A Power Trac in North Central Texas

[Bird]

As some of you know, I visited the Power Trac factory a few years ago, when we were in the southern end of West Virginia visiting my wife's family. It was an interesting visit, but I don't think I'd seen any Power Tracs in my part of the country until day before yesterday. Apparently my own City (Corinth) has one that I saw being used to mow a large drainage ditch in my neighborhood. I didn't get close enough to be sure of the model, but I think it might be a PT-1845. I know it had duals on all four corners. I'm assuming it was a city employee and city equipment, rather than a contractor, because there was a marked city pickup with a trailer parked nearby.

 

[woodlandfarms]

Well, now that there is one, you should buy another ;-)

Love to hear what the city thinks of the machine...

Carl

 

[MossRoad]

Well, now that there is one, you should buy another ;-)

Love to hear what the city thinks of the machine...

Carl

I'll tell you what they'll say...


$$%%^&@ thing!!!!

...but nothing else will do that work for that price.

 

[Bird]

I stopped by the city garage this afternoon. The two guys who use that Power-Trac were off today, but I had a long visit with the young fellow who has to maintain it. I wasn't too far off on my guess about what model it was. Instead of being a PT-1845, it's a 2004 PT-1850. His evaluation of it was "Overall it's been a good machine, but would I recommend buying one again? Probably not." He said the engine, hydraulics, hydrostatic drive have all been good. They've had some "creature comfort" issues with two operators; one tall that moves the seat all the way back, one short that moves the seat all the way forward. There are some mercury switches on the back of the seat for sensing tilt (it has a tilt seat to keep the operator level while operating on slopes) and those switches have caused some problems (seat fails to straighten up when you come off a slope). I was surprised when he said he was unable to get complete hydraulic cylinder assemblies for the articulated steering; said he had to just rebuild the existing cylinders.

He said 90% of their problems have been with the mower deck. It had castors or wheels on all four corners and they tore up the back ones enough times that they finally replaced the ones on the back with skids. They've also had some problems with bending the ones on the front. And the main (bar? or whatever you call it) across the top of the deck, to which the boom is attached to lift the deck broke a couple of times; not bent, broke in two. So he made his own with "thick walled square tubing."

Now, in all fairness, he said he knows that they use it for some really rough service, drainage ditches and such, so they not only have the slopes, but sometimes hit debris, holes, etc. I'm sure some of you know about the kind of stuff that winds up in drainage ditches and what that can do to any mowing equipment. And he said the service has been good when he's had to call Power-Trac.

This is not intended to be an actual "review" of the machine, but just a little information I thought some might be interested in.

 

[SnowRidge]

That same bar tore off on my 48" finish mower. The original weld had very poor penetration.

PTs can put on lot of down pressure on the mowers. It is real easy to hit down instead of float. The mower can end up carrying half or more of the machine's weight, if only for a few seconds. Sometimes things break.

 

[MossRoad]

Hey, Bird... thanks for the investigation! Always good to hear how other folks are using the machines, especially someone that uses it hard.

 

[marrt]

Thank Bird. Did you happen to notice how many hours the machine had?

 

[Bird]

Thank Bird. Did you happen to notice how many hours the machine had?

I knew someone would ask that. I was halfway home that day when I remembered that it was dumb of me to forget to check on that. Sorry.

 

[woodlandfarms]

I would concur with their issues on the PT. The seat is a funky thing. I have always pined for a better leveling sensor... Maybe something or someone has an idead instead of these merc switches.

As for the mower, I too have the same issue. Bent the heck out of my square tube striking a tree stump going too fast that I swear was another 10 feet over... Have not had wheel issues yet, just waiting though...

 

[Bob999]

The seat is a funky thing. I have always pined for a better leveling sensor... Maybe something or someone has an idead instead of these merc switches.

I think that the problem with the seat is that the hydraulic cylinder doesn't have enough power to keep the seat in the proper position. I weight about 200 lbs and on steep side slopes the seat simply doesn't have the power to maintain level. If I "help" it maintains level.