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
Ken: I can't fault your reasoning, but I'll give some responses to expand a bit:
<font color="red"> 1. He has a farm.. he'll have one machine.. and eventually will want to(or have to) do farming stuff.
</font> Our farm raises only horses and ponies, so I can't speak to a lot of other farm activities. Brian doesn't plan to raise crops - he has others to do that. For fencing, tilling, grading, bucket work, digging(front hoe) work with forks, and mowing, I find the Power Trac a lot easier and better suited than a conventional tractor
<font color="red"> 2. Logging.. pulling power.. higher FEL lifting capabilities.. </font>
You're right there. Certainly anything involving pulling power or raw lift capability favors a powerful 4wd conventional tractor and FEL.rather than the PT 1850 Brian is looking at. But, I have a winch mounted to a quick attach plate that I can pick up in 30 seconds. If I tie the Power Trac to a tree, I have a rated pull of, I think, 10,000 lb. And with a grapple bucket, I pick up 1100-1200 lb. We have some bigger logs for my bother's sawmill -- we can't pick them up with the JD 2240 or the Power Trac, so we drag or roll them. I doubt much of Brian's work will require more brute force.
<font color="red"> 3. Ground Clearance.. I've seen skid steers get stuck in mud or manure where the trench would only be a foot to a foot 1/2 deep. Once you bottom out.. you're stuck. </font>
That's certainly true of skid steers, but not a problem with the Power Trac, and I assume not with the Toolcat. We've gotten everything we own stuck, including the PT, so can claim some expertise. First, the PT isn't out of business when the belly pan is on the ground. It has a remarkable capability to wiggle it's way out to dryer ground. I've never gotten it stuck where I couldn't maneuver it out except where I was also against a tree or fence. We have put conventional tractors deep enough in soft stuff so that we had to get a tow. Once they start to dig, the ground clearance disappears in a hurry. Most recently, for instance, our 950 (2wd) dropped quickly so that the rears were unloaded by the brush hog which wouldn't lift any higher. The PT wouldn't have had any problem mowing that area. It wouldn't have sunk in at all. (light tire loading)
<font color="red"> 4. Mower Size.. mowing a 20 acre field w/ an 8ft mower will def. be a chore.. need to size the equipment to the tasks at hand.
</font> Couldn't agree more. Most of our pasture mowing is with a 6' brush hog on a JD 950. My own preference is the PT with 6' front mower, with a 57" Acrease rough-cut self-powered wing mower. I average about 9' actual new cut per pass. For the flat areas we'd dearly love to have a bigger rig, with a 15' batwing, for instance, but it's not in the budget. We have about 60 acres of pasture that has needed cutting about once every two weeks from April to now, this year. Fortunately, we have several people to do it. If we had a 15' rig behind something airconditioned (with drink holders) we'd certainly get more volunteers. But there are hills and tight places that I wouldn't take any conventional tractor where the Power Trac is completely comfortable.
<font color="red"> A question: Why does the 60hp Power Trac's lifting capabilities seem so low.. my 35hp TC35D lists higher lifting capabilities.. are the specs listed in a comparible format? I'm I reading it wrong? </font>
My PT 1845 and the PT 1850 have somewhat limited lift weight and height capacity for their horsepower. They are lighweight for the power, and initially designed as slope mowers. If I weren't doing so much mowing as a percent of my work with the machine, I'd prefer a 1445, which is heavier and bigger, less slope-capable, but with more lift capacity. The 1460, with the same power as the 1850 Brian's looking at, is even bigger and heavier. The PTs lift height is limited by the design a bit. The lift arms are shorter than conventional FEL or skid steers, pivoting ahead of the driver.
As you see, I am a real proponent of the Power Trac. I don't claim it does everything better than every other machine. It is the Swiss Army Knife of tractors, however, and can do a wide array of things very well compared to a conventional tractor. (Most of us don't claim it will replace a combine any time soon, but some of our brags get pretty outrageous /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif ) The machine does a lot of things that I hadn't even thought of when I bought it. If only one machine is going to be available, I'd certainly want the PT or Toolcat. They aren't really tractors, they're implement carriers, but will do most of what tractors will do and most of what skid steers will do, as well.
<font color="red"> 1. He has a farm.. he'll have one machine.. and eventually will want to(or have to) do farming stuff.
</font> Our farm raises only horses and ponies, so I can't speak to a lot of other farm activities. Brian doesn't plan to raise crops - he has others to do that. For fencing, tilling, grading, bucket work, digging(front hoe) work with forks, and mowing, I find the Power Trac a lot easier and better suited than a conventional tractor
<font color="red"> 2. Logging.. pulling power.. higher FEL lifting capabilities.. </font>
You're right there. Certainly anything involving pulling power or raw lift capability favors a powerful 4wd conventional tractor and FEL.rather than the PT 1850 Brian is looking at. But, I have a winch mounted to a quick attach plate that I can pick up in 30 seconds. If I tie the Power Trac to a tree, I have a rated pull of, I think, 10,000 lb. And with a grapple bucket, I pick up 1100-1200 lb. We have some bigger logs for my bother's sawmill -- we can't pick them up with the JD 2240 or the Power Trac, so we drag or roll them. I doubt much of Brian's work will require more brute force.
<font color="red"> 3. Ground Clearance.. I've seen skid steers get stuck in mud or manure where the trench would only be a foot to a foot 1/2 deep. Once you bottom out.. you're stuck. </font>
That's certainly true of skid steers, but not a problem with the Power Trac, and I assume not with the Toolcat. We've gotten everything we own stuck, including the PT, so can claim some expertise. First, the PT isn't out of business when the belly pan is on the ground. It has a remarkable capability to wiggle it's way out to dryer ground. I've never gotten it stuck where I couldn't maneuver it out except where I was also against a tree or fence. We have put conventional tractors deep enough in soft stuff so that we had to get a tow. Once they start to dig, the ground clearance disappears in a hurry. Most recently, for instance, our 950 (2wd) dropped quickly so that the rears were unloaded by the brush hog which wouldn't lift any higher. The PT wouldn't have had any problem mowing that area. It wouldn't have sunk in at all. (light tire loading)
<font color="red"> 4. Mower Size.. mowing a 20 acre field w/ an 8ft mower will def. be a chore.. need to size the equipment to the tasks at hand.
</font> Couldn't agree more. Most of our pasture mowing is with a 6' brush hog on a JD 950. My own preference is the PT with 6' front mower, with a 57" Acrease rough-cut self-powered wing mower. I average about 9' actual new cut per pass. For the flat areas we'd dearly love to have a bigger rig, with a 15' batwing, for instance, but it's not in the budget. We have about 60 acres of pasture that has needed cutting about once every two weeks from April to now, this year. Fortunately, we have several people to do it. If we had a 15' rig behind something airconditioned (with drink holders) we'd certainly get more volunteers. But there are hills and tight places that I wouldn't take any conventional tractor where the Power Trac is completely comfortable.
<font color="red"> A question: Why does the 60hp Power Trac's lifting capabilities seem so low.. my 35hp TC35D lists higher lifting capabilities.. are the specs listed in a comparible format? I'm I reading it wrong? </font>
My PT 1845 and the PT 1850 have somewhat limited lift weight and height capacity for their horsepower. They are lighweight for the power, and initially designed as slope mowers. If I weren't doing so much mowing as a percent of my work with the machine, I'd prefer a 1445, which is heavier and bigger, less slope-capable, but with more lift capacity. The 1460, with the same power as the 1850 Brian's looking at, is even bigger and heavier. The PTs lift height is limited by the design a bit. The lift arms are shorter than conventional FEL or skid steers, pivoting ahead of the driver.
As you see, I am a real proponent of the Power Trac. I don't claim it does everything better than every other machine. It is the Swiss Army Knife of tractors, however, and can do a wide array of things very well compared to a conventional tractor. (Most of us don't claim it will replace a combine any time soon, but some of our brags get pretty outrageous /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif ) The machine does a lot of things that I hadn't even thought of when I bought it. If only one machine is going to be available, I'd certainly want the PT or Toolcat. They aren't really tractors, they're implement carriers, but will do most of what tractors will do and most of what skid steers will do, as well.
