Planning a PT-425

BigDaddyEureka · Feb 28, 2021

Been reading the forum here for a while but ready for a first post now - hi Everyone!

We're starting a new project...a 1-2 acre orchard / park...and that's a bit more work than I really want to do by hand!

Looked at Deere, Kubota and Massey seriously...not many Kioti dealers around here...and all of them left me thinking "But the PT seems like a better idea." So we're heading that way. (That and the Deere and Kubota dealers could be described as "customer hostile" unless you're there to spend twice as much as the PT with the tools. Local dealers don't really cater to the little guys around here...is that a universal thing?)

Initial plan is for the bulk material bucket, the swivel post hole digger, the fertilizer / salt spreader, and the mini hoe to do the initial work around our place. Planning to get the snow blade to make that job a lot less of a hassle in the future too. Open to suggestion on other things we should be planning for, either now or down the later.

I've got a Deere Z425 zero turn for mowing for now, but down the line once the trees get going or when the Deere craps out I might look at their finish mower. Anyone using that? How's it working for you?

SpringHollow · Feb 28, 2021

Welcome to the forum. There are lots of very nice helpful people here. I find pallet forks and lifting boom to be extremely useful. Depending on where you live, shipping can get expensive if splitting your purchases up into multiple purchases.

Ken

MossRoad · Feb 28, 2021

Welcome to TBN!

MossRoad · Feb 28, 2021

Get the pallet forks!

They are inexpensive and really handy.

m5040 · Feb 28, 2021

I would make a lift boom utilizing the forks. It will end up being a little heavier but with the money you save I would look at a grapple bucket instead of just a plain bucket. Then you could move logs and brush without leaving the seat. All depends on how willing to compromise with the reduced lift capacity for each.

ernemats · Mar 1, 2021

ernemats · Mar 1, 2021

Welcome, Where are you located?

BigDaddyEureka · Mar 1, 2021

I'm in Central Illinois.

BigDaddyEureka · Mar 1, 2021

Interesting idea! I almost went with the 4-in-1 bucket but decided that I was going to be moving a LOT of mulch and that extra capacity would help.

BigDaddyEureka · Mar 1, 2021

That's a good point. Not a huge purchase in the face of everything else and it's certainly cheaper than a separate fork lift!

BigDaddyEureka · Mar 1, 2021

Thanks!

BigDaddyEureka · Mar 1, 2021

Good point on the shipping Ken. Makes sense!

MossRoad · Mar 1, 2021

When I bought my PT425 back in 2001, I ordered it on a Friday afternoon and it arrived in South Bend, IN on Monday. The machine and two pallets of attachments at a local truck depot (Overnight Freight Co.). The dock guys asked if I needed any help loading it and I said "Nope, but thanks." I brought a gallon of gas with me, put it in the tank, dug the pallet forks out of the shipment, put them on the PT425, and used it to load my pallets of attachments into the back of a friend's pickup truck. Then I found an embankment, backed my pickup up to that, used the PT loading ramps that I purchased, and backed the PT425 up in to my truck bed. Tossed the ramps in and off we went. I'd never driven it before and was quite pleased with how that all went. The truck dock guys were nodding in approval as well.

MossRoad · Mar 1, 2021

When I bought my PT425 back in 2001, I ordered it on a Friday afternoon and it arrived in South Bend, IN on Monday. The machine and two pallets of attachments at a local truck depot (Overnight Freight Co.). The dock guys asked if I needed any help loading it and I said "Nope, but thanks." I brought a gallon of gas with me, put it in the tank, dug the pallet forks out of the shipment, put them on the PT425, and used it to load my pallets of attachments into the back of a friend's pickup truck. Then I found an embankment, backed my pickup up to that, used the PT loading ramps that I purchased, and backed the PT425 up in to my truck bed. Tossed the ramps in and off we went. I'd never driven it before and was quite pleased with how that all went. The truck dock guys were nodding in approval as well.

MossRoad · Mar 1, 2021

When I bought my PT425 back in 2001, I ordered it on a Friday afternoon and it arrived in South Bend, IN on Monday. The machine and two pallets of attachments at a local truck depot (Overnight Freight Co.). The dock guys asked if I needed any help loading it and I said "Nope, but thanks." I brought a gallon of gas with me, put it in the tank, dug the pallet forks out of the shipment, put them on the PT425, and used it to load my pallets of attachments into the back of a friend's pickup truck. Then I found an embankment, backed my pickup up to that, used the PT loading ramps that I purchased, and backed the PT425 up in to my truck bed. Tossed the ramps in and off we went. I'd never driven it before and was quite pleased with how that all went. The truck dock guys were nodding in approval as well.

MossRoad · Mar 1, 2021

When I bought my PT425 back in 2001, I ordered it on a Friday afternoon and it arrived in South Bend, IN on Monday. The machine and two pallets of attachments at a local truck depot (Overnight Freight Co.). The dock guys asked if I needed any help loading it and I said "Nope, but thanks." I brought a gallon of gas with me, put it in the tank, dug the pallet forks out of the shipment, put them on the PT425, and used it to load my pallets of attachments into the back of a friend's pickup truck. Then I found an embankment, backed my pickup up to that, used the PT loading ramps that I purchased, and backed the PT425 up in to my truck bed. Tossed the ramps in and off we went. I'd never driven it before and was quite pleased with how that all went. The truck dock guys were nodding in approval as well.

MossRoad · Mar 1, 2021

When I bought my PT425 back in 2001, I ordered it on a Friday afternoon and it arrived in South Bend, IN on Monday. The machine and two pallets of attachments at a local truck depot (Overnight Freight Co.). The dock guys asked if I needed any help loading it and I said "Nope, but thanks." I brought a gallon of gas with me, put it in the tank, dug the pallet forks out of the shipment, put them on the PT425, and used it to load my pallets of attachments into the back of a friend's pickup truck. Then I found an embankment, backed my pickup up to that, used the PT loading ramps that I purchased, and backed the PT425 up in to my truck bed. Tossed the ramps in and off we went. I'd never driven it before and was quite pleased with how that all went. The truck dock guys were nodding in approval as well.

MossRoad · Mar 1, 2021

When I bought my PT425 back in 2001, I ordered it on a Friday afternoon and it arrived in South Bend, IN on Monday. The machine and two pallets of attachments at a local truck depot (Overnight Freight Co.). The dock guys asked if I needed any help loading it and I said "Nope, but thanks." I brought a gallon of gas with me, put it in the tank, dug the pallet forks out of the shipment, put them on the PT425, and used it to load my pallets of attachments into the back of a friend's pickup truck. Then I found an embankment, backed my pickup up to that, used the PT loading ramps that I purchased, and backed the PT425 up in to my truck bed. Tossed the ramps in and off we went. I'd never driven it before and was quite pleased with how that all went. The truck dock guys were nodding in approval as well.

MossRoad · Mar 1, 2021

When I bought my PT425 back in 2001, I ordered it on a Friday afternoon and it arrived in South Bend, IN on Monday. The machine and two pallets of attachments at a local truck depot (Overnight Freight Co.). The dock guys asked if I needed any help loading it and I said "Nope, but thanks." I brought a gallon of gas with me, put it in the tank, dug the pallet forks out of the shipment, put them on the PT425, and used it to load my pallets of attachments into the back of a friend's pickup truck. Then I found an embankment, backed my pickup up to that, used the PT loading ramps that I purchased, and backed the PT425 up in to my truck bed. Tossed the ramps in and off we went. I'd never driven it before and was quite pleased with how that all went. The truck dock guys were nodding in approval as well.

MossRoad · Mar 1, 2021

When I bought my PT425 back in 2001, I ordered it on a Friday afternoon and it arrived in South Bend, IN on Monday. The machine and two pallets of attachments at a local truck depot (Overnight Freight Co.). The dock guys asked if I needed any help loading it and I said "Nope, but thanks." I brought a gallon of gas with me, put it in the tank, dug the pallet forks out of the shipment, put them on the PT425, and used it to load my pallets of attachments into the back of a friend's pickup truck. Then I found an embankment, backed my pickup up to that, used the PT loading ramps that I purchased, and backed the PT425 up in to my truck bed. Tossed the ramps in and off we went. I'd never driven it before and was quite pleased with how that all went. The truck dock guys were nodding in approval as well.