General Questions

[bmac]

Del, Thanks for jumping in. I agree that the 2425 is a great value and can do things that the 425 cannot. It's a little intimidating to look at (photos) and I can't imagine the looks from my neighbors if they saw me mowing my 1 acre lot with that little beast. Probably would raise eyebrows with the 425.

The great thing about going to the factory will be the opportunity to actually see and operate the different models. I may be surprised when I get to actually sit on one and try it out.

Thanks again or the reply. Obviously, I need all of the input I can get.

 

[MossRoad]

I live on 1 acre and I find the PT425 is perfect. I can mow my lawn in about 18 minutes if I go all out, or I can take my time and do a nice job in about a half an hour to 35 minutes. It has never been too big. It DOES raise eyebrows and everyone asks, "Why did you get something that big?". Then you compare it in size to a large lawn tractor. It isn't much bigger. It is only 43" wide and the top of the canopy is less than 6' because I can look at the top of my canopy and I'm 6' tall. You can back it into a full sized pickup truck with the 60" mower attached. The mower hangs out about a foot and a half. Or you can back it in with the large bucket attached. You can nest the small bucket inside of that and the forks inside of that! There was even room for my custom slicer thingy, a sledge hammer and my lunch cooler. Just something to think about if you need to transport it and don't want to buy a trailer. I eventually bought a trailer for my van because I want to get rid of my truck. It is a car hauler type trailer with low sides, so that eliminated my "the PT425 can't load a pickup truck" issue /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif. I just put some 2x10 wood sides on it Monday and hopefully will test it out this weekend with some black dirt.

 

[bmac]

MR, what do you think your neighbors would say if you were out there mowing with a 1425 (not that it would matter)?

I have a 6X10 landscape trailer that would handle the PT and some attachments. My pickup is one of those yuppie F150 SuperCrews (4 full sized doors) with the real short (5') beds. Good for haulin' kids, but the short bed is somewhat limiting for other things.

Hopefully, I won't be transporting my tractor anywhere, but if I needed to, the trailer should work fine for a PT. BTW, I priced the trailers PT sells in their packages. Whew! $4700. Think I'll pass on that.

 

[MossRoad]

<font color=blue>what do you think your neighbors would say if you were out there mowing with a 1425 </font color=blue>

I think they'd say, "There goes crazy Dave!" /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[ernemats]

bmac:
I have had my pt model 422 for two and one half years now and have almost 400 hours on the hour meter and I have never had any repairs or problems with it. We mow about 5 acres + with the 48 inch mower in about 3 hours, lawn is rough and mostly hillside 10 to 25 degree slope. I also have the small bucket without teeth and it does decent work in our clay ground digging if you take your time. I also have the rototiller and it digs real good if you don't have stone.

 

[bmac]

ernemats, Thanks. That's a great testimonial. Hope you have many more trouble-free hours ahead. I'm really envious of you folks with all of the acreage. Lots of room to play with ...er, work.

 

[Carpenter]

bmac, It seems you've gotten alot of good info, already. I've been very pleased with my 425, and would definitely buy again. The most important feature to me is the "quick attach". I use the PT constantly, because it's so easy to hook up whatever attachment I need. It's much handier than any other tractor I've owned.

So far I've used the Lackender hoe to dig out some small trees and shrubs, trench for a retaining wall footing, and dig a 3 ft. deep trench for a sprinkler manifold. I'll be putting in a larger retaining wall and digging up a parking strip for pavers in Oct. Hopefully by then, I'll have enough time on it to post an informed evaluation. So far I'm pleased with the hoe; it's well built and "beats the heck" out of a shovel! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[bmac]

Carpenter,

Good to hear from you. Really liked the pics of your Lackender hoe. Glad to hear its been working out well so far. I'll be watching for the next review.

I have been overwhelmed by the helpful comments from everyone here. Everyone has been very generous with their answers to my questions and their suggestions. I can read all the literature available, watch videos over and over, but it is the comments from the users that have really goten me excited about the PT. If there is an unhappy PT owner out there, he sure has been silent.

As I was reading other sections on this forum and posting questions about other tractors, I would often read a post from MossRoad praising the PT. My initial post here was intended to just get some more info on the PT so I could be comfortable with my decision to purchase a BX 22. You know, cover all the bases, no buyers remorse. Little did I know that I would become so excited about this strange looking contraption that I thought looked like a cross between a golf cart and lunar rover. Don't know if I should be happy to have stumbled onto this forum or angry that I'm being unwittingly sucked into a bizarre little cult. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

Oh, well. Time will tell. Thanks again to everyone for thier help.

 

[Sedgewood]

bmac: <font color=green>It's a little intimidating to look at (photos) and I can't imagine the looks from my neighbors if they saw me mowing my 1 acre lot with that little beast. ... Don't know if I should be happy to have stumbled onto this forum or angry that I'm being unwittingly sucked into a bizarre little cult.</font color=green>

Ah, but a little bizarre is GOOD for the neighbors. Enjoy their discomfort, it's part of the fun of being a little "off"

 

[MossRoad]

Hey, no matter which machine you choose, you can't go wrong with TBN in general! There's never this many people chewing the fat down at the country store.

I think you're doing the right thing by asking questions and taking your time in decidng what to purchase. It took me about a year to figure out what I needed, what I wanted but didn't need, and what I could live with. I'm happy with my decision and would do it again. Now I wish I had the post hole digger with 6 and 12 inch augers. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif