Some PT-425 videos

KentT · Jul 3, 2007

Though not as dramatic as MR's videos, I thought I'd share some that my son took of my PT-425 in use last week.

With a 10X zoom, he safely took these brush-cutter clips:

YouTube - Power Trac 48" Brush Cutter

YouTube - Power Trac 48" Brush Cutter #2

YouTube - Power Trac 48" Brush Cutter #3

And, a short one of using the grapple bucket:

YouTube - Power Trac Grapple Bucket

Here's a few pictures of the ongoing cleanup project (the page is still in progress):

June 2007

MossRoad · Jul 3, 2007

Hey, those bar tires and reversed wheels would make fourteen proud!!!

Nice to see videos from other users. You have raised the bar and I will need to respond this summer!!!

Looks like a I saw a little wheel lift there. You push down on the joystick and get stopped before float?

MossRoad · Jul 3, 2007

And the grapple video was sweet! That video really shows how in one bite you can pick up and move a large pile of debris that would take several trips with a wheelbarrow. And it also shows how quickly the PT can get in, grab and get out by being able to travel forward AND reverse at decent speeds. Going backwards with a load is about as safe as it gets. Nicely illustrated.

KentT · Jul 3, 2007

MossRoad said:
Hey, those bar tires and reversed wheels would make fourteen proud!!!

Nice to see videos from other users. You have raised the bar and I will need to respond this summer!!!

Looks like a I saw a little wheel lift there. You push down on the joystick and get stopped before float?

LOL, you saw my "sloppy technique" there...

Yes, I was slow getting it into float when setting it down after I'd lifted it to pull it back up the bank. On this bumpy ground, given the long joystick, I basically had to keep it pushed into float all the time...

I didn't recall seeing a video of the grapple bucket in operation, so I thought that one, at least would be of possible value. As I said, your brush-cutter videos blow these away...

KentT · Jul 3, 2007

When sorting through all the photos Eli took, as I work on the project webpage (linked above), I ran across two more video clips of the brush cutter.

YouTube - Power Trac 48" Brush Cutter #4

YouTube - Power Trac 48" Brush Cutter #5

Clip #5 above shows not only my ongoing incompetence with the float function, I guess I should spend more time using the PT, since this was my first major use of the brush cutter...

It also illustrates the poor performance of my wheel motors, on my second trip up the slope especially...

Listen to the engine almost completely bog down -- I'd have to lift and carry the mower up the slope...

BobRip · Jul 3, 2007

KentT said:
It also illustrates the poor performance of my wheel motors, on my second trip up the slope especially... Listen to the engine almost completely bog down -- I'd have to lift and carry the mower up the slope...

What was the slope (dregrees). It did not seem all that steep.

KentT · Jul 3, 2007

BobRip said:
What was the slope (dregrees). It did not seem all that steep.

Don't know, Bob, since I don't have an inclinometer. This picture, at the left border, shows almost the exact spot I was trying to climb in that video:

I was climbing up between the stump and the leaning maple sapling shown in this picture:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1358/694518084_d6a7a4ad91.jpg

MossRoad · Jul 4, 2007

Yeah, I could hear that. A few times I saw the wheels spinning and saw that you picked up the implement an inch or two to put the weight on the front wheels for better traction. That is good technique. But there comes a point when the unit has good traction and can no longer push up the hill with the brush hog running. At that point, you are out of power. If you turn the implement off, can you then climb that hill? I have experienced that in a couple places on my property. I end up attacking those going downhill, or leave them to future planting of ground cover, never to be mowed again.

Sure beats clearing by hand, though, doesn't it?

KentT · Jul 4, 2007

MossRoad said:
If you turn the implement off, can you then climb that hill? I have experienced that in a couple places on my property. I end up attacking those going downhill, or leave them to future planting of ground cover, never to be mowed again.

Sure beats clearing by hand, though, doesn't it?

Yes, it will climb the slope without the PTO running, but barely... I also took some circuituous routes to mow down-hill. Some places are so steep that it doesn't want to mow it very well going around the slope -- it'll crab pretty significantly, trying to push the mower, and I have to really steer uphill to keep it on the slope, though I don't think I'm in any danger of tipping over. I also had problems trying to climb that same slope with a grapple bucket full of wet, heavy mulch, so I'd take the long route and come down from the top....

And, yes, it sure beats doing it by hand. In some places, I went around the perimeter poking the mower into the woods between the trees, and waggling as needed to trim close -- I used it like a big weed-whacker.

Some areas are so steep that I didn't feel confident that I'd be able to back up the slope out of the woods, so I avoided those...

I'm anxious to get the new 22.7 ci wheel motors installed. With twice the torque, I should be able to climb about any slope that I can get traction on...

Now if I can only figure out a good way to keep it in float...

J_J · Jul 4, 2007

KentT said:
Yes, it will climb the slope without the PTO running, but barely... I also took some circuituous routes to mow down-hill. Some places are so steep that it doesn't want to mow it very well going around the slope -- it'll crab pretty significantly, trying to push the mower, and I have to really steer uphill to keep it on the slope, though I don't think I'm in any danger of tipping over. I also had problems trying to climb that same slope with a grapple bucket full of wet, heavy mulch, so I'd take the long route and come down from the top....

And, yes, it sure beats doing it by hand. In some places, I went around the perimeter poking the mower into the woods between the trees, and waggling as needed to trim close -- I used it like a big weed-whacker. Some areas are so steep that I didn't feel confident that I'd be able to back up the slope out of the woods, so I avoided those...

I'm anxious to get the new 22.7 ci wheel motors installed. With twice the torque, I should be able to climb about any slope that I can get traction on...

Now if I can only figure out a good way to keep it in float...

Have you taken the valve apart to see if there is any crud in the detent? If you don't want to do that, a bungee pulling the stick forward would probably help.