KentT
Elite Member
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2005
- Messages
- 2,928
- Location
- Sevierville, TN
- Tractor
- 1993 Power Trac 1430 w/Kubota diesel engine
I was actually pretty surprised at how easy it was to fully service the PT-425. I took my time and followed MossRoad's excellent writeups. (A big thanks! Now I can see what others were complaining about regarding the PT manual).
I found a couple of missing bolts on the side cover plates for the "tunnel", cleaned out a lot of debris, and found a couple of loose connections on the Heim {??} joints or whatever they're called on the treadle control linkage. I tightened those, greased and lubed (white lithium spray) everything, and proceeded to change the engine oil/filter and then the hydraulic filter. Again, thanks to Mossroad, everything went smooth.
The only question/concerns from this whole service were on the grease zerks on the pivot pins. All of them seemed to require a lot of pressure on the handle of the grease gun to pump the grease. I'm still not sure how much grease I got inside the joints, versus how much bled out around the zerk/grease gun connection -- I probably put about 5 pumps on each one, before I noticed the "bleed-out" happening. Is this a common problem, with them being difficult to take grease?
One thing to point out -- that others may have already discovered -- but just in case... When I first checked out the PT I noticed some wear on the steering hoses on one side of the tractor. Rich had to replace the lower pivot bushing a while back -- he broke it, when pulling the PT sideways from a mucky spot where he was stuck -- and thinks he had a bad weld on the original one to begin with... However, in making the repair, it looks like the wire/cable ties that are on the steering cylinder hoses were not replaced on one side side of the tractor (other side has them, so I assume this occurred during the repair). The hoses on this side of the tractor show wear in two spots -- one at the rear, where they rubbed the mounting bolt for the hydraulic cylinder, and the other near the front of the cylinder where it appears they'd been caught between the two halves of the PT when it was articulated. My point is -- those wire/cable ties are important -- they hold the hydraulic hoses together and in an upright location BETWEEN that mounting bolt and the upper part of the PT frame where they can get pinched/worn when articulating... You may want to keep an eye on them!
So far, I've tried the rough-cut mower and the snow/dirt blade for a few minutes each, and spent most of my time with the rock bucket. The attachments seem to work well, and I was VERY impressed with how much faster it is to move dirt with the bucket, in comparison to a "normal tractor" and FEL. In about 3 hours, I filled a hole that took me more than two weekends to excavate with my other tractors. I dug out an old stone foundation for a carriage house to get the rocks to build a retaining wall, so some of that time was spent retreiving the rocks. However, not having to shift gears (other tractors were manual tranny) and the maneuverability of the articulated machine, really make the PT much faster to use. I did find, though, that I had to put the teeth on the rock bucket in order to easily fill it. I first tried the bucket without the teeth, and though I could fill it, it would often take a couple of attempts (new operator?) . With the teeth on it, not only could I fill it full, first time, every time, but I also later found that I could diq quite well in undisturbed soil. In one spot, I dug down between 2 and 3 feet (using a ramp) to collapse the old walls of the foundation and fill the hole in...
I'm VERY pleased with my first few hours with this machine. I have only one complaint -- I've already had two leaks/flats on the tractor from working in the rubble around the 150-year old foundation. One was a puncture -- and I had a tube put in it. The other may be a puncture -- it is acting like a slow leak, right now. So, I'll need to slime the tires, or something, before I take it to the woods to work with it...
Has anyone tried 6-ply tires, or any "puncture resistance" remedy other than Slime? If I add Slime, I can't load the tires with WW fluid for weight...
I found a couple of missing bolts on the side cover plates for the "tunnel", cleaned out a lot of debris, and found a couple of loose connections on the Heim {??} joints or whatever they're called on the treadle control linkage. I tightened those, greased and lubed (white lithium spray) everything, and proceeded to change the engine oil/filter and then the hydraulic filter. Again, thanks to Mossroad, everything went smooth.
The only question/concerns from this whole service were on the grease zerks on the pivot pins. All of them seemed to require a lot of pressure on the handle of the grease gun to pump the grease. I'm still not sure how much grease I got inside the joints, versus how much bled out around the zerk/grease gun connection -- I probably put about 5 pumps on each one, before I noticed the "bleed-out" happening. Is this a common problem, with them being difficult to take grease?
One thing to point out -- that others may have already discovered -- but just in case... When I first checked out the PT I noticed some wear on the steering hoses on one side of the tractor. Rich had to replace the lower pivot bushing a while back -- he broke it, when pulling the PT sideways from a mucky spot where he was stuck -- and thinks he had a bad weld on the original one to begin with... However, in making the repair, it looks like the wire/cable ties that are on the steering cylinder hoses were not replaced on one side side of the tractor (other side has them, so I assume this occurred during the repair). The hoses on this side of the tractor show wear in two spots -- one at the rear, where they rubbed the mounting bolt for the hydraulic cylinder, and the other near the front of the cylinder where it appears they'd been caught between the two halves of the PT when it was articulated. My point is -- those wire/cable ties are important -- they hold the hydraulic hoses together and in an upright location BETWEEN that mounting bolt and the upper part of the PT frame where they can get pinched/worn when articulating... You may want to keep an eye on them!
So far, I've tried the rough-cut mower and the snow/dirt blade for a few minutes each, and spent most of my time with the rock bucket. The attachments seem to work well, and I was VERY impressed with how much faster it is to move dirt with the bucket, in comparison to a "normal tractor" and FEL. In about 3 hours, I filled a hole that took me more than two weekends to excavate with my other tractors. I dug out an old stone foundation for a carriage house to get the rocks to build a retaining wall, so some of that time was spent retreiving the rocks. However, not having to shift gears (other tractors were manual tranny) and the maneuverability of the articulated machine, really make the PT much faster to use. I did find, though, that I had to put the teeth on the rock bucket in order to easily fill it. I first tried the bucket without the teeth, and though I could fill it, it would often take a couple of attempts (new operator?) . With the teeth on it, not only could I fill it full, first time, every time, but I also later found that I could diq quite well in undisturbed soil. In one spot, I dug down between 2 and 3 feet (using a ramp) to collapse the old walls of the foundation and fill the hole in...
I'm VERY pleased with my first few hours with this machine. I have only one complaint -- I've already had two leaks/flats on the tractor from working in the rubble around the 150-year old foundation. One was a puncture -- and I had a tube put in it. The other may be a puncture -- it is acting like a slow leak, right now. So, I'll need to slime the tires, or something, before I take it to the woods to work with it...
Has anyone tried 6-ply tires, or any "puncture resistance" remedy other than Slime? If I add Slime, I can't load the tires with WW fluid for weight...
