IrTxRx
Silver Member
I purchased a PT1430 in December 2007 with grapple&LM buckets, brush cutter, lackender baby boomer mini-hoe w/ thumb, 24" wheel trencher, potato digger & extra plate. Projects we have completed in 150 hours of use:
1.) re-dig ditches (200ft) along portion of driveway
2.) tram 20 yards of gravel 1/4 mile to driveway and back-drag
3.) Lots of pasture mowing and shredding of 3-4" softwood brush
4.) Clear several acres of cedar with chainsaw and grapple bucket (this used to take 1/4 day per tree to get it to the burn pile. Now it's trees per hour)
5.) Use wheel trencher and mini-hoe to dig holes to plant a dozen 35 gallon trees
6.) Use wheel trencer to cut friends concrete city driveway for sewer line repair (10 ft wide driveway in 40 minutes/cut x 2 cuts). This was really impressive.
7.) Dig trenches for friends sewer and water line (short runs)
8.) Take trash bin down driveway for pickup (weekly)
9.) Cut approx 1000' of 2'"x8" trench for livestock/yard waterlines in very short time
10.) Cut some really big trees into firewood (it's soooo much easier when you can lift the log to waist height with the grapple or mini-hoe.
11.) Digout behind in-laws lakefront retaining wall and demolish and remove fishing shed with mini-hoe, and tram all dirt up, up, up hill and out of the way for waterfront repairs
12.) Dig 10 yard of topsoil out of creek bottom for yard/landscaping
13.) Lifted and moved some really heavy things (big telephone poles, felled oak tree, LM bucket full of damp clay)
13.) lots more that I can't remember...
The good stuff --
Man is this tractor FAST!!! You can get into, around and under things you could not even dream of in a CUT. Especially the under part. The places I have gotten into, you cannot even imagine going with a CUT or skidsteer. I have the bar tire because I have lots of rock and flintstone, I drive across my lawn all the time and tracks never last past 1 watering. Switching attachments really is as easy as everyone says. There is no point in saying what your favorite attachment is, because if the one you have chosen isn't working perfectly for the job... switch 'em. Repairs to date have been challenging because of limited workspace inside the tractor, but not technically difficult (I am very UNhandy). It's small. My neighbor can get tractor/loader and 1 attachment on his trailer. I can get ALL my attachments loaded and unloaded on my 16' flatbed in about 10 minutes by myself. Makes friends-with-projects very happy. PT has been true to their warranty and even a little better (I got a free hose which are NOT under warranty). I knew what I was getting into and have been pleased with their service and help.
The bad stuff --
1.) Brushcutter -- I usually just run until it breaks or is about to throw a blade (ranges from 5 minutes to about an hour). The hub really needs to be re-designed to accept wing-shaped blades that will pass each other during kick-back and it mows too low in the highest setting. Is there a trick to preventing the bolts from working loose so fast??? I have used the blue colored thread stuff. Is there a lock so you can really torque down without the hub turning?
2.) Oomph - the tractor has none due to limited weight. Not really a fault, just a trade-off. You have to un-learn CUT and take smaller, faster bites
3.) Wheel spin - a little related to oomph, but different. If you are trying to push or back-drag and a wheel comes off the ground or looses traction, all power goes to that wheel. Need some kind of hydraulic limited-slip differential.
4.) Reliability - I had a major repair with approx 50 hours on the tractor. In PT's defense, it was a component that broke. What took a long time, was diagnosing the problem, not so much the repair (in the end, PT & I couldn't figure it out and I payed $500, while under warranty, to get the machine running... my choice because I wanted to tractor during my limited free time vs diagnose/repair). If this is your toyl (tool/toy), not a huge thing in the big scheme. If it is part of your livelyhood...big deal.
I will present this as a separate thread and we can do a case study and see who could diagnose the problem quicker PT or TBN
5.) Low profile - this is really an awesome feature of the tractor Re: stability, but kills the back when doing repairs. I need to create some kind of cross-tie elevated dock for repairs.
6.) IT'S REALLY LOUD (especially compare to my neighbors 50HP kubota which just purrs)
Would I do purchase a 1430 again vs. CUT? Yep
I'd be dead if I tried to do what I've done with a CUT.
Do I sometimes wish I had a big CUT or skidsteer for oomph? Yep. However, sometimes it's ok to BE the friend-with-a-project.
Operating costs + diagnosis/repairs + purchase of tools I didn't own have been about $1500 to date (which seems really reasonable to me since some should be fixed costs and hopefully I won't have as much trouble diagnosing future repairs).
All-in-all, I really enjoy my weird little MUT
1.) re-dig ditches (200ft) along portion of driveway
2.) tram 20 yards of gravel 1/4 mile to driveway and back-drag
3.) Lots of pasture mowing and shredding of 3-4" softwood brush
4.) Clear several acres of cedar with chainsaw and grapple bucket (this used to take 1/4 day per tree to get it to the burn pile. Now it's trees per hour)
5.) Use wheel trencher and mini-hoe to dig holes to plant a dozen 35 gallon trees
6.) Use wheel trencer to cut friends concrete city driveway for sewer line repair (10 ft wide driveway in 40 minutes/cut x 2 cuts). This was really impressive.
7.) Dig trenches for friends sewer and water line (short runs)
8.) Take trash bin down driveway for pickup (weekly)
9.) Cut approx 1000' of 2'"x8" trench for livestock/yard waterlines in very short time
10.) Cut some really big trees into firewood (it's soooo much easier when you can lift the log to waist height with the grapple or mini-hoe.
11.) Digout behind in-laws lakefront retaining wall and demolish and remove fishing shed with mini-hoe, and tram all dirt up, up, up hill and out of the way for waterfront repairs
12.) Dig 10 yard of topsoil out of creek bottom for yard/landscaping
13.) Lifted and moved some really heavy things (big telephone poles, felled oak tree, LM bucket full of damp clay)
13.) lots more that I can't remember...
The good stuff --
Man is this tractor FAST!!! You can get into, around and under things you could not even dream of in a CUT. Especially the under part. The places I have gotten into, you cannot even imagine going with a CUT or skidsteer. I have the bar tire because I have lots of rock and flintstone, I drive across my lawn all the time and tracks never last past 1 watering. Switching attachments really is as easy as everyone says. There is no point in saying what your favorite attachment is, because if the one you have chosen isn't working perfectly for the job... switch 'em. Repairs to date have been challenging because of limited workspace inside the tractor, but not technically difficult (I am very UNhandy). It's small. My neighbor can get tractor/loader and 1 attachment on his trailer. I can get ALL my attachments loaded and unloaded on my 16' flatbed in about 10 minutes by myself. Makes friends-with-projects very happy. PT has been true to their warranty and even a little better (I got a free hose which are NOT under warranty). I knew what I was getting into and have been pleased with their service and help.
The bad stuff --
1.) Brushcutter -- I usually just run until it breaks or is about to throw a blade (ranges from 5 minutes to about an hour). The hub really needs to be re-designed to accept wing-shaped blades that will pass each other during kick-back and it mows too low in the highest setting. Is there a trick to preventing the bolts from working loose so fast??? I have used the blue colored thread stuff. Is there a lock so you can really torque down without the hub turning?
2.) Oomph - the tractor has none due to limited weight. Not really a fault, just a trade-off. You have to un-learn CUT and take smaller, faster bites
3.) Wheel spin - a little related to oomph, but different. If you are trying to push or back-drag and a wheel comes off the ground or looses traction, all power goes to that wheel. Need some kind of hydraulic limited-slip differential.
4.) Reliability - I had a major repair with approx 50 hours on the tractor. In PT's defense, it was a component that broke. What took a long time, was diagnosing the problem, not so much the repair (in the end, PT & I couldn't figure it out and I payed $500, while under warranty, to get the machine running... my choice because I wanted to tractor during my limited free time vs diagnose/repair). If this is your toyl (tool/toy), not a huge thing in the big scheme. If it is part of your livelyhood...big deal.
I will present this as a separate thread and we can do a case study and see who could diagnose the problem quicker PT or TBN
5.) Low profile - this is really an awesome feature of the tractor Re: stability, but kills the back when doing repairs. I need to create some kind of cross-tie elevated dock for repairs.
6.) IT'S REALLY LOUD (especially compare to my neighbors 50HP kubota which just purrs)
Would I do purchase a 1430 again vs. CUT? Yep
I'd be dead if I tried to do what I've done with a CUT.
Do I sometimes wish I had a big CUT or skidsteer for oomph? Yep. However, sometimes it's ok to BE the friend-with-a-project.
Operating costs + diagnosis/repairs + purchase of tools I didn't own have been about $1500 to date (which seems really reasonable to me since some should be fixed costs and hopefully I won't have as much trouble diagnosing future repairs).
All-in-all, I really enjoy my weird little MUT
