I was walking to lunch today and came around a building and there it was, a little green machine that made my heart jump. Could it be? Yes it was, a PowerTrac PT422 right here in my home town! I've been interested in them but swore I would not buy one until I could sit on it and see how it felt under my butt. I was going to wait until I had a vacation and sneakily try to get my wife to visit out East and just happen by the PowerTrac plant. Anyway, I talked to the landscaper that was using it. They were on lunch break and it wasn't running. I asked if I could check it out and they said sure. I got to look it over very good, they even let me sit on it. It looked tough and felt tough. They started it up and demonstrated the loader lift height and showed me how the quick attach worked. Man he had the bucket off in 5 seconds. It was sitting on a pile of dirt and when he backed away from the bucket it tipped forward several inches. He just drove back up to it, lifted it a little bit, flipped the lever and it was back on in 5 seconds. Amazing. He said it was very powerful for its size. They had a tiller there, but weren't ready to use it. It had turf tires and they were digging out sod. The ground was muddy and it hardly spinned the tires. He mentioned that they had trouble with the tires going flat due to punctures, so they filled the tires with foam. No more flats. It was alot smaller than the pictures make it appear, yet I fit in the seat well and I'm 6' tall with long legs. they cleared the steering wheel and all of the levers. I did notice that I would have to reach for the lever that controls the lift, but I could modify it to be a little longer and bent back more. It wasn't that loud, as compared to my riding lawn mower. He said his boss was going to sell it and get a larger one, but he told him not to sell his little toy. It gets into all of the tight spaces that their larger tractor can't. He also said that his boss had a larger power trac and might be selling it to get the larger one. He gave me his card. I'll be making that call shortly.
Talked to the owner and found that he has a PT422 (the one that I saw) and a PT425. He is leasing both through a 3rd party. He wants to sell both for the amount still on the lease and move up to a larger power trac unit. He said that he purchased both with the trailer kit and many more attachments. He doesn't believe that he can break up the sets and will have to sell each unit with all of the attachments and trailer, due to the lease agreement. He will get back with me on the prices that the lease company will settle for. The PT422 has 325 hours and the 425 has 600 hours. I'll wait and see if he calls back.
Got my 400 series video and literature today. Had it on the dining room table while eating and the wife walks in and says, "When are you gonna order that thing?" After she performed the heimlich manuever on me I told her that I could get it and 5 attachments for the same price as the other green brand without any attachments. She asked about the guy with the used ones. I told her that I'm worried he has too many attachments that I don't need. She says, "How do you know you won't need them? You can always find something to do with them. He might have a good price." After the paramedics revived me I came down to the computer and posted this message.
Called the guy with the used ones last week and he is using them heavily due to massive storm damage cleanup(5 or 6 tornados in the county 2 weeks ago), and hasn't had a chance to talk to his finance company. If he can't decide to sell them before the end of the month, I might have to buy new. I want it before the end of the year.
Guy called me back today and said that the lease company won't let him split them up. He does have some implements that he can sell. Snow blade, brush mower, 5' finish mower. I gave him a week to get me some prices.
Also, he said that the robbins engine in the 422 went out at 300 hours and that the 2 year warranty didn't cover something or other. Anyway, he said if he had it to do all over again, he would have leased them seperately and spent the extra thousand for the kohler on the other unit.
