Rolled it over

[Tchamp]

Well yesterday was a first, my commercial mower quit on me up the driveway so i went to get my 2425 to move it back to the garage to work on. I have done this in the past and didnt think nothing of it. ( I forgot that i had taken the backhoe attachment off and didnt have the ballast on the rear ) i usually pick up the other machine and carry it back with no problem but this time as i picked the mower up i was on a slight grade and as i lifted, the mower spun around causing my unit to become unstable and as it did this i heard a pop then my unit just went over on the left side, as it did i side stepped off it and stepped away from it as it fell. I later found out that the pop was the upper swivel on the machine that lets it articulate from side to side and left to right. I am guessing the welds failed and then my unit went over. Was able to upright the unit by putting a chain on the pivot point on my loader arms and using my pickup i slowly righted it back to its upright position. It would not start or do anything then but the cause was from the wiring plug pulled away from the ignition switch, a quick fix. Now i am going to take the pivot arm to get it welded back together. ( the weld that was original was kinda sketchy in my my opinion. But it will not break there again when i am through. I am wondering if it had a weak weld intentionally. Oh well only thing that was really hurt was my pride, it was at the entrance of my driveway and by the time i went for my pickup there were three vehicles stopped to see if i need any help. Lol

 

[Shutesbury]

Why would the weld be poorly made intentionally???

 

[ponytug]

I'm glad that you are unhurt!

Everything else can be fixed.

Any photos of the failed area for the lookyloos here?

All the best,

Peter

 

[m5040]

Yes, pictures please.
It would be difficult for the engineers to communicate a "bad" weld to the people doing the welding. They typically use a specific size soft pin or bolts to act as a fuse. Like on the cheaper rotary cutter or post hole digger drive shaft yokes. But again this is a blind statement.

 

[M59]

MossRoad, who has a PT425, had previously mentioned in other threads, if my memory serves, that the center pivot is a weak point and he reinforced his before it let go.

Perhaps MossRoad can shed some light here.

 

[Tchamp]

Yes, pictures please.
It would be difficult for the engineers to communicate a "bad" weld to the people doing the welding. They typically use a specific size soft pin or bolts to act as a fuse. Like on the cheaper rotary cutter or post hole digger drive shaft yokes. But again this is a blind statement.

For some reason i cant upload pics anymore my app just shuts down when i try

 

[MossRoad]

MossRoad, who has a PT425, had previously mentioned in other threads, if my memory serves, that the center pivot is a weak point and he reinforced his before it let go.

Perhaps MossRoad can shed some light here.

Not me. But I recall one breaking a few years back. Can’t remember who, now.

And I still have my beloved PT425.

 

[Rebeldad1]

its these little hints that we are overloading the ability of our equipment

 

[Raul-02]

t would not start or do anything then but the cause was from the wiring plug pulled away from the ignition switch, a quick fix.

Ummm oftentimes the cylinders get hydrolocked with oil and starting the engine can result in catastrophic failure.
Always best to let it drain out overnight or to pull the plugs and run the starter.

 

[CobyRupert]

its these little hints that we are overloading the ability of our equipment

Internet says a PT-2425 weights 1725 lbs. I wonder how much the commercial mower weighs?

 

[ponytug]

Not me. But I recall one breaking a few years back. Can’t remember who, now.

And I still have my beloved PT425.

Was it @woodlandfarms?
Thread 'Tractor broke in half again'
Tractor broke in half again

 

[scaredychicken]

I'm glad that you weren't injured.

Tractor tippyness is always my concern.

 

[Thomas]

Glad the out come was in your favor...whew.

Like most anything let your guard for second usually end up cost $$$'s or worse.

 

[MossRoad]

Was it @woodlandfarms?
Thread 'Tractor broke in half again'
Tractor broke in half again

Yep, that was one of them. Thanks.

I know these machines‘ hydraulics are stupid strong, and that can end up putting some forces on things. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had the rears off the ground. Probably hundreds. I do expect to break my center joint at some point in the future from that abuse. It’s one of the reasons I’d never add weight to the rear of my machine.

 

[ponytug]

Me, too. My tractor has such varied use that I don't always get the load to be picked up eyeballed correctly, and the back of the tractor comes up.

FWIW: I also have occasionally had the tractor loaded close to the limit and gone across a swale or something that articulates the tractor left vs right, front to rear, hitting the limit of the articulation and lifting a wheel. When you hit the limit, the dog bone is resting on the frame, and it must put a fraction of the front load on that one point on the frame in the form of a lever. I have no idea what the force is, but it can't be small. I do keep an eye on the dog bone connector as well as the bottom swivel bearing, but I haven't disassembled the linkages to really see how they are doing. My dog bone has dents in it from the frame, and the frame is missing paint where the dog bone has hit it.

I do grease both sides of the swivel at each eight hour service, just to try to ensure the swivel is fully greased.

All the best,

Peter

 

[MossRoad]

I also can’t count the number of times I’ve been working on something heavy, go to back up, look over my shoulder and the rear end is right there when I thought it was straight! Look to the opposite side and that tire is off the ground a foot. Crank the wheel and the tire comes back to earth.

Funny how these articulated machines feel when operating. You just get used to it, and can feel the weight of the rear swinging around behind you.

I used to drive articulated aircraft movers (air horse) and got used to the motions back in the early 80s of just driving on two wheels under my butt. So the PT was just like getting back on the horse(pun intended) in 2021. If I need to make a really tight 180, I can mash the foot pedals while spinning the steering wheel. That causes the nose to tip, the rears to break traction, and the back half of the machine to shift about 120ish degrees to the opposite side in about 2 seconds. Someday I’ll film the stunt (by a professional on a closed course).

 

[SpringHollow]

Broke mine as well.

Ken

 

[Tchamp]

Broke mine as well.

Ken

Had mine rewelded and now better than new my machinist said the weld looked like a cold weld that was originally on the part bit he said i shouldnt have any problems with it now

 

[ponytug]

That is great news!

I definitely have a few welds on mine that surprisingly enough look like cold welds. (Naively, I would have thought that the factory welders had marks for thickness / butt / fillet amperage.) So far so good on those welds, but I do keep an eye on them.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Torvy]

Why would the weld be poorly made intentionally???

I doubt it is really the case, but just to speculate...maybe it would be like a shear pin. The weld designed to give before something more structural broke? Just a thought.