Happy, Unhappy with my PT

jfh28 · Sep 17, 2007

Happy

Highridge · Sep 17, 2007

happy

stray · Sep 17, 2007

Very Happy 2003 422 22 hp robine engine

675 hrs. only one costly problem, a broken front wheel motor. Definitely my fault though.

Did a little welding on the lift arms but no expense and little trouble.

The Trogger · Sep 17, 2007

Very Happy

Gravy · Sep 17, 2007

Looks like the consensus is leaning towards the "happy" end of the scale. That may say as much for our expectations and preferences as it does for the ultimate reliability of the machines. We mostly seem to understand just what we are buying, and accept it for what it is. PTs are very unusual machines, and as such, aren't for everybody. Nothing else on the market compares in terms of versatile capabilities (especially on slopes) vs. cost. The trade-off is the "kit-tractor" nature of the beast and the limits of warranty support.

I'm very aware of the limitations of the machine and the factory support. Knowing what I know after almost 3 years of ownership, if I lost my PT, I would replace it with another in a heartbeat. Nothing else that I can afford can do what the PT does.

Gravy

KentT · Sep 17, 2007

Gravy said:
Looks like the consensus is leaning towards the "happy" end of the scale. That may say as much for our expectations and preferences as it does for the ultimate reliability of the machines. We mostly seem to understand just what we are buying, and accept it for what it is. PTs are very unusual machines, and as such, aren't for everybody. Nothing else on the market compares in terms of versatile capabilities (especially on slopes) vs. cost. The trade-off is the "kit-tractor" nature of the beast and the limits of warranty support.

I'm very aware of the limitations of the machine and the factory support. Knowing what I know after almost 3 years of ownership, if I lost my PT, I would replace it with another in a heartbeat. Nothing else that I can afford can do what the PT does.

Gravy

Ding! Ding! We have a winner...

IMO, that sums it up very, very well... we'd have to pay at least 2x the money for similar performance to the 422/425, perhaps more since PT attachments are bargain-priced compared to other hydraulically-driven attachments, and there's simply nothing else out there in the 1430/1445 class that I'm aware of, at least.

IrTxRx · Sep 17, 2007

Gravy said:
Looks like the consensus is leaning towards the "happy" end of the scale. That may say as much for our expectations and preferences as it does for the ultimate reliability of the machines. We mostly seem to understand just what we are buying, and accept it for what it is. PTs are very unusual machines, and as such, aren't for everybody.
Gravy

However, beware of "silent evidence."

We may have a skewed sample. Everyone who got a good-run PT or is a tinkerer and pleased with the "open-tractor" concept is still posting on the pt forum and thus we get 100% happy responses. It is possible that there are 10-fold "unhappy," but we don't hear their vote because they unloaded their PT a long time ago and have no reason to visit the PT forum. FWIW -- part of my conundrum that has kept me from purchasing a 1430

Back to voting -- nonowner and UNHAPPY (but don't know if I should be)

SnowRidge · Sep 17, 2007

Harumph!

100% happy. Not so. There were at least two outright unhappys, plus a couple of conditional happys, and one hard-to-tell-just-what-he-meant.

pairodime · Sep 17, 2007

Very, very Happy, and I've had my share of repairs in 300 hours. Just finished fixing my 4th wheel motor leak. I don't think there's a "silent" unhappy group reading TBN. Those that are frustrated and annoyed seem to come here and post a lot.

If you don't have a PT, drink the cool-aid and stop wondering ;-)