Videos of New PT425 Arriving/Unloading

[MossRoad]

Ha! I just noticed that I found those same black gloves in my basement last week, and that I can no longer fit in the coveralls I was wearing in that video 9 years ago! :laughing:

 

[toy]

This weekend I will have some time to take some photos and try to loosen the clamps to try to pull hoses out more. I will try some things and report back by Monday.

I was wondering if you had tried to loosen the bolts and try to pull a little extra hose out to help you. I did mine when I first got it and it helped, Mine didn't stick out hardly enough for them to hook up with nimble fingers and hands let alone stiff aching hands, so that is why I suggested it in an earlier post.

 

[Clumber]

I was wondering if you had tried to loosen the bolts and try to pull a little extra hose out to help you. I did mine when I first got it and it helped, Mine didn't stick out hardly enough for them to hook up with nimble fingers and hands let alone stiff aching hands, so that is why I suggested it in an earlier post.

Folks, I have been away from the forum for a while -- too busy with real work trying to help solve impossible problems. The hard issues I can deal with in reasonable time. The impossible ones take longer.

Yes, I did try loosening the hose clamp bolts. It worked great. On the right side, standing in front of the FEL, the 1/4" hose has about 2.5 " of play after loosening the bolt and cutting the cable tie further down the hose. I extended the hose about 1.5 " and tighten the bolt on the metal hose crimp. Moving it further would mean that the bolt would have to tighten on the hose -- probably not a good idea. I could only extend the left 1/4" hose about .5" but that helped.

Disconnecting the couplers have become much easier -- no more problems there. Connecting is still not trivial but I think more doable. I found that when I straddle the FEL at the Quick Connect plate I have more leverage to shove on the connector and seat it. That position is somewhat unavailing but I am usually alone when doing that. Thanks Toy for the suggestion.

 

[toy]

If you are tightening down on the hose with the bolt, you might be able to get something to put between the hose and the bolt to disperse the pressure of the bolt over a wider area. Example cutting a small section of conduit and cut one side of it off and sliding it under the bolt, and tightening it down if you think that might be a problem.

 

[toy]

Oh yea Clumber you are welcome.

 

[MossRoad]

Folks, I have been away from the forum for a while -- too busy with real work trying to help solve impossible problems. The hard issues I can deal with in reasonable time. The impossible ones take longer.

Yes, I did try loosening the hose clamp bolts. It worked great. On the right side, standing in front of the FEL, the 1/4" hose has about 2.5 " of play after loosening the bolt and cutting the cable tie further down the hose. I extended the hose about 1.5 " and tighten the bolt on the metal hose crimp. Moving it further would mean that the bolt would have to tighten on the hose -- probably not a good idea. I could only extend the left 1/4" hose about .5" but that helped.

Disconnecting the couplers have become much easier -- no more problems there. Connecting is still not trivial but I think more doable. I found that when I straddle the FEL at the Quick Connect plate I have more leverage to shove on the connector and seat it. That position is somewhat unavailing but I am usually alone when doing that. Thanks Toy for the suggestion.

That's good to hear. Just be sure to set the parking brake and move the unit back and forth until you feel the pins lock the front tires, then turn the engine OFF before you attempt to straddle or put your body over any part of the FEL arms. If, for some reason, you slip, or a branch falls from a tree, or a turkey lands on the joystick, you can be crushed to death. Pretty quickly, too.

On several occasions I have been bulldozing the PT425 through thick brush only to have a branch push against the joystick, raising the FEL without my assistance. On one occasion, I was dumping a load of brush and I raised it too high. The brush came back over the top of the bucket and pushed the FEL even higher, dumping more brush on me. It could have gotten really ugly really fast had I been moving logs instead of light brush.

So, it is easy to push that joystick back unintentionally if, say, you were standing over the FEL, lost your footing, and while grabbing for a hand hold hit the joystick instead of the ROPS. UP YOU GO! and pinched between a rock and a hard place, if you know what I mean. :thumbsup:

 

[Clumber]

Thanks guys for the suggestions. I have been doing that "technique" with the tractor turned off (and Parking brake set). However, can moving the joystick with the tractor off cause the FEL to move?????

 

[J_J]

Yes, it will decend/lower fast. You are providing a path for the fluid to escape out of the cyl. The valve in neutral is supposed to block alll flow from the cyl, but sometimes they leak down.

 

[Clumber]

Thanks, that is good to know! So with the Tractor off, parking brake set, an attachment locked on the QA plate, and the attachment lowered to the ground preventing the FEL from lowering further, I should be safe to straddle the FEL when I have to. Maybe better phrasing would be safer but avoid moving the joystick in any case.

 

[MossRoad]

Thanks guys for the suggestions. I have been doing that "technique" with the tractor turned off (and Parking brake set). However, can moving the joystick with the tractor off cause the FEL to move?????

Yes, it can drop with the tractor off. For that matter, it will leak down very slowly with the tractor on or off also. So keep that in mind. Never, ever get under an implement on the FEL arms with the tractor on OR off.