Tires Tracks on a PT425

[Magnumrott]

I'm new to the forum and considering buying a PT425. I would like to use it for wood cutting but live in Canada with lots of snow. Could a set of tracks be put on the PT425 much like an ATV or UTV?

 

[MossRoad]

I'm new to the forum and considering buying a PT425. I would like to use it for wood cutting but live in Canada with lots of snow. Could a set of tracks be put on the PT425 much like an ATV or UTV?

Welcome to TBN!
I would say, probably not practical. The reason is that when fully articulated to right or left, there is only a few inches between the faces of the inside tires. If you put tracks on all four wheels, they would probably hit each other in tight turns.

 

[ponytug]

Lets take the whole issue of the lack of safety for driving on top of deep snow as understood.

I agree with MossRoad; tracks on a PT wouldn't work. While the turf tires "float" better than the standard tires, it will really come down to what you intend to do with it. You could however put on a second set of tires for better floatation. They are made for skid steers. The down side is that they stress the wheel motors.

I doubt that you want to be out on any tractor in deep snow. I think that you are going to get better service out of a machine designed for a) cold weather and b) operation on snow.

If you really want to be on deep snow, I would have thought a snowmobile (or Arctic Cat) and a sled would be a better (safer) choice. Lots of Army surplus variants available on eBay. Just watch the first step off the machine.

All the best,

Peter

 

[KMA]

yeah, plus the wheel motor shaft speed should probably be much higher to drive 4 individual tracks... especially since the PT wouldn't float like a snowmobile does. ATVs, etc are able to generate a lot of power and track speed on demand if driving in deep snow.

 

[SpringHollow]

I do not believe ATV's are all that great in deep snow. At least mine is not. Duals or not, my tractor easily gets stuck in deep snow. The tractor's flat bottom floats on the snow and you get no traction. Perhaps with huge lugs on the tires, it would work. Deep snow is when the low ground clearance causes me the most problems.

Ken

 

[MossRoad]

Yeah. But if you put Mattracks on it, do you think it would go over the snow instead of through the snow?
Tires vs. Mattracks - YouTube

 

[MossRoad]

Funny thing about my PT425 with turfs.... If I lift the FEL arms so the bucket is not touching the snow, I can get through about a foot of average snow, but no more. The snow builds up on the front of the machine and tires and eventually the tires start spinning and the tractor starts hopping and then I stop. But if I lower the bucket so that its about 2-3" over the ground, I can push that thing through that snow all day long. It would seem like pushing a 48" wide bucket through snow would be harder than just pushing the narrow front of the tractor through that same snow, but its more a matter of getting traction VS pushing a load. As long as the tires can go over the snow, I can keep moving. If they go through the snow and build up a wall in front of the tires, I stop. The great thing about the articulation in the Power Tracs is that it doesn't take much movement to get the bucket to dump to one side of a path or the other. With a conventional tractor, you have to do a herring bone pattern of back and forth quite a bit to scoop and dump, scoop and dump. With the PT you do less back and forth and just turn the wheel to one side or the other to swing the bucket out of the path. Clearing deep snow with the bucket or plow is pretty easy with the PT design.

 

[SpringHollow]

I have no trouble plowing deep snow. I have trouble driving through deep snow, the same as you said.

Ken

 

[Gravy]

I'm new to the forum and considering buying a PT425. I would like to use it for wood cutting but live in Canada with lots of snow. Could a set of tracks be put on the PT425 much like an ATV or UTV?

I wish I could tell you otherwise, but it won't work. PTs bend in the middle to steer. The tracks on the inside of the turn would fall off because the wheels get closer together. On the outside, either the tracks would snap because the wheels get farther apart, or the axles would snap because the tracks were stronger.

You might get improved snow performance with bigger wheels & tires plus diamond chains, but you are probably better off going with a dedicated snow machine designed for your conditions. Not to mention that the Robin engine as installed in the current PT425 is not noted for starting easily in "extreme" cold temperatures (like below about 45*f).

 

[MossRoad]

I wish I could tell you otherwise, but it won't work. PTs bend in the middle to steer. The tracks on the inside of the turn would fall off because the wheels get closer together. On the outside, either the tracks would snap because the wheels get farther apart, or the axles would snap because the tracks were stronger.

You might get improved snow performance with bigger wheels & tires plus diamond chains, but you are probably better off going with a dedicated snow machine designed for your conditions. Not to mention that the Robin engine as installed in the current PT425 is not noted for starting easily in "extreme" cold temperatures (like below about 45*f).

Gravy, Check out the link I posted above for the mattracks. Its four tracks, one on each corner, VS 2 tracks, one on each side. Pretty cool track system, but very expensive. And I still don't think it would work because if you turn, they would bump into each other on the inside wheels.