Charlie_Iliff
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2001
- Messages
- 1,890
- Location
- Arnold, MD
- Tractor
- Power Trac PT1845, John Deere 2240, John Deere 950, John Deere 755, Jacobsen Turf Cat II
IrTxRx said:
Add one more Happy.
Happy, Unhappy with my PT
- Thread starter BobRip
- Start date
- Views: 8351
Add one more Happy.
horse7
Gold Member
There is an interesting effect noted, I think, by Consumer Reports many years ago--
One person loves their car. Yes, it had a bad fuel pump that left them stranded, and was in the shop twice to have carb adjustments, but it is great car, worth ever penny...
Another person considers the car unreliable junk. It left them stranded with a failed fuel pump, and was in the shop numerous time for carb repairs.....
Personally I'd put the cut at "limp along" failures vs. "toes up in the field" failures. Limping along is OK (I used to drive a truck with rusted out floors, bullet dual exhaust (sorta. Only a few holes in the pass pipe patched with tin cans), broken rear spring stacks (crummy GM parts, horrible metallurgy), couple of round cam lobes in the 350 (typical GM of that era), and driver door held shut with a bungee (watch the right turns, the driver door swings open on the bungee, try not to smack any passers by or sign posts (passenger door rusted shut, afraid to open it, truck might break in half)). [and THIS PASSES INSPECTION surprisingly enough. At least in NY. Clutch finally wore out and I stopped driving it, bought an F350 after driving an F150 with no idle hot oil pressure in the 5L block (what a good block!)-- I drove this one for 3.5 years every creeping hot construction zone an adventure, leaking 1/2 quart a day of 20W50 from the front main
finally had to give it away due to working 24x7 for a year, no time even for limp along maintenance.]).
One person loves their car. Yes, it had a bad fuel pump that left them stranded, and was in the shop twice to have carb adjustments, but it is great car, worth ever penny...
Another person considers the car unreliable junk. It left them stranded with a failed fuel pump, and was in the shop numerous time for carb repairs.....
Personally I'd put the cut at "limp along" failures vs. "toes up in the field" failures. Limping along is OK (I used to drive a truck with rusted out floors, bullet dual exhaust (sorta. Only a few holes in the pass pipe patched with tin cans), broken rear spring stacks (crummy GM parts, horrible metallurgy), couple of round cam lobes in the 350 (typical GM of that era), and driver door held shut with a bungee (watch the right turns, the driver door swings open on the bungee, try not to smack any passers by or sign posts (passenger door rusted shut, afraid to open it, truck might break in half)). [and THIS PASSES INSPECTION surprisingly enough. At least in NY. Clutch finally wore out and I stopped driving it, bought an F350 after driving an F150 with no idle hot oil pressure in the 5L block (what a good block!)-- I drove this one for 3.5 years every creeping hot construction zone an adventure, leaking 1/2 quart a day of 20W50 from the front main
finally had to give it away due to working 24x7 for a year, no time even for limp along maintenance.]).
woodlandfarms
Super Member
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2006
- Messages
- 6,137
- Location
- Los Angeles / SW Washington
- Tractor
- PowerTrac 1850, Kubota RTV x900
I would say owning a PT is like owning a Macintosh in the 90's. If you are sitting and looking at your PC your probably don't get the tie in.
hogi
Bronze Member
Happy
Rip
Platinum Member
Satisfied ......Does what I needed and expected it to do. It is rather crude, but that can be both positive and sometimes negative.
I pretty much wrote off factory support early on, so am not surprised at how they respond to many coustomer situations. Not saying I approve, just that I have low expectations.
Rip
I pretty much wrote off factory support early on, so am not surprised at how they respond to many coustomer situations. Not saying I approve, just that I have low expectations.
Rip
J_J
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2003
- Messages
- 18,952
- Location
- JACKSONVILLE, FL
- Tractor
- Power-Trac 1445, KUBOTA B-9200HST
I would like to modify the question a bit, since I don't deal in happy or unhappy. I could say that I am satisfied when things work as they should, and you know that it doesn't happen all the time. When things do not work as you think they should, I get angry as ****, and then I am not satisfied. It would seem like most people that make a large purchase, say, anything from $8,000.00 to $28,000.00 might as well be happy, because it is something that you have settled for. I think that most of you are not satisfied with the warranty, and the fact that Terry is the only tech support you will get from PT. What happens if he is not there any more? You all know that the manuals suck. Has anyone ever talked to someone at PT that was higher than a salesperson.
Sedgewood
Platinum Member
One more happy. In spite of it all it's still the most productive tractor I've ever experienced.
Sedgewood
Sedgewood
SnowRidge
Elite Member
Frankly, I am amazed at how they do business. When you consider that almost anything powered comes with a whole sheaf of warnings and cautions ranging from reasonable and appropriate to downright ridiculous (Don't Drink Your Battery. It May Cause Sickness Or Even Death). For Power Trac to sell powered implements with absolutely no manual or operating instructions of any kind is a major anomaly in today's business world.
It makes me wonder if this is some sort of bizarre legal strategy, or if they are just plain avoiding the costs of writing and printing owners manuals or instruction sheets. They don't even provide illustrated parts breakdowns for the implements, which seems so disconnected from the concept of user maintained equipment.
None of my three implements with moving parts has come with any sort of documentation, and the manuals that come with the PT itself are a joke.
I tend to think that Power Trac is a company that takes cost controls to extremes. They provide almost no documentation to their customers. They build their own mufflers, probably because they can do it for slightly less than what the OEM charges. They built their own sales building, according the their current sales guy. Their phone system is VoIP. They continue to produce products that break when the fix would require higher production costs. Look at the cracking decks on all the brush cutters. Any other company would have fixed that with a welded on brace or two as soon as they became aware of it.
I am amazed they have a toll free number.
It makes me wonder if this is some sort of bizarre legal strategy, or if they are just plain avoiding the costs of writing and printing owners manuals or instruction sheets. They don't even provide illustrated parts breakdowns for the implements, which seems so disconnected from the concept of user maintained equipment.
None of my three implements with moving parts has come with any sort of documentation, and the manuals that come with the PT itself are a joke.
I tend to think that Power Trac is a company that takes cost controls to extremes. They provide almost no documentation to their customers. They build their own mufflers, probably because they can do it for slightly less than what the OEM charges. They built their own sales building, according the their current sales guy. Their phone system is VoIP. They continue to produce products that break when the fix would require higher production costs. Look at the cracking decks on all the brush cutters. Any other company would have fixed that with a welded on brace or two as soon as they became aware of it.
I am amazed they have a toll free number.
Bob999
Platinum Member
Count me as satisfied--The product performs as advertised and the design is consistent with a very low production product that is reasonably priced.
I think that a point that is often forgotten is that PT products are produced in extremely low numbers. Based on the posting on this board the 400 series is the best seller but is supect that annual production of each model is in the tens, or at most a couple of hundred.
I think that a point that is often forgotten is that PT products are produced in extremely low numbers. Based on the posting on this board the 400 series is the best seller but is supect that annual production of each model is in the tens, or at most a couple of hundred.
IrTxRx
Silver Member
Sedgewood said:
And yours burned down to a cinder, lol
