Help comparing PT add-ons

[woodlandfarms]

You will find driving the PT a real treat. It is a bit awkward backing up initially until you get used to the fact it turns in the middle. Not sure about towing, but have seen other people do it so why not?

I second the staying away from a 4 in 1. They are cool in principle but in application I hear more frustration than joy on this site.

Also, don't be afraid to look outside of the box for implements. Ksimolo and I both went off the farm for our gear. Not to say PT's is bad (it is quite good) it just did not fit certain applications Ksimolo and I were looking for.

This all said, the PT is a way cool tractor... Just be prepared for the fact it is a hands on tractor...

Carl

 

[bbabineau]

You will find driving the PT a real treat. It is a bit awkward backing up initially until you get used to the fact it turns in the middle. Not sure about towing, but have seen other people do it so why not?

I second the staying away from a 4 in 1. They are cool in principle but in application I hear more frustration than joy on this site.

Also, don't be afraid to look outside of the box for implements. Ksimolo and I both went off the farm for our gear. Not to say PT's is bad (it is quite good) it just did not fit certain applications Ksimolo and I were looking for.

This all said, the PT is a way cool tractor... Just be prepared for the fact it is a hands on tractor...

Carl

I would agree that the 4in1 is not all that it may be cracked up to be. I have one and wish that, for my uses, I had bought a standard bucket and a box blade. The grapple bucket would have been nice for the brush clearing but I don't have too much of that to do and I manage with the 4in1. I can also do as much brush clearing as I need with the minihoe and thumb.

 

[ponytug]

I think the key question is how much brush vs. soil moving you intend to do.
You should know that the PT box blade does not have tilt, nor does it have the ability to adjust the rippers in real time. i.e. hydraulically. (The sales team was a little vague on how one adjusts the rippers. It looks as if you have to re bolt it to get them down. Is this right?)

I second Ken's comments on the utility of the 4N1. With teeth on the 4N1, you can rip on one pass, and gather/distribute on the next pass, without changing implements.

Since I don't have a lot of brush, a 4N1 seems like a better choice than the box blade, but YMMV!

Others have commented on the effectiveness of the trencher for drilling more or less vertical holes. Depending upon your usage, you may want to consider it. If it works for you, it is way faster than the minihoe.

All the best,

Peter

When you mention "tines" for the 4-in-1 bucket, are you talking about an aftermarket toothbar? If not, could you describe those tines better, so we can understand?

Note that with a 4-in-1, you could readily have a toothbar mounted for digging, yet still have the rear part "blade" of the bucket still smooth for use in backblading. You'd open the bucket and put downpressure on this "blade" which forms the back of the bucket so that you could smooth things out. You can't readily do that with a normal bucket with a toothbar on it -- you have to backblade using either the rear, bottom corner of the bucket or the whole bottom of the bucket, neither of which work too well...

One caution though -- I think you'll find a 4-in-1 a poor substitute for a true grapple bucket if you're going to be dealing with a lot of brush. You can pick up a log with it, but it doesn't open far enough to grab much brush. If you have a lot of brush to deal with, I'd go for the grapple bucket instead. It already has teeth on it for use in digging, and it's about the same price as the 4-in-1....

 

[bbabineau]

I think the key question is how much brush vs. soil moving you intend to do.
You should know that the PT box blade does not have tilt, nor does it have the ability to adjust the rippers in real time. i.e. hydraulically. (The sales team was a little vague on how one adjusts the rippers. It looks as if you have to re bolt it to get them down. Is this right?)

I second Ken's comments on the utility of the 4N1. With teeth on the 4N1, you can rip on one pass, and gather/distribute on the next pass, without changing implements.

Since I don't have a lot of brush, a 4N1 seems like a better choice than the box blade, but YMMV!

Others have commented on the effectiveness of the trencher for drilling more or less vertical holes. Depending upon your usage, you may want to consider it. If it works for you, it is way faster than the minihoe.

All the best,

Peter

I tend to agree with your remarks about the box blade manufactured by PT. I would have bought a 3 point box and adapt to the PT. I am considering the Lackender conversion but am still stymied by the price. I may cobble up one myself or simply attach a box to a PT plate and be done as I did with a landscape rake.

 

[woodlandfarms]

I tend to agree with your remarks about the box blade manufactured by PT. I would have bought a 3 point box and adapt to the PT. I am considering the Lackender conversion but am still stymied by the price. I may cobble up one myself or simply attach a box to a PT plate and be done as I did with a landscape rake.

I bought the 3 point from Lackendar just to get started, but when I get up north I am welding one of my extra quick attach plates to my box blade.

This all said, one of the downsides of doing this mod is you cannot angle the blade. With Lackendar he made me an adjustor for one side that let me raise and lower the angle (left and right) so I can create a better groove for rain run off...

 

[KentT]

For my PT-425, I had a QA plate welded onto a 48" KingKutter XB boxblade that I bought at TSC. I had the mounting reinforced (welds instead of bolts, additional bracing, etc.) at the same time, so I can safely use it pushing or pulling. I got the idea from Highridge (I think it was -- Coxon tool, I remember) who'd done something similar to a heavier boxblade for his larger PT...

I haven't used it enough to provide any meaningful feedback. But for about the same price as the PT one, I have a heavier-duty implement with adjustable ripper shanks. It weighed 295 lbs before adding the QA plate and reinforcing the hitch.

Here's the original boxblade:

King Kutter Incorporated

 

[ponytug]

One of the features that I have found useful over the years is the ability to adjust the ripper depth on the fly. (I'm lazy & hate to have to raise the box blade, stop, get off the tractor, hammer out pins, reset the ripper depth, and get back .) My $0.02 is to go for hydraulically driven depth contol on the rippers. As Carl and others have noted, the ability to have differential L/Right depth is critical for a number of uses, e.g. road crowning, terracing, etc.

All the best,

Peter

For my PT-425, I had a QA plate welded onto a 48" KingKutter XB boxblade that I bought at TSC. I had the mounting reinforced (welds instead of bolts, additional bracing, etc.) at the same time, so I can safely use it pushing or pulling. I got the idea from Highridge (I think it was -- Coxon tool, I remember) who'd done something similar to a heavier boxblade for his larger PT...

I haven't used it enough to provide any meaningful feedback. But for about the same price as the PT one, I have a heavier-duty implement with adjustable ripper shanks. It weighed 295 lbs before adding the QA plate and reinforcing the hitch.

Here's the original boxblade:

King Kutter Incorporated

 

[J_J]

For my PT-425, I had a QA plate welded onto a 48" KingKutter XB boxblade that I bought at TSC. I had the mounting reinforced (welds instead of bolts, additional bracing, etc.) at the same time, so I can safely use it pushing or pulling. I got the idea from Highridge (I think it was -- Coxon tool, I remember) who'd done something similar to a heavier boxblade for his larger PT...

I haven't used it enough to provide any meaningful feedback. But for about the same price as the PT one, I have a heavier-duty implement with adjustable ripper shanks. It weighed 295 lbs before adding the QA plate and reinforcing the hitch.

Here's the original boxblade:

King Kutter Incorporated

Have you seen those roll over box blades, and some other products? You just pull a lever, and the box rolls over to rip or grade.

 

[PTOuser]

Returned from a trip and wanted to post this link (eBay: Clamp on Attachment Skid Steer Tractor Bucket Forks USA (item 320129344253 end time Jun-26-07 17:16:26 PDT)) for KentT. This is the clamp on attachments I had in mind bolting to the 4n1 to pick up brush.

 

[bbabineau]

For my PT-425, I had a QA plate welded onto a 48" KingKutter XB boxblade that I bought at TSC. I had the mounting reinforced (welds instead of bolts, additional bracing, etc.) at the same time, so I can safely use it pushing or pulling. I got the idea from Highridge (I think it was -- Coxon tool, I remember) who'd done something similar to a heavier boxblade for his larger PT...

I haven't used it enough to provide any meaningful feedback. But for about the same price as the PT one, I have a heavier-duty implement with adjustable ripper shanks. It weighed 295 lbs before adding the QA plate and reinforcing the hitch.

Here's the original boxblade:

King Kutter Incorporated

Kent

Can you show us a picture of how you attached the QA plate and what you you mean by reinforcing the hitch.