Tires Cross bar or turf tires & ROPS?

MossRoad · Oct 12, 2004

We have about 20 acres that we want to build on in a few years. We bought a tractor based on the size of the jobs that we have to do, not the size of the property. All we want to do on our 20 acres is have a nice, small lawn around the house and along the long driveway. The rest is going back to nature, so to speak. We will have about 3 miles of trails to mow and one or two wildflower meadows to maintain, and some firewood to haul out of the woods. The driveway will need to be plowed in winter and raked a few times in summer. We just don't need anything bigger than the PT425 for those jobs.

As for the height of the ROPS... I am 6 feet tall and if I stand next to the tractor I can put my nose on top of the canopy and look like the "Kilroy was here" guy. The total height of the tractor with ROPS and canopy is only 5'6" at best. A very tight unit that scoots around easily.

While the ROPS doesn't appear to be on the price sheet for the 422 any more, I think it is still an option. It was only $500 a few years ago. Well worth the investment, if you ask me. I won't lecture about the safety issues, but will say that since you are taking the time to read all the posts, take the time to read the safety forum posts as well. There's one over there in particular that has links to videos of tractor roll overs. It pretty clearly illustrates that you aren't going to have enough time to jump clear. It also illustrates that ROPS work. Enough of that. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Good luck on your order. Let us know how it goes. You are always welcome here on TBN. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Phils · Oct 12, 2004

Being as I'm in sunny, golden California I have no "mushy" spots. Heck, we haven't seen rain in 4 months, and then only a sprinkle. Going with the turf tires, and will start looking for "slime".

Found a loading dock that will take delivery (our local Ace Hardware). They have a forklift too, guess it'll be 2 or 3 quick trips with my pickup to get the stuff home.

No suggestions for "co-pilot" seat yet? Maybe I should start a new thread with that heading?

I'll let y'all know how it goes.

MossRoad · Oct 12, 2004

When I picked up ours from the trucking company I loaded the snow plow up against the front of the pickup truck bed. Then I put the large bucket on the tractor, put the small bucket inside the large bucket and the forks inside of that. We had the tailgate removed from the pickup. I slid the loading ramps(purchased from Power Trac) in over the wheel wells. We had the 60" mower and the 48" brush hog in another pickup truck(I loaded them with the forks). It was tight, but all 4 wheels were in the truck. The buckets hung out the back and rested on the bumper. It is amazing how much stuff you can fit in if you pack carefully.

Are you trailering the PT or are you loading it into a pickup truck?

FOURTEEN · Oct 12, 2004

I strongly recommend:

PT-425, ROPS, Grapple Bucket, & Bar Tires on Reversed Wheels!

Since you are reading all PT posts, before making a commitment, read: PT-425 PROS & cons?? !!

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Sedgewood · Oct 12, 2004

<font color="green"> you aren't going to have enough time to jump clear. </font>

I'll second that.

To pick two from an ever growing list of "lucky" moments:

One motorcycle. Swerving and braking to avoid a jogger I accidentally locked the front wheel. My helmet skidmark started 20 feet beyond the beginning of the front tire skidmark. At about 50 MPH. Doing the math, my head was on the ground BEFORE my reaction time ran out!!

One tractor. Crossing a drainage ditch with a full load in one of those 3 point hitch scoops, when the front end came up the far bank the load overbalanced the tractor, standing it vertically. I remembering jabbing my left foot toward a clutch pedal that by then was up by my ear as I did a nice back flip, landing on my feet behind the scoop.

Hope my luck holds out "til the list stops growing /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Sedgewood

Phils · Oct 12, 2004

Finally Fourteen found this thread!

The order is in Scott's hands now. I'm sure that the turf tires will work fine as that what was on that 2WD Pug I owned and it never had a traction problem. The Pug was articulated too, so I should have an easy learning curve for the PT. I may reverse the wheels for added stability, but not if it means it won't fit in my pickup bed with reversed wheels.

I'm undecided as to how I'm going to transport it all home. The loading dock is about 10 miles from the house, so if it works I'll make three trips (one machine, one for each pallet of attachments). If time is a constraint, there's a rental yard a block away owned by a friend and I'll get a truck or a trailer.

I would like the 425, but I have a firm budget of $12K, and the difference would be many needed attachments that I wouldn't be able to get. I'll be doing work slower, but it'll still be much faster than by shovel and wheelbarrow. I'm hoping the Robin engine bugs are all addressed by now, I would be more comfortable with Kohler because I have experience with them, but I'm willing to learn.

That thread of "PT-425 Pros and Cons" was a good read and I learned much. It was a thread I read last week.

Phil

MossRoad · Oct 12, 2004

How are you loading the PT into your pickup truck and how are you getting it out? Just curious.

We ordered the ramps from PT. They are plenty strong enough. Just be sure that the ramps are secured to the truck and or blocked on the ground. If they slip while you are going up the ramp, it would be very dangerous.

Phils · Oct 12, 2004

I ordered the ramps. Was going to post the question of "how do they keep from falling off the pickup?" later, but guess now is as good of a time as any. What do I need to make sure they don't slip out? How best to secure them?

The pallets of attachments will be loaded into my truck with the forklift available at the dock.

That's the plan anyway. Open for suggestions please.

Phil

tracdoc · Oct 12, 2004

Hi Phils,

On the matter of tire slime, IMHO the best stuff out there is Ultraseal. The company HQ are in the LA area: ULTRASEAL Website

They make two grades of slime. Their Extreme Heavy Duty aka "bulletproof" grade is recommended for off-road vehicles. They reportedly have an Army contract to use in in Humvees, etc. It is supposed to plug a half-inch puncture /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

You can purchase direct, or find a list of dealers at the Ultraseal website. I found it most economical to buy from Gemplers, since they have a ceiling on their shipping costs, which were much lower than from HQ in LA to NC. Gemplers are good people, too: Gemplers Ultraseal

For the tires on the 422/425, you"ll need 48 oz per tire, so you would need to purchase 2 Gal. and you'll have a bit left over to fill your mower deck tires, wheelbarrow, etc. Each gallon container comes with a manual dosing installation pump (1 pump stroke = 1 oz) and tubing. All you need is a valve core remover.

Good luck, and have fun

MossRoad · Oct 13, 2004

Well... first off, remove the tailgate from the pickup. On our Chevy it requires no tools and is a 15 second job. Don't know about other brands of pickups. I just didn't trust the metal straps and the posts to hold that much weight.

I have a diamond plate bumper, so I wasn't worried about scratching it. Find a berm somewhere that you can back your pickup truck to. It doesn't take much. Even just a foot will make a huge difference when loading and unloading.

I rested the ramps about two inches into the bed, so if they slipped down, they would catch on the bumper. The other ends of the ramps were in the grass, which was soft, so as soon as I drove on them, they sunk in and hold.

Then I take some straps and hook one end to the ramp and one end under the bumper back to a point on the pickup frame. I pull them tight so they cannot slip.

Then it is just a matter of adjusting them to match the wheels of the PT. Use full throttle when going up and down the ramps. It gives much better control. Also, backing in lets any implements hang out the rear of the truck. You might want to put a piece of plywood across the front of your bed so that when you back in, the hitch on the rear of the PT will hit that before denting your bed.

As you back in, be sure to pay attention to the implements. You will have to raise the loader arms as you back up the ramps, because the front of the unit will tip down. As you get all four tires on the ramps, start lowering the lift arms to keep the attachments as low as possible to the ramps. As your rear tires get into the bed of the truck, keep lowering the lift arms. As you may or may not know, it is extremely important from a safety standpoint to ALWAYS keep the load on the lift arms as low as possible and only raise the load as high as needed.

One other note... be sure to take a gallon of gasoline with you. The PTs are shipped almost bone dry. They just have enough to get them on and off the truck. That keeps them from having to use hazardous material precautions. Fill it up as soon as you drive it outside. If you run out, it could be a pain to get it going again.

On my pickup truck, I ended up welding some pipes to the bumper and some pipes to the ramps. I can then put the ramps on the bumper, line up the pipes and run a steel rod through them. This makes for a solid, no slip method. Ugly, but it worked very well. I ended up buying a car hauler trailer later on, as I wanted to get rid of my pickup truck and go back to a two vehicle family. Our van hauls the trailer, the PT and all our attachments very well.

Good luck picking yours up. Just use common sense and go slow. Drive it around the lot a little bit to get used to the treadle pedals and watch out for the PT pucker. Practice that at home when no one else is watching. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif