Ordered the videos from Kristi at PT

[BobRip]

I used a private carrier as well (in 2000). Drove it right to the house, cost about $350. The guy unload all of the attachments with my own PT and apologized for a tiny bit of rough treatment on one bucket.

Everytime a major carrier moves the PT from truck to truck, a guy has to learn how to drive it. Sounds like a lot of risk for my piece of equipment.
Bob Rip

 

[bbabineau]

Greg

You have seen many PTers suggest private carrier and I considered this as well but at $1.50 per mile - you be the judge. Depends where you live. I was looking at over $4k to California so I went with Overnite. If you live in VA there would be no other choice than to use PT's service.

Bob

 

[TimOb]

What's with posting replys on the forum? After I sign in, it doesn't want to work. Is it my browser maybe? I'm using Firefox.

I live in the Seattle area and have a quote from a company called Highway Freight for <1k. Overnite wants 1.5k. Judging from the feedback on how Overnite handles things, I'm thinking it's not that much riskier to use a different carrier.

Thanks for all the feedback.
G

 

[BillCroasmun]

Greg, I didn't catch that you were from Seattle. Private carrier is definitly out unless you could luck out on finding someone doing a return load. This reminds me there is a shipping bid board out there that may be worth looking into (http://www.uship.com/).

Not sure if this would save money or not but you could ship the tractor and attachments seperately. In other words you may find a cheaper mode for moving skidded freight that can't handle the tractor itself. For instance anyone who linehauls with air freight carriers couldn't handle the tractor but in some situations air freight can be cheaper than trucking. And you may also be able to ship the tractor via some non-standard means like an auto transport carrier. Just brain storming but hope it helps.

 

[TimOb]

The choices have become interesting over the weekend. I can pick up a nice Kubota 1830 with loader, box blade, bar tires and mower for 13.7k with the sweet 0 down, 0 percent financing for 36 months.

On the other hand I can do a pt422 with 4n1, mini hoe, forks, mower, rops, bar tires and shipping for around 14k.

The financing deal is too sweet. It's hard to turn down free money, but it might be harder to not get the pt.

 

[KentT]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The choices have become interesting over the weekend. I can pick up a nice Kubota 1830 with loader, box blade, bar tires and mower for 13.7k with the sweet 0 down, 0 percent financing for 36 months.

On the other hand I can do a pt422 with 4n1, mini hoe, forks, mower, rops, bar tires and shipping for around 14k.

The financing deal is too sweet. It's hard to turn down free money, but it might be harder to not get the pt. )</font>

4-in-1 versus standard bucket
minihoe versus box blade
forks, just to sweeten the package

Kubota has the advantage of local dealer and holds its resale value better do to brand name recognition....

There's no question in my mind which would be the more useful package -- the PT, by far.

Tough decision....

 

[MossRoad]

Tough choice. Knowing what I know(which ain't much)... I'd go for the largest engine you can get in the frame size you are looking at if at all possible.

Kubota makes some fine tractors. So does New Holland, Deere, Cub, and a number of other manufacturers.

In a pulling contest, the conventional tractor would win.
In a re-sale contest, the conventional tractor would get a better price.
In the longevity contest, the diesel will last longer than the gas engine in the 400 series PT.

With that said, I think in a real world head-to-head chore contest contest between a PT and a conventional tractor in a typical home owner's situation, the PT would be more versatile and get jobs like mowing, snow removal and material handling done much faster than a conventional tractor of similar size. Mini hoe work cannot be done with a conventional tractor. Post hole digging with a PT VS. a conventional tractor is no contest, either. Box blading, I think, goes to the conventional tractor, because it is a pulling process, although I have no hand's on experience with a box blade and a PT.

Ask any PT owner that also owns a conventional tractor and they will tell you that the PT style is better for most things and the conventional style is better at a few other things. The hardest part is deciding what chores you will be doing and which style tractor is best for you. Don't jump into any purchases until you have those tasks clear in your mind and you have tested both styles of tractor doing those chores. The goal is to get the machine that best fits your needs.

 

[TimOb]

MR, it would be nice to test out the pt, but I don't see myself being able to do so. Testing a bota or nh is feasible, but I still won't be able to compare them against the pt.

Free money from bota has got me nibbling - probably won't bite though, the pt is better suited for my needs - just gotta commit to a long term deal.

I pretty much see it as you guys do. Thanks for the input.

 

[tracdoc]

Nicely, and concisely summarized, MR /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[MossRoad]

<font color="blue">it would be nice to test out the pt, but I don't see myself being able to do so </font>

Buying on faith... YIKES! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I was fortunate enough to stumble across one that a local landscaper was using. He let me check it out. Perhaps you could call PT and see if there is anyone in your region that would be willing to let you look at theirs? May be worth the call.