Useful attachments adapted to PT ?

[m5040]

That pic you showed of the missing fitting, I believe is just a machining "center hole" when the pin was turned on a lath before it was welded in and is not threaded and doesn't need to be. Does that pin go across from one loader arm to the other with the Z-bar linkage pivoting on it?

If so, that Z-bar itself has two fittings, one on each side (right and left).

Purchase a good quality grease gun Zerk connector at an auto parts store, make sure it is small in diameter. Some can be very bulky.

Don't forget you need to buy spray lube as specified in the manual for the joints that don't have a grease fitting as THEY NEED LUBE TOO. I think those are the steering cylinders and the fwd/rev foot control at the pivot. I also spray the ball sockets of everything that has a fitting because it doesn't look to me that the grease zerk doesn't lube the ball sockets.

Very general rule is that everything that moves needs lube.

 

[2manyrocks]

I have found that only certain brands of grease gun nozzles fit the loader arm recessed zerks.

If you raise the engine "hood", and then stand in front of the dipstick, you should see a gizmo bolted to the tub wall, with several hoses going in and out of it, a large (3") diameter metal tube (the brake accumulator), and towards the back end, a large spring. Chock your tractor so it can't move, preferably with the bucket edge straight into the ground. When you start the tractor with the hood open, does the spring move? When you flip the brake switch off, how long does it take for the spring to move? If you watch the spring, with the brakes off, does it periodically go in and out?

Do you have photos of the particular hose end(s) that are leaking for you? Have you tried jacking the PT up, removing the wheel, getting everything clean and running it briefly? Can you see exactly where the oil is leaking? If it is the brake line, did you clean that end getting it super clean and then remove it to check for dirt on the flare surface, or a cracked flare end? (I have had that happen to me once.)

All the best,

Peter

Finally getting back to this.

When I flip the brake off, there's a momentary delay before the spring moves. I forgot to watch it to see if it periodically moves in and out.

I can't seem to find the right wrenches to tighten the hoses that are leaking. The ones I have are too long. Do I need to buy flare end wrenches or what is recommended to tighten these hoses in these confined spaces?

Now at 16 hours, I am hearing the brush mower blades clanging. The mounting bolts appear tight, but some play has developed that is allowing the blades to move, and that's the source of the clanging. Are these some bushings in there that already need replacing? Do I have to remove the entire hub to remove the blade bolt and replace the bushings?

The blades are already beat up, too. Is Power Trac the only source for replacement cutting blades?

 

[m5040]

For the wrenches, I would suggest going to a place like Harbor Freight and buy a cheap set of wrenches and cut them in 1/2 or 1/3 to allow you to get into tight spaces. I would also buy what I call crows foot (they are open end wrench type tools with either 3/8 or 1/2 drive).
If your blades are beat up on your mower, you must be doing some rock cutting. Make sure the blade pivot bolts remain tight (before each use) and watch how beat up they get and change them before tools won't fit on them to remove.
There is a bushing, I have never had to replace them and new blades that I have bought came with bolts and bushings. The bolts are in a somewhat odd size, like 2 1/4, so you buy either from PT or a commercial bolt place or cut down and retreat 2 1/2 bolts.
When you engage the mower, do it at idle speed then rev the engine up, same with shutting down, go to idle first.
I am not really sure on what you mean by clanging, when turned on the mowers centrifugal forces keeps the blades straight out unless you hit something, or shut it off, that is normal.

 

[ponytug]

Finally getting back to this.

When I flip the brake off, there's a momentary delay before the spring moves. I forgot to watch it to see if it periodically moves in and out.

I can't seem to find the right wrenches to tighten the hoses that are leaking. The ones I have are too long. Do I need to buy flare end wrenches or what is recommended to tighten these hoses in these confined spaces?

Now at 16 hours, I am hearing the brush mower blades clanging. The mounting bolts appear tight, but some play has developed that is allowing the blades to move, and that's the source of the clanging. Are these some bushings in there that already need replacing? Do I have to remove the entire hub to remove the blade bolt and replace the bushings?

The blades are already beat up, too. Is Power Trac the only source for replacement cutting blades?

If the spring moves in a few second, that isn't the cause of your movement delay. Do you still have that issue?

I went for many years with a Harbor freight set of offset open end wrenches. Cheap, and they feel cheap, but they get the job done. I keep telling myself that I will score a solid Snap-On or vintage Craftsman set at a local auction, but it hasn't happened, yet. I did eventually buy a set of flare wrenches, but I find that they are not my go to tool for hoses, unless the hose fitting is recalcitrant. I know many folks who find crow's foot wrenches useful, but, so far, I haven't found an occasion when I thought that they were essential, for me at least. I've seen some ugly injector systems on other diesels that absolutely require them, but I haven't owned one of those engines that requires a crow's foot wrench. Definitely a "YMMV" item.

On the mower clanging, it should not clang routinely or clang just once on power up. (If you are mowing that forest debris of yours, then yes, expect clanging /banging every time you hit a chunk.) As @m5040 wrote, try to engage the mower when engine is at idle, and disengage the PTO, only when the engine is at idle and the blades have spun down. I routinely grease the bushings and tighten the greased bolts before every use.

All the best,

Peter

 

[2manyrocks]

I thought about shortening some some cheap wrenches, but didn't know if there was some offset handle wrench or whatever that would make it easier to tighten these hose fittings. I guess I won't feel so bad about butchering a wrench or two.

The clanging has gotten to the point that it's happening when the cutter isn't even cutting anything. I suspect that there is too much play in the blade bolts or bushings. This wasn't a problem at first, but has gotten worse.

How do I remove the blade bolts to see what is going on? Do I have to remove the hub bolts and drop the hub that the blades are mounted on before I can remove the blade bolts?

 

[ponytug]

I thought about shortening some some cheap wrenches, but didn't know if there was some offset handle wrench or whatever that would make it easier to tighten these hose fittings. I guess I won't feel so bad about butchering a wrench or two.

The clanging has gotten to the point that it's happening when the cutter isn't even cutting anything. I suspect that there is too much play in the blade bolts or bushings. This wasn't a problem at first, but has gotten worse.

How do I remove the blade bolts to see what is going on? Do I have to remove the hub bolts and drop the hub that the blades are mounted on before I can remove the blade bolts?

When I looked for a wench set, I specifically looked for an offset design, as that will function with only 15 degrees of clearance.

I just put the mower up on supports that won't fall over, and reach under with an impact wrench. (I have two heavy duty angle iron saw horses that hold the whole mower up, and make it simple for me, but these are really heavy duty saw horses, and I would not generally recommend the method, because when the cylinders bleed down, there will be the full weight of the mower and the loader arms on the supports. Most saw horses aren't anywhere near strong enough in my opinion.) Other folks chain the mower up. I would do whatever is safe, and works for you. I try to be mindful that the whole thing could drop if something failed, and try to be in position where I would not get cut, pinched, or maimed if it happened. I live in earthquake country, and you have to plan for supports to fail, or get knocked over. (Around here, I do not like being on a ladder, as I keep thinking "this would NOT be a good time for an earthquake.")

All the best,

Peter

 

[m5040]

I may be wrong and others can chime in, but on my PT cutting decks (3), the blades do not extend beyond the deck/cover. This tells me you have the wrong blades. The noise may be the blades hitting your deck.
If your picture reposted below is just an illusion and the blades dont stick out, check your center hub for lateral and axial run out. All that heavy use may have bent something or something could be coming loose.
I WOULDN'T USE IT UNTIL YOU FIGURE OUT THE PROBLEM. Blades have been know to come loose and fly out.

 

[2manyrocks]

The blades are near the deck housing, but don't extend past it. The angle of that photo makes it look like the tip extends past the housing. Nonetheless, the blades come very to the edge of the deck housing.

I think there is some wobble going on and it has to do with the blade bolts or bushings if it uses bushings. The free play that has developed seems to be allowing the blades to hit something when spinning. Surely some idiot didn't install the wrong blades at the factory?

The use is just typical field mowing, but this deck is lower to the ground at its maximum height settings than my other cutters. I have hit some rocks.

I have a couple of J-Bar rotary cutters, and both are better cutting decks than this one from PT in design and construction, in my personal opinion.

It also stinks to spend this much for a brand new machine, and it being leaking hydraulic oil at only 16 hours. My Kubotas have nearly 300 hours on them with no leaks.

 

[ponytug]

I may be wrong and others can chime in, but on my PT cutting decks (3), the blades do not extend beyond the deck/cover. This tells me you have the wrong blades. The noise may be the blades hitting your deck.
If your picture reposted below is just an illusion and the blades dont stick out, check your center hub for lateral and axial run out. All that heavy use may have bent something or something could be coming loose.
I WOULDN'T USE IT UNTIL YOU FIGURE OUT THE PROBLEM. Blades have been know to come loose and fly out.

View attachment 870005

That's basically where my 1445 blades are. They come right to rear edge of the deck. When I first bought the machine, I did consider putting a chain guard spaced out a little, but in the end, I realized that debris doesn't come up and out directly. I still wear a chainsaw helmet, just in case of ricocheting debris, having seen how far the brush mower can hit chunks.

@2manyrocks where is your machine leaking?

All the best,

Peter

 

[Xfaxman]

I can't seem to find the right wrenches to tighten the hoses that are leaking. The ones I have are too long. Do I need to buy flare end wrenches or what is recommended to tighten these hoses in these confined spaces?

hydraulic wrench set - Google Search

 

[2manyrocks]

That's basically where my 1445 blades are. They come right to rear edge of the deck. When I first bought the machine, I did consider putting a chain guard spaced out a little, but in the end, I realized that debris doesn't come up and out directly. I still wear a chainsaw helmet, just in case of ricocheting debris, having seen how far the brush mower can hit chunks.

@2manyrocks where is your machine leaking?

All the best,

Peter

I think it helps with the cutting effectiveness, but it's scary how close the blades come to the edge of the deck.

The two main suspects causing the leaks are the hydraulic hose with a 9/16 nut on the left wheel motor and the other is a hydraulic hose with an 11/16 nut coming out of the bottom of the brake actuator.

The issue with tightening these hoses is that there are other hoses in the way along with the bottom and sidewall of the PT tub.

An angled wrench like Xfaxman suggested might work, but it depends on how long the wrench is relative to the space available to turn the wrench.

Started raining here again so no progress on this yet.

 

[MossRoad]

I had a small leak on a fitting on my steering valve under the dash several years ago. In order to get a wrench on the fitting, I had to remove several other fittings to get a wrench in there. Then put them all back on in the reverse order I took them off.

 

[2manyrocks]

PT may assemble these things in a certain order which may mean having to disconnect some hoses to reach others, but I really don't want to mess with the hoses that aren't leaking. But this doesn't excuse what amounts to what I personally consider sloppy assembly at the factory to begin with.

 

[2manyrocks]

Ponytug listed the part nos. for replacement bushings, bolts and washers for his 1445 cutter at a 2010 cost of $37.82. Today, the cost is $64.02 plus tax and shipping to me for a total of $82.65. I suspect I'll find that the OEM bolts or bushings are already wallowed and need replacing.

Thank you for posting this useful information, ponytug.


PT 1445 SQQA mod - brush cutter ?

 

[2manyrocks]

Sun came out today. Used a stubby ratchet and a crows foot wrench to attempt to tighten the leaking hyd. hose fittings. Will see if it worked.

Removed the OEM blades, bolts, and bushings with an impact wrench to find one of the bushings severely wallowed. The McMaster Carr replacements haven't arrived yet.

Noted impact damage on one side of each blade in the same area that must be from the blades hitting the bolts in the hub.

For comparison sake, I included a photo of a new cutter blade for a 6' J-bar and its bolt with the integral bushing. The J-Bar blade and bushing design is much beefier. One odd thing I noticed is that the hole in the PT blade for the mounting bolt and bushing is offset from the center of the blade width instead of being centered.

To my eye, it looks like PT used a soft metal bushing without any grease from the factory, and this is what it looks like at 17 hours.

I don't know how hard these blades are, but they are beat up already.

 

[ponytug]

I think that the mower blades are the same metal that PT uses for the bucket edges, and yes, I agree I think that it is not very hard. I do keep my blades sharp and balanced (one blade to the other, and with the center of mass in the same place +/-). I removed the two bolts that weren't being used. Terry said that the bolts were there to keep the blades from swinging all the way around. Other folks(@woodlandfarms?) have put things like hockey pucks on the bolts. I stick to never starting the mower with engine at anything other than idle, and it hasn't been an issue for me.

I have welded material back into the wallowed holes to bring the hole back to the required ID. That plus the McMaster oiled bushings and regular greasing made welding a one time fix. I think I used 7018, but don't quote me. I have used 7018 to fill in large divots in the blades, and to make up for wear along the outside leading edge.

All the best,

Peter

 

[2manyrocks]

Doing some searching turned up some heavier blades, but the mounting hole is 1.5" which seems more standard for rotary brush cutters. Just wondering if there would be a source for a 5/8ID to 1.5 OD bushing or if there is some other way to safely reduce the mounting hole diameter in a normal brush cutter blade?

 

[ponytug]

Doing some searching turned up some heavier blades, but the mounting hole is 1.5" which seems more standard for rotary brush cutters. Just wondering if there would be a source for a 5/8ID to 1.5 OD bushing or if there is some other way to safely reduce the mounting hole diameter in a normal brush cutter blade?

Well, everybody is different, and we all have different local challenges, so I think that you know best.

I like the design of the Brush Hog gull wing blades and beefy bolts. I looked into switching to a different and more robust system for blades, and for me it was one of those loose thread issues. You start pulling on a thread, it just unravels. I decided that to run beefier blades, I was going to need to beef up the rotor, the bolt mount, the larger nut to hold the bigger bolts, and to take the stresses of the beefier blades, adjust the height of the deck edge, the wheel height, and the mount. My takeaway was that I decided I would wait until the mower blade wallowing and wear was a problem. With the McMaster bolts and bushings, blade wear has not been enough of an issue for me, so I have just left it. Those, plus a bit of welding to touch up the blades have been more than enough. I haven't bought new blades in fourteen or fifteen years.

All the best,

Peter

 

[2manyrocks]

Those are practical considerations.

Taking all of them together, might make more sense just to buy a cutter designed for a CTL and adapt the mount to the PT.

 

[ponytug]

Those are practical considerations.

Taking all of them together, might make more sense just to buy a cutter designed for a CTL and adapt the mount to the PT.

Good thought. I looked at those, as well, and for my uses discarded the idea in favor of modifying the PT mower, but YMMV. I'm just sharing what I thought I was up for.

Just watch the weight of those attachments, and consider that the center of mass is going to be quite a way out, reducing the lift power. I have a 3rd party broom adapted to the PT, which weighs 1200lbs-ish, and that is right at the edge of what the 1445 can lift because the broom has a swivel/angle that puts the broom out 36" or so from the attachment point.

I would say that with the bushings and blades sorted out, I'm happy with the PT brush mower, which works well for me, here.

I do mow wet thistle on slopes using chains on the tires. Slipping crabwise on steep slope never feels comfortable to me as I know that I have lots of ground squirrels and burrows that can the slope pretty quickly, but everyone is different.

All the best,

Peter