. And the few people that have seen both machines say the Ventrac is a better mower </font>
I think it is great that you love your equipment, and I came to this forum for help to try to find out if PT would work for me. I think, with the help of several PT owners, that it will not be the best choice. As for me flying out to the factory to find out first hand, personally I think that is foolish and a waste of money. If I can have a dealer bring me, at no charge, a piece of equipment to test on my property, so I can decide if it will do what I need done, then why the heck would I waste time and money just to see if something MAY work, because if it does not, then the money spent was simply thrown away. No thank you. It is not my tuff luck. It is common sense that I explore ALL VIABLE equipment on my property.
To ALL: At this point I don't know what machine I will buy. The Ventrac, at least on paper, does everything I want, and then some. The Power Trac seems like it may work, but there seems to be reasonable doubt as to which model, if any is appropriate, and they are larger than I would like and don't turn as tight as I would like. So if the Ventrac 3000 turns out not to be suitable, I will look at the Steiner and the Ventrac traditional (?) articulated tractors. In any case, I appreciate all the help that you guys have given me. Thank you all.
