Some PT400 Series General Observations

[MossRoad]

After reading many threads about "normal" CUT owners bashing their garage doors with their ROPS and having to fold down the ROPS to get it inside, I realized another great thing about the PT400 series is the height of the ROPS and the low position that the driver sits. I'm 6' tall and I can look at the top of my canopy when standing on level ground. I can rest my nose on it(if I want to, why? I don't know, but I can fog it up like a mirror with a few good huffs). And when I'm sitting in the operator's seat, the soles of my feet are 8" off the ground, my rear end is 28" off the ground and my head is 4.5" under the canopy. It gives me a very comfortable, cockpit like, feeling when sitting in it and operating it. You could fit this thing through most yard barn doors as long as the barn was deep enough. That is one thing that I have(or had) a problem with. My tractor shed is about 17' deep. In summer I put the plow in the back, the brush hog, the finish mower and then I put the big bucket on the tractor and drive in. The shed doors hit the hitch and it all barely fits.... until, after a year and a half of ownership, I realized all I had to do was hit the quick connect lever, drop the bucket, raise the lift arms and drive forward another 18"... DOH!!! All this hype I've been giving the quick connect and here I was not using it for this very basic situation /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Well, I'm not the dullest tack in the box, but I can't believe this lack of common sense on my part. Yikes! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif Here's a link to a picture of me next to my PT425. You can see the height of the machine. Also note the lenght of the machine from the rear to just in front of the front tires. Pretty short. You could probably fit the 400 series into a 8X14 yard barn and with the addition of a stout shelf of 4x4s at the far end you could fit the plow, brush hog, finish mower, and two buckets and pallet forks nested together. Just put the least used implement on the shelf(in my case it would be the brush hog, so the shelf would have to be 4-5 feet deep. You'd still have decent room to walk around 3 sides of it. With the quick attach it only takes maybe two or three minutes to unload all of the stuff if you have to get to something at the back of the garage. Not too bad. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[smartguyz]

Hey David,

Excellent post! I've been thinking about storage as well. This gives me some good ideas. I have a basement with a double-wide door (I actually store the JD318 in there with all it's attachments - everything fits!) and I do wonder whether the PT425 will fit. It's really handy to have the tractor downstairs and out of the way but accessible. I'll have to see. In terms of measurements, it will probably fit in there without any attachments. I could probably rig up some shelving and see if that will work... hmmm. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[pajoube]

Your post is timely, I'm in the process of planning my tractor shed. Nothing like Spencer or Henro are building but basic storage.
PJ