Buying Advice Need to find a PT owner in Minnesota

[boggen]

your adding a lot of extra electrical. and the standard alternator that comes with tractor may not be big enough. most tractors i have seen with a cab. normally shows a bigger alternator. vs an open station tractor.

(rear work lights, front work lights, inside cab lights, fans, windshield wiper motor, etc...) it all adds up and has to come from some place.

if there is a cabbed version of given unit you want. then most likely it comes with the bigger alternator. bigger fuse and relay box, wire harnesses having the extra wires in it. better cage/frame for roll over protection. and perhaps better setup for FOPs (falling object protection) different layout of the consul for all the switches. manufactured bends and curves to deal with certain areas for more room. review mirror or perhaps side mirrors. heating ducts that are more compact and out of the way.

is the price paying for DIY style vs just paying for a cab version and obtaining the extras that a manufacture version gives worth it?

==============
on a side note, oil coolers need to withstand very high pressure and can be very costly vs a heater core from a old car or truck from junk yard. just run some hoses from engine radiator / block to the cab.

to note it, you may end up finally getting heat once you start using implments in winter if you used a oil cooler for a heater inside cab. but if ya came off the radiator / engine block. i would assume you would get much more heat and much faster. without need to use implements.

on other hand. just having a enclosed cab. and getting out of the wind. can make a huge! difference, and i do mean huge! more so when ya out in below zero temps with even a slow 10 to 15mph wind outside. it is almost night and day difference. on other hand having a heater is just one more perk. but *shrugs*

 

[boggen]

forgive last post, i thought power-trac offered a cab version of there tractors. the last time i looked (month or so ago) my bad.

 

[Badback]

boggen,

I will have some specs on the the electrical system in a few days. Then I can figure out what can be added.

Unless I am badly mistaken, the engine is air cooled, no radiator.

I don't know what the exact heat losses are in the hydraulic system, but if it needs a cooler then there is heat.

Just speculating here: If the snowblower is consuming the full PTO HP of 11.66 and the pump is optimistically 90% efficient, there are abour 870 watts going somewhere. If you could get half of that into the cab it should be better than none.

There is no reason why the one used by PT would not work, it can be had as a replacement part along with the same fan. It may not be the most cost effective so some further investigation is needed.

When I go out to blow snow, I start at the barn door and am moving snow until I get back to the barn door, so warmup time would not be an issue for me.

Your sure right about how just having a cab can be a huge difference in comfort. But having heat helps control condensation on the inside of the windsheild, as would a circulation fan.

I will report back in a few months once I have this all figured out.

 

[Gravy]

boggen,

I will have some specs on the the electrical system in a few days. Then I can figure out what can be added.

Unless I am badly mistaken, the engine is air cooled, no radiator.

I don't know what the exact heat losses are in the hydraulic system, but if it needs a cooler then there is heat.

Just speculating here: If the snowblower is consuming the full PTO HP of 11.66 and the pump is optimistically 90% efficient, there are abour 870 watts going somewhere. If you could get half of that into the cab it should be better than none.

There is no reason why the one used by PT would not work, it can be had as a replacement part along with the same fan. It may not be the most cost effective so some further investigation is needed.

When I go out to blow snow, I start at the barn door and am moving snow until I get back to the barn door, so warmup time would not be an issue for me.

Your sure right about how just having a cab can be a huge difference in comfort. But having heat helps control condensation on the inside of the windsheild, as would a circulation fan.

I will report back in a few months once I have this all figured out.

A hydraulic oil cooler should provide plenty of heat. Pushing or blowing snow gets the oil up to temperature and kicks on the fan in short order. Be aware that the Robin engine may have starting problems in cold weather. I use one magnetic block heater on the hydraulic reservoir and another on the tram pump, and I still sometimes have to use jumper cables and a bit of ether.

The alternator on a PT425 should be either 15 or 20 amps.

 

[SpringHollow]

I am concerned that you have a bad back. PT's do not have a very soft ride. I do not know on the smaller ones but my tractor's seat had no suspension so I added a suspension seat. It was hard on my back until i did that.

Ken

 

[J_J]

boggen, on a side note, oil coolers need to withstand very high pressure and can be very costly.

Hydraulic oil coolers are low pressure, and dump into the tank/reservoir.

 

[Badback]

Gravy,

Thanks, that was my initial thought. Even a little heat is great when the temp is near 0 degrees. On my property I have seen the temp as low as -44 degrees F, but it doesn't tend to snow when it's so cold.

The engine on the 425 should now be a Kohler. I might be able to get specs online. If I move the existing work lights up to the top of the cab I have added nothing. I'm going to look into LED head lamps for the rear location and interior. Red LED lighting on the inside would be very cool, no?

SpringHollow,

I see that TSC has a suspension seat for about $120, probably a good investment. Or I might swap the one out of my NH CM274 before I sell it.
Did I read something in another thread about reducing PT425 tire pressure to 10lbs in the winter? Might help as well.

J.J.,

Thanks. That answers one of my questions. Any idea what the pressure is at the top (pressure side) of the cooler? Is there enough to feed a parallel cooler or will I need some kind of proportioning valve?

Having heat is very important to me. It is why I had to sell my Bobcat skidsteer. I have poor circulation in my legs from diabetes. This causes very painful cramping when they get cold. Heat from under the seat is an ideal location for me. My NH has a heater that works very well. Just about the only thing that does work well on that beast.

 

[Gravy]

Gravy,

Thanks, that was my initial thought. Even a little heat is great when the temp is near 0 degrees. On my property I have seen the temp as low as -44 degrees F, but it doesn't tend to snow when it's so cold.

The engine on the 425 should now be a Kohler. I might be able to get specs online. If I move the existing work lights up to the top of the cab I have added nothing. I'm going to look into LED head lamps for the rear location and interior. Red LED lighting on the inside would be very cool, no?

SpringHollow,

I see that TSC has a suspension seat for about $120, probably a good investment. Or I might swap the one out of my NH CM274 before I sell it.
Did I read something in another thread about reducing PT425 tire pressure to 10lbs in the winter? Might help as well.

J.J.,

Thanks. That answers one of my questions. Any idea what the pressure is at the top (pressure side) of the cooler? Is there enough to feed a parallel cooler or will I need some kind of proportioning valve?

Having heat is very important to me. It is why I had to sell my Bobcat skidsteer. I have poor circulation in my legs from diabetes. This causes very painful cramping when they get cold. Heat from under the seat is an ideal location for me. My NH has a heater that works very well. Just about the only thing that does work well on that beast.

Badback,

I haven't heard anything about PT going back to Kohler. As I understand it, they went to Robin because Kohler stopped giving wholesale pricing. You should check on that.

At 0 degrees, my Robin would have absolutely no chance of starting.

The 425 seat has virtually no cushioning. It has low density foam that collapses immediately. If you are tall, you may need to do some extra engineering to accommodate a suspension seat without bashing your head into the ROPS.

As far as the heater is concerned, I suspect you could add another heat exchanger in series with no problem. In my opinion, the PT425 is a bit undercooled. I may be wrong, but I think the cooler is on the return side. It's aluminum. It looks just like a generic aftermarket automotive transmission cooler as sold by Hayden or Transcool. I think the pressures are maybe in the hundreds of psi, not thousands.

I love my PT. It's the best choice for me, but you have different needs. I hope we can give you the information that will help you make the right choice for you.

 

[Clumber]

Hi Badback, the current engine on the PT 425 is the Subaru/Robin EH72D Gas as the one in my new PT 425 purchased in Dec 2010. I have no experience at zero degrees F, but I can say that my PT has started on the 3rd to 4th crank at full choke at 15 degrees F after a night in an unheated garage.

Most suspension seats will raise you up approx 4 inches which may effect leg comfort...

I have the 48" 2 stage snow blower. I consider it a brute and not wimpy in any way. However, I do wish the auger was serrated (possible future Mod). Only a few forum members have the blower so operating experience here is rarely reported. We had a mild winter this year with little snow fall in Northern Virginia so my experience is limited. The big advantage that the PT425 with attached snow blower has over a Ventrac or a CUT front or rear mounted blower is the ability to raise the blower up to five feet with the FEL arms. For example, say you have five foot snow drifts against the barn. No problem, raise the blower and eat away large chunks with each pass.

 

[Marks481]

Ask PT if they would drop in the Robin 28FI engne instead of the Robin 25 hp. Exact same engne, just fuel injected. That might help with sub zero starting (as long as you have a block heater keeping the hydraulic tank warm).

Sometimes PT is willing to entertain requests for options like this, sometimes they aren't. Probably all depends on how much busness they have got lately.

I haven't heard that PT swtched back to kohler, and clumber just bought his PT425 a few months ago, and it had a robin in it.