Ventrac 4200VXD diesel vs Power Trac diesel

[NOSPARKPLUGS]

I'm new here, but have been in the Lawn & landscape industy for over 10 years, our main focus in property maintenance: commercial, residential, gas stations, right of way/pipeline rough mowing, hardscaping.

We currently lease/use a Kubota MX6800 4x4 with loader, Land Pride RX260 bush hog mower, and would like to purchase something for our own that is smaller, and does not require 2 employee's to transport & operate safely.

I have it narrowed down to the Ventrac 4200VXD 31hp Turbo diesel, dual wheel kit, tough cut mower, 72" finish mower out the door for $25,198.

Second choice is the Power Trac diesel model, I know little about the Power Trac, and the information i have is based on their website, and forums I have visited.
My first impression of the Power Trac is: long way to drive to purchase one no dealers or local support, basic machine for the money, nothing fancy, very ugly, no liquid cooled diesel engine, no relocated, heavy duty air filtration for Deutz diesel's in Power Trac application.

 

[yooperdave]

Have you also considered a Tool Cat?

Lots of options plus Bobcat support and service.

Yooper Dave

 

[stevem5215]

I have a Steiner 420 model here with the full loader, a power brush, 48" mower deck and a dirt/snow blade. I gotta say this, it's one heck of a 20hp machine. It does anything I've asked of it. It'll push a 3 ft pile of snow up a icy driveway around a bend. It's unbelieveable for a 4wd model and won't tear up the turf on tight turns. I don't know how they do the 4wd system on this tractor but even with 2 wheels in the air (fronts) all wheels still turn at the same speeds. One limitation I've found with the front loader bucket addon is that with a very heavy load it'll have the tendency to want to pop up the rear end over bumps. It's a bit unsettling but I can work around that by keeping the bucket low to the ground. Otherwise it's fine. Also, when cutting dusty grass areas, I've found the mower will blow dirt and grass on you if the wind is blowing your direction from it. You see on a Steiner you are not much above ground level so being in the wind direction will allow it to blow on you instead of you being above the debris like on a larger tractor with the mower on the rear. I've found the mower to cut evenly. On very high grass (over a foot) if I cut fast it will cut unevenly but you have to try and make it do that.

Steve

 

[JackIL]

NSP--
I currently own a Ventrac 4200 31hp TD and more Ventrac and Steiner attachments than my wife knows about. Previously I have owned several Ventrac and Steiner gasoline tractors. I have very steep property (slopes of 30 degrees) to mow and also need to use a wide variety of attachments for various applications. I have been and continue to be very pleased with Venture Products equipment. The engineering and manufacturing quality are outstanding. This equipment is built for heavy duty commercial use.

Currently my closest dealer is 90 miles away, but previously it was 450 miles. I have not had any need for major service work. I did take a previous Ventrac to the nearby dealer for installation of a hydraulic update kit. If I need parts, I order by phone or Email and they are shipped to my door. Having a dealer located within a few miles is always ideal, but not having a Ventrac dealer close by has not been a problem for me at all.

Right now I am mowing thick grass the height of the top of the hood with the Tough Cut Deck and it does a beautiful job. The standard decks produce a very high quality cut on level to moderately rolling terrain and the full-width rollers create nice stripping. I also just purchased the new Contour Deck for the uneven areas of my property and it is a dream as long as you are not trying to cut grass that is over 8 inches tall.

Please PM me if you would like more detailed information about Ventrac.

JackIL

 

[MrWoodChips]

I'm new here, but have been in the Lawn & landscape industy for over 10 years, our main focus in property maintenance: commercial, residential, gas stations, right of way/pipeline rough mowing, hardscaping.

We currently lease/use a Kubota MX6800 4x4 with loader, Land Pride RX260 bush hog mower, and would like to purchase something for our own that is smaller, and does not require 2 employee's to transport & operate safely.

I have it narrowed down to the Ventrac 4200VXD 31hp Turbo diesel, dual wheel kit, tough cut mower, 72" finish mower out the door for $25,198.

Second choice is the Power Trac diesel model, I know little about the Power Trac, and the information i have is based on their website, and forums I have visited.
My first impression of the Power Trac is: long way to drive to purchase one no dealers or local support, basic machine for the money, nothing fancy, very ugly, no liquid cooled diesel engine, no relocated, heavy duty air filtration for Deutz diesel's in Power Trac application.

Given a choice between the two, I went with a Ventrac (a lower model). It cost a little more than a corresponding PT, but I liked the idea that if I had a problem, I had someone around who knew how to repair it. I've been quite happy with mine, even happier now that I have a dealer only 10 miles away instead of 90.

On the other hand, every once in a while, I miss the greater flexibility that comes with the PT models. A set of pallet forks would have been nice once or twice over the last two years, a boom pole would have been very useful at times, the mini-hoe would have solved another problem this summer. I even considered making a small spade for mine recently, and I'd love to have an attachment that would help me move my boat trailer around.

I've put about 110 hours on our machine so far in the last 15 months. This includes plowing 1/2 mile of road in the winter, dirt road repair, mowing, lawn aeration, and moving fairly large quantities of rock and gravel. (20 cubic yards or so. To me and my aching back, that would have been a lot.)

If you will be using it daily, then you must expect to do far more maintenance on it. I've heard it said that if you don't know how to weld (and don't want to learn) then avoid the PT.

As for the PT being ugly, I think that anything so flexibly useful is quite pretty in its own way.

John