zmountaineer
Silver Member
So I've been admiring Ventrac tractors ever since my country club bought one in 2011 and that the company who mows the hospital I work at's grass. I'm in WV and hills are numerous and I have seen that thing go up slopes that I can't even walk up easily. We recently built a house on 5.5 acres that my wife's father gave us out of his 130 and it is on top of a sizable hill. We have a 500 yard gravel, curvy, steep driveway and was dreading this first winter, but, alas, no more. My Father-in-law has a 4wd ford 7610 that he said he would keep the driveway clear with it and a grader blade. He just retired and has taking on farming full time so I don't think he is going to have much time to spend keeping my driveway clear. There is a lot of brush that needs cleaned up and a few acres that will be ready to mow come spring. The wife gave the go ahead to buy whatever I wanted and while I kind of wanted a full cab 85hp ford, it wasn't reasonable to cut the grass with and I really, really wanted a ventrac. So I searched and searched and found a couple over the summer that would work (I wasn't going to buy new) I didn't know what kind of money was going to be left over after the house was done. House got done, I knew my budget and up popped the PERFECT used Ventrac for me. Seriously, exactly what I was looking for. 2015 4500z, 160 hours, dual wheels, canopy, custom tool box, 72" finish mower, tough cut mower, 72" dozer blade. The price, to me, was almost unbelievable. How the heck did I luck into this at the perfect time. Once I was there looking at it, it looked brand new. He had other stuff for sale around there and I ended up buying his Bosski ATV wagon as well.
Driving it first time was an experience, I had never driven anything articulated or Hydrostatic before. I found myself tensing up when turning with my feet on the pegs, lol. I have found out that high gear is not to be used on my driveway. I mean, I can make it up, but it sputters at the top....I'll probably leave it in low gear from now on. Speaking of low gear, it seemed nearly impossible to get it in, I literally had to use my foot to get it in to latch. Attaching all the attachments went smoothly and took about 3 minutes for the mower and 4 for the blade (tough cut was already attached), I'm sure I'll get faster at it with some practice and it was pretty much dark out when I unloaded. I was using my iphone flashlight to line up.
Hopefully the last "lawnmower" I need to buy and I can purchase that "big" tractor in a couple years. Or maybe this will be great and I won't need one and borrow the father in laws when I need a loader and large brush hog.
I've been reading this forum and appears that Ventrac owners are overly excited about them. I've learned a few things and this forum stopped me from purchasing the 4231 turbo diesel when I found one....it had had the turbo just replaced. Anyway, just popping in to say "hi" and I'm sure I'll have some questions after using it a while....any tips and pointers would be appreciated.
Driving it first time was an experience, I had never driven anything articulated or Hydrostatic before. I found myself tensing up when turning with my feet on the pegs, lol. I have found out that high gear is not to be used on my driveway. I mean, I can make it up, but it sputters at the top....I'll probably leave it in low gear from now on. Speaking of low gear, it seemed nearly impossible to get it in, I literally had to use my foot to get it in to latch. Attaching all the attachments went smoothly and took about 3 minutes for the mower and 4 for the blade (tough cut was already attached), I'm sure I'll get faster at it with some practice and it was pretty much dark out when I unloaded. I was using my iphone flashlight to line up.
Hopefully the last "lawnmower" I need to buy and I can purchase that "big" tractor in a couple years. Or maybe this will be great and I won't need one and borrow the father in laws when I need a loader and large brush hog.
I've been reading this forum and appears that Ventrac owners are overly excited about them. I've learned a few things and this forum stopped me from purchasing the 4231 turbo diesel when I found one....it had had the turbo just replaced. Anyway, just popping in to say "hi" and I'm sure I'll have some questions after using it a while....any tips and pointers would be appreciated.
