Congratulations and welcome to the pt family. I too found out about pt while researching Steiner info on the net. Thought Steiner looked practically ideal until I saw PT. I have 235 hours on mine which I purchased in 09/03. It has been invauable in constructing 2 retaining walls- one 3ft by 75ft and one about 6 ft by 120 ft. The 82 lbs blocks would have been terrible for my back had the PT not done most of the work, not to mention at least 120 yards of gravel and fill dirt used on this project. The mini hoe has been favorably compared to owning a baby elephant when moving moderate sized logs, and is also great for digging trenches through very rocky clay. I've had three hydraulic hoses break - two were steering hoses which came apart under the front panel spraying hot oil all over my boots (don't drive a PT -or any other power equipment with sandals on). One hose broke in front whil I was maneuvering with a large tree root ball held by the mini hoe , I think I hooked it with one of the roots and pulled it apart at the fitting. The most serious problem I had was the lift arm assembly snapped in two. I had noticed that the welds were leaking some grease when I lubed them, and called Terry. He said it should be fine and I couldn't snap the 1-1/2 in steel bar running through it. Well I can break most anything . He sent me a new bar and the rocker piece and I paid ten dollars to have it welded into place. I've been meaning to give an update for a while, this seemed a good time to do it. I'll try to post a picture of me digging out a place for the steps.
