Goodbye Kubota, Hello Power Trac

[glennmac]

Mark,

You are right, of course. My idealized machine would have no front or back. You could put anything on either end, and swivel around and control everything and drive in either direction. In my use, I like to have my bucket on when brush cutting. If I have a cutter on the front, I would guess I can't have a bucket on the back of a Power Trac.

I hope you tell me I'm wrong again.

 

[MChalkley]

Glenn,

Unfortunately, I think, this time anyway, that you're right. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Interesting problem. What do you use the bucket for when you're brush cutting?

It would bepossible to mount the bucket on the back, of course, especially if it's not a 4-in-1 bucket, because they use the same attach plate, but I'm not sure about the dumping part. Under normal circumstances, the hydraulic top link doesn't have nearly enough travel to roll the bucket back sufficiently and dump it. Of course, you could design the 3ph so that the side links would be long enough to give you the necessary lift and allow a top link long enough to roll back and dump. But it would have distinct disadvantages when you used the same 3ph for blade, box scraper, etc. work. For those things, you'd want the implement to be coupled as closely as possible to the rear of the machine. Everything is a compromise...

But, again, it depends on what you want to do with the bucket.

MarkC

 

[Charlie_Iliff]

Glenn:
Although Power Trac may not concurrently mount as many implements as we may want, their trailer packages are interesting. The Power Trac and a whole bunch of implements fit on a custom trailer. Once the machine is unloaded, it can pick various implements off the trailer with its quick connection, and swap quickly to whichever is next needed. Although a conventional tractor could certainly tow a trailer full of implements to a job site. the difference is that the Power Trac can easily pick them off the trailer and return them - without leaving the seat except to attach and detach the hydraulic lines. (I would probably adapt an old trailer I already have, particularly for fencing, etc., to carry posts, rails, wire, auger, stretcher, etc. along with the grapple bucket, post driver if I can afford it, etc.)

Charlie Iliff

 

[Muhammad]

I guess this leaves a few questions, starting with...

- What's the warranty term on the Power Trac machines?

(Hmm........ I think you answered the rest /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif)

Best of luck with the switch Mark. I know that if it weren't a top notch product, you wouldn't be considering it.

How many current owners did you talk with before making the decision? I imagine the majority of Power Trac owners are commercial users rather than residential.

 

[MChalkley]

Muhammad,

It was primarily because of the questions I knew you would have that I wrote such a long initial post. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

The warranty on motors, pumps, and frame is 1 year. The engine is covered by Deutz's warranty, which is also 1 year.

I only talked to half a dozen folks, all of them commercial landscapers. They all had very favorable overall opinions of the company and the product.

MarkC

 

[gordon]

WOW, sounds like a great machine allright. How much do the hydro filters cost? Changing them at fifty hours is the smart thing to do with that much at stake. But could some kind of pre filter be designed to help negate such a short hour amout per change?

Knew something was up just couldn't figure out what, now I guess everyone knows. Well as far as selling your tractor goes---sure might be a good idea to exchange tires and rims. That way your tractor would have nice shiny rims and almost brand spanking new tires for the sale. That freedom hitch setup wouldn't be a bad thing to have on the back of my tractor, as a couple of other items as well.

Sure you didn't have that hour meter unhooked awhile on the 4310.? That thing is just barely broken in and your going to unload it for a price much lower than the time and money you have in it. You must really want this power trac allright.

I must say that first post really blew my mind, but someone is going to end up with a slamin deal on your tractor.

Gordon

 

[glennmac]

Gordon, I've liked the Power Tracs ever since I first saw them, but I'm not sure how good they would be in the Marlboro Man's world of woods, logs, bogs and streams. With those small wheels and turf tires, they may only be good in sissy environments like nurseries, construction sites and dry fields.

I hope Mark checked to see whether they have hst.

 

[MChalkley]

Gordon - The filters are a standard spin-on type - my price on the Amsoil Hastings-made filter is $24, which means I could pay less for something I'm not sure about or more for one from a dealer with somebody else's name painted on it. For my money, I'll use the Amsoil one.

You guys haven't been listening to me. All I've been doing for the past two years, whenever I've disappeared for a month, or two, or three, at a time, is gripe about having to do work other than tractor related work. I kept telling you I wasn't having any fun, so you knew I wasn't using the tractor - now you're surprised at how few hours it's got??? /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Um, thanks for the offer on the even swap for the new(er) tires and wheels. I think I'll pass, for now, if only because I'd a lot rather repaint mine that take them off. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Yeah, it hurts to lose all that time (and money) in order to trade, but it doesn't make much sense to not have what I need, either. How about you sell your tractor, then buy my rig? You want a backhoe, anyway, right?

MarkC

 

[MChalkley]

Glenn - Small wheels? Turf tires? Now you're baiting, aren't you? /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif They're 15-19.5's on the 2465. They're 15.7" wide, R4 industrial tread tires made for skid steer use and are rated at more that 6,000 lbs capacity each. And, since I'm sure you'll want to know, Michelin makes an XM27 tire that'll work, but it'll require custom rims, of course. Been there, done that...

As for the HST issue, yep, it's a hydrostatic closed-loop system with a central pump and 4 wheel motors. Service braking is done via the HST system, but each wheel motor has a hydraulically released parking/system failure brake.

MarkC

 

[JATO_RaT]

Mark, while making a trip to the factory is pretty much out of the question for me, I am curious about one thing in particular. The four wheels each run on hydraulic motors as I understand it. It has been my experience with Vermeer and Ditch Witch trenchers that hydraulic motors are very HP consumming items. Hydaulic pumps in general are pretty inefficient. How much power does that 65HP have to be there as a result of the pump for the drive mechanism? I should have a video and other info any day now. Thanks for all the info, its been difficult holding this secret of yours to myself. Rat...