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
I'm back in my office, having gotten home last night about 12:30 AM. Hans left me to drive almost three more hours home, and John is wending his leisurely way up through West Virginia toward his digs in NY.
I will not try to recount everything that we learned and saw, but can initially advise that as information gatherers for TBN, we are miserable failures. We think we opened some lines of communication, and Power Trac assures us that we will be able to get some more information using those routes, but we have almost nothing of engineering precision to report back. In fact, looking at various posts and queries, we didn't even pose all of the questions that TBN members asked us to. Most of our discussion was with sales and service people, who were reluctant to answer us in a lot of engineering areas.
We ran out of time for reasons that will be familiar to those who have visited Tazewell -- we spent altogether too much time testing and playing with attachments, and, of course, each of us bought something. I bought the pallet forks, John bought the mini-hoe and a 2" hitch adapter, Hans bought a muffler for his Kohler, promised them that he would buy a 4 n 1 bucket, and almost accidentally bought a PT 1430. See how skillfully we handled those people at Power Trac ? /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
For those interested in the hoe, John (Sedgewood) first came by my place, dug a bit with my Lackender, and then went to PT tested theirs and bought it. PT's is smaller and lighter than the Lackender, and faster acting. Hans and I aren't going to throw away our Lackenders, but we didn't try to argue John out of his decision, either. It's a neat piece of machinery.
We saw only pictures of the unfinished, unpainted dumper trailer. It looks slick, but PT didn't want us to publish those pictures because they don't make it look pretty. Materials are on order to build the second batch.
I couldn't see the post pounder work because they had welded a foot on their only demonstrator and used it to break up a badly poured concrete pad for part of their new building. I saw it in "simulation mode", however, and liked it a lot. I don't know how much fence I need to replace before justifying it.
John and I were satisfied after looking at some experimental changes on a test machine that Power Trac is making progress toward solving our overheating problem. They haven't quite gotten there, but clearly they understand the problem and are working in the right direction.
We watched Mike demonstrate the knuckle boom mower on the 1850. It worked pretty well, but is much more complex and expensive than the boom mower for the 425. The smaller unit has the mower disk solidly fixed to the boom, so it can not conform to the ground. Hans didn't think he could use it in that configuration, since it isn't adaptable enough to terrain. We didn't actually see that cut.
It will be late in the week or the weekend before I can sort and post a picture or two. Hans and I will try to organize the numerous technical questions and e-mail them to PT for their consideration and answer. They were reluctant to give us quick answers to those questions we posed while there, except they once again told Hans that they seriously advise against dual tires on the 400 series due to high shock loads imposed when the outer tire climbs something suddenly. For most questions, they suggested we send them and they promised that this time they will consider them and respond. They conceded that they haven't been as responsive to inquiries as they should be and assured us that things will improve in that regard.
To all of those with great expectations that we'd answer your questions, I apologize. Sure was a fun trip, though. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
I will not try to recount everything that we learned and saw, but can initially advise that as information gatherers for TBN, we are miserable failures. We think we opened some lines of communication, and Power Trac assures us that we will be able to get some more information using those routes, but we have almost nothing of engineering precision to report back. In fact, looking at various posts and queries, we didn't even pose all of the questions that TBN members asked us to. Most of our discussion was with sales and service people, who were reluctant to answer us in a lot of engineering areas.
We ran out of time for reasons that will be familiar to those who have visited Tazewell -- we spent altogether too much time testing and playing with attachments, and, of course, each of us bought something. I bought the pallet forks, John bought the mini-hoe and a 2" hitch adapter, Hans bought a muffler for his Kohler, promised them that he would buy a 4 n 1 bucket, and almost accidentally bought a PT 1430. See how skillfully we handled those people at Power Trac ? /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
For those interested in the hoe, John (Sedgewood) first came by my place, dug a bit with my Lackender, and then went to PT tested theirs and bought it. PT's is smaller and lighter than the Lackender, and faster acting. Hans and I aren't going to throw away our Lackenders, but we didn't try to argue John out of his decision, either. It's a neat piece of machinery.
We saw only pictures of the unfinished, unpainted dumper trailer. It looks slick, but PT didn't want us to publish those pictures because they don't make it look pretty. Materials are on order to build the second batch.
I couldn't see the post pounder work because they had welded a foot on their only demonstrator and used it to break up a badly poured concrete pad for part of their new building. I saw it in "simulation mode", however, and liked it a lot. I don't know how much fence I need to replace before justifying it.
John and I were satisfied after looking at some experimental changes on a test machine that Power Trac is making progress toward solving our overheating problem. They haven't quite gotten there, but clearly they understand the problem and are working in the right direction.
We watched Mike demonstrate the knuckle boom mower on the 1850. It worked pretty well, but is much more complex and expensive than the boom mower for the 425. The smaller unit has the mower disk solidly fixed to the boom, so it can not conform to the ground. Hans didn't think he could use it in that configuration, since it isn't adaptable enough to terrain. We didn't actually see that cut.
It will be late in the week or the weekend before I can sort and post a picture or two. Hans and I will try to organize the numerous technical questions and e-mail them to PT for their consideration and answer. They were reluctant to give us quick answers to those questions we posed while there, except they once again told Hans that they seriously advise against dual tires on the 400 series due to high shock loads imposed when the outer tire climbs something suddenly. For most questions, they suggested we send them and they promised that this time they will consider them and respond. They conceded that they haven't been as responsive to inquiries as they should be and assured us that things will improve in that regard.
To all of those with great expectations that we'd answer your questions, I apologize. Sure was a fun trip, though. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
