What did you do with your Power Trac today?

[BigDaddyEureka]

Cleared the driveway of about 2" deep slush and water with the PT-425 and the blade with the rubber lip. Turned a 2 hour job into about 30 minutes of work...MUCH BETTER than clearing all that by hand!

One tip...my driveway is asphalt. Once you get the angle (left to right) and tilt (forward and backwards) you want, set the blade down on the surface in FLOAT and then go for it. The weight of the blade will let the rubber edge float over the asphalt without digging in like it would with the lift control in neutral. Works like a champ!

 

[woodlandfarms]

No pictures but I am using my York rake on my mile long gravel driveway to remove snow and ice. It’s less destructive than a blade and digs down and breaks up the ice.

 

[m5040]

Grading some gravel with 1430 ( and adapter from Power Trac to SSQA to 3pt hitch, gets the job done)

 

[Tchamp]

 

[Tchamp]

Just put down 10 truck loads of asphalt millings on my driveway about a quarter mile long. the company would only dump in place so i spread it all out with my little 2425. Took about a day and a half. The trick on getting it smooth was to level it at night. The lights on the tractor really showed the high spots very well so i could level them very easily.

 

[MossRoad]

Very nice!!!

 

[cqaigy2]

I'm going to remember that night light trick.

 

[ernemats]

Nice

 

[ponytug]

The contractor repairing a driveway wall cracked our fire hydrant main water line, which pretty rapidly flooded everything into a muddy mess.

PT with trencher to the rescue. After turning off the water, which with a 4" main is always a challenge, I cut down either side of the the line with the trencher, cleaned the pipe off, cut it, assembled fittings for a new hydrant, glued it up, and then used the PT to press in a t-post to hold the hydrant up until construction is finished.

Oh, and then had to take out a tree that was too close to the wall and chip it with the PT.

Happy camper here.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Tchamp]

Cut down a tree in my yard and used mt 2425 to hold tree sections as i cut them into small enough pieces to put into my smoker. Then used the stump grinder to get rid of the stump in my yard. A good days work .

 

[MossRoad]

Yeah it was!

 

[m5040]

Where is all the snow and ice?!!!!

 

[MossRoad]

We got 2" the other day. Gone now. Lots of grass showing. Only snow is in the shadows. I plowed the driveway one (1) time this year. We had several rain events.

 

[m5040]

We just had 1 1/2" of sleet. I shovel full weighs like 25 lbs and the stuff doesn't melt well in the sun. You can walk on top of it all. Spring is coming!

 

[PowerTracManiac]

Cut down a tree in my yard and used mt 2425 to hold tree sections as i cut them into small enough pieces to put into my smoker. Then used the stump grinder to get rid of the stump in my yard. A good days work .View attachment 735234View attachment 735235View attachment 735236View attachment 735237

Re: Tchamp "trees and stump grinder"

Perfect application for the PT. Nice work!
Any tips on the stump grinder useage?
I plan on using mine or the first time in the next couple days.

 

[Tchamp]

Re: Tchamp "trees and stump grinder"

Perfect application for the PT. Nice work!
Any tips on the stump grinder useage?
I plan on using mine or the first time in the next couple days.

I start on the side closest to the machine and slowly work my way through the stump i switch sides and work from opposite when i have gotten to where i have alot of surface being cut at one time. It seems to cut faster when it is a smaller area cutting on the face. I tilt the stump grinder all the way back and lower it down to the stump and when i make contact with the stump then tilt to lower the head a little at a time. Be paitent with it and dont get in a hurry. It takes a little time to get the hang of it, when you do then it will go pretty well. There is a art to using it, you cant power through it at all.It takes finesse

 

[ponytug]

Bent the floor on my 4n1 bucket again today.

I was trying to remove some loose soil on a steep slope. (Spoils from another project) I didn't have enough traction to move forward into the loose soil, so I was back dragging to fill the bucket. That went ok until I picked up an old concrete fence post footing that had been previously pulled out. I made the mistake of clamping the 16" diameter chunk of concrete on the jaws of the 4n1. Now I have a two to two and half inch gap along most of the back of the bucket because the floor is bent. The back edge on my bucket is only 1/4". (The front is 3/8".)

I need to buy an I-beam or something to be able to press the blade edge back to flat. I chained my 20T jack to the bucket to try to bend the bucket edge flat and the jack went into bypass, which was a little disappointing. I ended up pulling against the back blade. It is now only 3/4-1/2" out. Round two tomorrow.

I have ordered a nice heavy duty weld-on boron steel edge to reinforce the existing one. It should be a fun fabrication.

All the best,

Peter

 

[MossRoad]

Sounds like a project. Would enjoy seeing photos.

 

[MossRoad]

And aren't hydraulics amazingly strong?

I've used my forks to push into the ground around stumps, concrete posts, rocks, etc., almost straight down to the QA plate several times, then rock the dump/curl function back and forth to pry/loosen the soil. A couple times when I backed the forks out of the ground, they were bent 6"!

You wouldn't think a little 1500# machine would be able to do that. You'd think the machine would roll back and forth before bending those steel forks, but nope. Gotta be careful.

 

[ponytug]

Yes, hydraulics are amazing. I might breakdown and pick up a portapower type cylinder to go with the I-beam and plug it into the quick disconnects. Maybe. I hope never to have this problem again with the reinforced blade. I went for welding the boron steel, which sounds a bit finicky to me, as you need to preheat everything, but not too much and then stitch weld to keep the cutting edge from getting too warm and losing its hardening. The heat window isn't huge; 120F< ideal temperature range < 520F. The alternative was getting a magnetic drill to bore the ten 5/8" holes for a bolt on blade. Time will tell whether that was a smart decision.

My forks are forged, and thankfully I haven't, yet, managed to bend them, but then I admit to only using them "off label" a half dozen times on wimping things like poison oak and a massive elderberry that was two feet across with real roots. Unfortunately, the elderberry was basically growing under the eaves of the barn and really had to go... I am sure that other folks here get more off label use out their forks than I do. Mine get a lot of "on label" use moving pallets and bulk items. I wouldn't have bought them but for the advice here to do so, and I am very very happy to have the forks. Thanks!

All the best,

Peter