PT1845 PT1850 Production Mod History ?

horse7 · Jul 4, 2007

Is there a thread or site somewhere that lists the production history of the 1845/1850? In particular, a history of changes made by PT would be of use for buying used machines.

For instance, from reading numerous threads here it sounds like in 2005 PT made significant changes (for example, higher power wheel motors) which would make a 2005 or later machine more valuable all else being equal.

Historically, I am terrible at buying used machinery-- been a few times that by the time everything was operational I might as well have bought new!

I have about 5 acres of moderate to steep slopes (up to 25-30*, but mostly 5-15) some of which have to be done laterally due to rock outcroppings. Positive stopping on catastrophic power failure is required (due to the rock ridges, up to 10' drops). I'm also putting in terracing in another area of the property with 1' to 3' steps -- driving a wheel off the retaining wall is rather disastrous with a conventional tractor, but appears manageable although perhaps expensive with an 1850 45* capability. Probably center hang before sliding off. (the terraces are designed to be hogged 2x/yr for the most part, indeed, the retaining wall materials alone come within spitting distance of the cost of a new 1850 with a heap of attachments...)

It is difficult to justify a nice new 1850 for the relatively small amount of work for it to do-- although I estimate maintaining the 5 acre area would probably add 10K to the value of the property (I am trying almighty hard to justify buying new...

). I'd consider used but would need to know production history to have an idea of the used value. Generally, I won't pay more than 2/3 of new regardless of machine condition, after 2/3 of new I'd just buy brand new and forego buying someone else's problems.

MossRoad · Jul 4, 2007

None that I know of.

Your project sounds neat, though. We'd love to see some photos.

woodlandfarms · Jul 5, 2007

Just my 2 on this. We have 10 acres out of 40 cleared. Mowing them with the smaller mower really is difficult. than 90' with the 1850 sure cuts down on abuse time...

ponytug · Jul 5, 2007

Two comments;
1) There is no public catalog of the production changes that I know of. I would talk to PT about the build of any given unit.

2) The 1445 has a different brake system than the 1845/50, but it is also a brake system that is released by pressure in the hydraulic system. I.e. engine stalls or hose ruptures cause the brakes to go on.

For 5 acres, I would take a hard look at how much you have to do by tractor. (Sheep?) I know of a 425 owner who did the 15 degree and flatter slopes with his PT and used a walk behind mower for the (small) 20 degree portion of his property.

I sometimes think that 100% solutions can start to look like diamond studded work gloves.

Just my $0.02...

Peter

horse7 said:
Is there a thread or site somewhere that lists the production history of the 1845/1850? In particular, a history of changes made by PT would be of use for buying used machines.

For instance, from reading numerous threads here it sounds like in 2005 PT made significant changes (for example, higher power wheel motors) which would make a 2005 or later machine more valuable all else being equal.

Historically, I am terrible at buying used machinery-- been a few times that by the time everything was operational I might as well have bought new!

I have about 5 acres of moderate to steep slopes (up to 25-30*, but mostly 5-15) some of which have to be done laterally due to rock outcroppings. Positive stopping on catastrophic power failure is required (due to the rock ridges, up to 10' drops). I'm also putting in terracing in another area of the property with 1' to 3' steps -- driving a wheel off the retaining wall is rather disastrous with a conventional tractor, but appears manageable although perhaps expensive with an 1850 45* capability. Probably center hang before sliding off. (the terraces are designed to be hogged 2x/yr for the most part, indeed, the retaining wall materials alone come within spitting distance of the cost of a new 1850 with a heap of attachments...)

It is difficult to justify a nice new 1850 for the relatively small amount of work for it to do-- although I estimate maintaining the 5 acre area would probably add 10K to the value of the property (I am trying almighty hard to justify buying new... ). I'd consider used but would need to know production history to have an idea of the used value. Generally, I won't pay more than 2/3 of new regardless of machine condition, after 2/3 of new I'd just buy brand new and forego buying someone else's problems.

Charlie_Iliff · Jul 5, 2007

I have an 1845. I know of no source for listing of changes. My impression is that there have been few in the 1845-1850 over the past few years, at least. (The new wheel motors are on the 425.)
I wouldn't want to test the hypothesis of an 1845 or 1850 dropping wheels over a wall and not sliding over. The 90" mower on the 1850 should be outside the wheels, but not by a lot, so you'd be running close to the edge. The boom mower would give some reach to do edges without getting close. (Money, of course.)
Sounds like a grand project. We will all be happy to recommend ways for you to spend more money on PT products.

horse7 · Jul 6, 2007

ponytug said:
For 5 acres, I would take a hard look at how much you have to do by tractor. (Sheep?) I know of a 425 owner who did the 15 degree and flatter slopes with his PT and used a walk behind mower for the (small) 20 degree portion of his property.

I sometimes think that 100% solutions can start to look like diamond studded work gloves.

Peter

The 5 acres is the steep part, the total is 12.3 acres of land.

I'm sure I am not the first person to have diamond studded work gloves

(or the last for that matter) but there have been more times that I have bought what I thought I needed then had to go back and buy something better than the reverse (the most glaring case of underbuying for me was going from a Sears homeowner hammer drill and over the years and several hammer drill iterations finally reaching the largest Hitachi spline drive electric. I would have saved a whole lot of hammer time going right to the largest size instead of pinching pennies and wasting time).

I have a TN70 because in my estimation I'd outgrow a smaller tractor in a few years, and the conversion cost would exceed just hunting down and buying the larger size to start with. I have a great propensity for moving dirt and heavy objects around.

Unfortunately, I did not come across Power-Trac until recently or I might have gone 100% Power-Trac. I really wanted to buy American....

The 1850 is attractive since it has a large margin of safety for the slopes I have, and the terracing. There isn't enough cost difference with the 1845 to go that step downward. Resale value tends to be good also. The larger FEL capacity of the other PTs is not needed as I can use the TN70 (which is what it is intended for anyway, in addition to hacking down very dense brush).

But probably the most important item is to have a large margin of safety on the slopes-- I've been on too many hair raising lateral slopes and I'm just feeling too old to do that anymore, I'd rather be on a 20* and not be on the hairy edge than on a 10* with a CUT and sweating out whether a ground hog mound is going to appear in the weeds on the uphill side

.

Charlie_Iliff · Jul 6, 2007

horse7 said:
But probably the most important item is to have a large margin of safety on the slopes-- I've been on too many hair raising lateral slopes and I'm just feeling too old to do that anymore, I'd rather be on a 20* and not be on the hairy edge than on a 10* with a CUT and sweating out whether a ground hog mound is going to appear in the weeds on the uphill side .

For years, my family and I have ridden down steep parts of a couple of pastures on a JD 950 with 6' brush hog. That's with both rears locked and about as much control as a hockey puck. It was only after I got the PT1845 that I found that it not only worked steep areas confidently, but was far more useful than our other four tractors combined.
You have already convinced yourseelf that the 1850 is for you. All you now need to do is add a few more implements to your initial list.
Most PT implements work so smoothly that you'll seldom shake the diamond studs out of their mounts on your gloves.

ponytug · Jul 6, 2007

Go for it! I am all in favor of safety. There are a number of great users on the forum here to help out.

Want to stop by to see the diamond gloves that I have?

As far as buying the right tool goes, I'm with you.

Everytime I use a tool that I under bought on, it reminds me why it was an error. Now a Hitachi hammer drill... Ooooh. Have you seen the nice hydraulically powered tools that you can hook up?
The hand held demo tools and fence drivers are amazing.
Of course, you can always hook up the Power Trac driver.

Have you thought about how you are going to make the terraces? Are you going to put in retaining walls, or just steeper slopes? Is the slope flat enough to make 90"+ wide terraces with the engineering that you want to do?

All the best,

Peter

horse7 said:
The 5 acres is the steep part, the total is 12.3 acres of land.

I'm sure I am not the first person to have diamond studded work gloves (or the last for that matter) but there have been more times that I have bought what I thought I needed then had to go back and buy something better than the reverse (the most glaring case of underbuying for me was going from a Sears homeowner hammer drill and over the years and several hammer drill iterations finally reaching the largest Hitachi spline drive electric. I would have saved a whole lot of hammer time going right to the largest size instead of pinching pennies and wasting time).

I have a TN70 because in my estimation I'd outgrow a smaller tractor in a few years, and the conversion cost would exceed just hunting down and buying the larger size to start with. I have a great propensity for moving dirt and heavy objects around.

Unfortunately, I did not come across Power-Trac until recently or I might have gone 100% Power-Trac. I really wanted to buy American....

The 1850 is attractive since it has a large margin of safety for the slopes I have, and the terracing. There isn't enough cost difference with the 1845 to go that step downward. Resale value tends to be good also. The larger FEL capacity of the other PTs is not needed as I can use the TN70 (which is what it is intended for anyway, in addition to hacking down very dense brush).

But probably the most important item is to have a large margin of safety on the slopes-- I've been on too many hair raising lateral slopes and I'm just feeling too old to do that anymore, I'd rather be on a 20* and not be on the hairy edge than on a 10* with a CUT and sweating out whether a ground hog mound is going to appear in the weeds on the uphill side .

ponytug · Jul 6, 2007

By the way, Harbor Freight sells a nice angle meter. It is on sale for $2.99 at the moment (item#34214-5UMB). [Full disclosure: I have no financial interest in the company.] I found it very useful to walk the slopes with the meter attached to a piece of unistrut about the same width as the tractor to get an idea of what the slopes were like.

All the best,

Peter