Power Trac 1845

   / Power Trac 1845 #1  

Charlie_Iliff

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 13, 2001
Messages
1,896
Location
Arnold, MD
Tractor
Power Trac PT1845, John Deere 2240, John Deere 950, John Deere 755, Jacobsen Turf Cat II
I signed the order at Power Trac last Thursday, January 10th, with the promise that I'd advise when the funds were deposited to cover the check. I faxed them Saturday to say the funds were in. Last evening, Wednesday Jan 16th, the tractor and all implements arrived at my house in Arnold, MD.
(As with MossRoad's experience, there is some paint problem from the tiedown chains. It's irritating, but the steel was suffciently thick and tough that only paint was damaged. Rather than making a claim, I will repaint the spots myself)

At the factory, I had watched implements attached and removed quickly by the Power Trac people, but only once had coupled a machine to an accessory. At dusk last night, however, I backed the tractor off a reasonably high gooseneck rig, and then used the machine to hook to and unload the mower, mulch bucket (18 cu ft) which contained the posthole digger, auger, mower blades and extra attach plate, then the tiller and the snow blade. The whole process, including my learning how to position things took less that 1/2 hour. I suspect Power Trac loaded everything in five minutes, using skill, an area in which I am challenged.
I found when actually using the machine to do something, positioning felt a little weird, due to the articulating steering rather than turning the wheels. The hydraulic controls are a bit abrupt, which I had noticed at Power Trac. I had no problem adjusting, however, and didn't damage the trailer, any of my new toys, or my wife's horse barn, behind which I stowed them.
This weekend may be devoted to building some racks to store the implements on, but probably also to a bit of playing -- moving and stirring a compost pile, for instance, which will not tax any capability of the machine, and probably not mine either.
Only loose end is the 4-N-1, being welded up at W.R. Long. They should ship next week.
Now I need some snow.
 
   / Power Trac 1845 #2  
Congrats Charlie! Hope you enjoy your new equipment. You aren't storing the Power Trac itself behind the barn though are you /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif? I'm sure it warrants some nice covered shelter!!!

Kevin
 
   / Power Trac 1845
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Kevin

Everything is under roof, but rain or snow can blow in. I'm thinking of displacing my wife's car and bicycle in the garage. After all, it's all in support of her horse hobby.
 
   / Power Trac 1845 #4  
<font color=blue>I'm thinking of displacing my wife's car and bicycle in the garage </font color=blue>

/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Let us know how that plan turns out. I know that until I built a temporary shed it was MY car that was outside to provide room for the tractor!!

Kevin
 
   / Power Trac 1845 #5  
Cha Ching! GREAT! Your story sounds familiar. Take pictures when you can.

It is a weird feeling driving that thing, isn't it? You get used to it. Just take your time. I still find that I have to pay extra attention to the rear end in tight quarters. And watch out for getting up against something on the side, like parallel to a fence or building. If you get too close, you can't steer away from it. You have to go down to the end. That only happened to me once and I laughed hard, because someone else told me it would happen, and I thought, yeah, right! Well, I just pay attention now and it is fine. Sometimes I just take it out and patrol the grounds and go around obstacles, drop implements and pick them up. See where the tight spots are in the yard. I have to measure my garden gate. I think it is 48" wide, so I might be able to sneak the unit in there with an inch or so on each side.

Isn't that quick attach sweet? It works great right out of the box and the learning curve is pretty short. I found that it is easiest to angle the plate all the way forward, keep it kind of low and drive up to the implement, then just tip it up as I slowly drive forward. It slips right up into the pocket every time.

Again, congratulations on your purchase. Can't wait to here more about it./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Guess you'll need a red and black icon for your signature, hmm?
 
   / Power Trac 1845
  • Thread Starter
#6  
MossRoad:
That getting up against a fence syndrome is one of the reasons Mark Chalkley gave for moving to the EF, which allows him to turn all four wheels away from the fence. I did a little experimenting with that down at Power Trac, and found that unless you are hard against something, you can ease away from it Theoretically, of course, if you got there, you ought to be able to get out, right?
 
   / Power Trac 1845 #7  
Charlie - Congratulations!!! Take plenty of pictures, especially for us less fortunate folks who don't have a PowerTrac.

Have fun playing, er, working with it, snow or no snow.
 
   / Power Trac 1845
  • Thread Starter
#8  
These requests for pictures are a bit intimidating. I have an old 35mm film SLR that I haven't used in years. But, I have some acquaintances and a relative or two claiming digital expertise. Maybe one can be bribed to take a picture or two some day if I offer refreshments and entertainment.
 
   / Power Trac 1845 #9  
Did you get the draft control? Do you have time to explain how it works? Just curious.
 
   / Power Trac 1845
  • Thread Starter
#10  
MossRoad

I haven't had a chance to test the draft control yet. According to the book, instead of putting the mower in float, you leave the joystick centered, and turn on the draft control. It then electrically cues the hydraulics to pick up on the mower, transferring weight to the front of the tractor, but not picking the mower off the ground. I don't know what sensors or controls are employed. I will stare at the diagrams in due time.
The draft control apparently has two purposes. First, it weights the front tires for increased traction. I was a bit surprised to see the second reason, however. Because of the weight of the deck, the draft control is used to keep the deck from breaking off its swivel and gauge wheels. I got the rough-cut deck, and I certainly can believe it is heavy enough to do that. It is as heavy as our old Woods 6' brush hog.
I won't have any real idea how it does until mowing season in mid-April.
 
 
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