Treadle problem

[ernemats]

Has anyone had any problem with the older pt's that have a cable to operate the treadle to the hydroback? Friday I went to use mine and when you leave up on the forward or reverse pedal it does not return to the center position the way it should. I called PT and talked to Terry he feels that the cable might be worn, he said they very rarely have any problems with the hydroback. I checked the treadle assembly to make sure dirt or grass was not built up to interfere with its operation, it was ok. The forward reverse work fine it just does not seem like the cable or hydroback have enough tension to return to the center position. Terry said to disconnect the cable at the treadle to see if pedal centered without any resistance and to clean it out real good with the pressure washer and to grease it then which I did, still the same. I think it has to be either the cable or the hydroback where the problem is. My pt is a 422 purchased in 2000 with 900 hours on it . Any suggestions on how to check those 2 things to find the problem?

 

[ernemats]

Has anyone had any problem with the older pt's that have a cable to operate the treadle to the hydroback? Friday I went to use mine and when you leave up on the forward or reverse pedal it does not return to the center position the way it should. I called PT and talked to Terry he feels that the cable might be worn, he said they very rarely have any problems with the hydroback. I checked the treadle assembly to make sure dirt or grass was not built up to interfere with its operation, it was ok. The forward reverse work fine it just does not seem like the cable or hydroback have enough tension to return to the center position. Terry said to disconnect the cable at the treadle to see if pedal centered without any resistance and to clean it out real good with the pressure washer and to grease it then which I did, still the same. I think it has to be either the cable or the hydroback where the problem is. My pt is a 422 purchased in 2000 with 900 hours on it . Any suggestions on how to check those 2 things to find the problem?

 

[BobRip]

I had mine not return to neutral at around 200 hours roughly. I greased the pedal joints and it cleared up. You really have some hours on yours for a 2000 model. I have the same model and am at 500 hours. Have you tried lubricating the cable assembly itself? Put grease at the ends and work it back and forth. I am not sure of the best grease for this purpose.

Bob Rip

 

[BobRip]

I had mine not return to neutral at around 200 hours roughly. I greased the pedal joints and it cleared up. You really have some hours on yours for a 2000 model. I have the same model and am at 500 hours. Have you tried lubricating the cable assembly itself? Put grease at the ends and work it back and forth. I am not sure of the best grease for this purpose.

Bob Rip

 

[J_J]

I have the same problem. If you do a search for Hydraback or Hydroback, you will see some post and pictures. I took everything apart and cleaned everything good and lubed everything with silicon oil. When things were apart, Terry told me the lever on the transmission should be horizontal, and if you push down, it should re center by itself. When the cable was disconnected from the Hydraback, I pushed the treadle up and down, and the cable work real smooth. I lubed the cable and all ball joints, and hooked everything back together. If you call Terry, he will tell you how to re center the Hydraback. There are several ball joints by the treadle, an two more at the Hydraback. It is still not as smooth as I think it should be. A new cable cost around $115.00, and looks easy to install. For safety, I would put the machine up on blocks, and adjust the Hydraback. If it is not centered when you install it, and start the engine, it could move on its own. Also watch out for the rotating tires when it is up on blocks.

I may eventually end up getting a new cable, and new ball joints. Terry said the Hydraback hardly ever fails. The Hydraback is a tube with a spring with in a spring, and adjusting nuts at both ends. The springs inside the Hydraback is what helps the treadle to center itself.

 

[J_J]

I have the same problem. If you do a search for Hydraback or Hydroback, you will see some post and pictures. I took everything apart and cleaned everything good and lubed everything with silicon oil. When things were apart, Terry told me the lever on the transmission should be horizontal, and if you push down, it should re center by itself. When the cable was disconnected from the Hydraback, I pushed the treadle up and down, and the cable work real smooth. I lubed the cable and all ball joints, and hooked everything back together. If you call Terry, he will tell you how to re center the Hydraback. There are several ball joints by the treadle, an two more at the Hydraback. It is still not as smooth as I think it should be. A new cable cost around $115.00, and looks easy to install. For safety, I would put the machine up on blocks, and adjust the Hydraback. If it is not centered when you install it, and start the engine, it could move on its own. Also watch out for the rotating tires when it is up on blocks.

I may eventually end up getting a new cable, and new ball joints. Terry said the Hydraback hardly ever fails. The Hydraback is a tube with a spring with in a spring, and adjusting nuts at both ends. The springs inside the Hydraback is what helps the treadle to center itself.

 

[ernemats]

BobRip and J.J. thanks for the feedback. I lubed everything and it helped a little but still not what it used to be. I talked to Terry again and he is pretty sure the cable is worn and needs replaced. For now I am going to use it as is and if it gets any worse I will probably order the new cable.

 

[ernemats]

BobRip and J.J. thanks for the feedback. I lubed everything and it helped a little but still not what it used to be. I talked to Terry again and he is pretty sure the cable is worn and needs replaced. For now I am going to use it as is and if it gets any worse I will probably order the new cable.

 

[Mobil1]

Having same problem just posted today as i an very frustrated with treadle problem poor design thats why they changed it my unit hs 400 hrs 2003 have had problems since NEW!!!

 

[menchhofer]

Same here on the 1430. Machine has 330 hrs and I have replaced the cable about 100 hrs ago. Now it seems the treadle is harder to control/push thus making the PT much less responsive.

About the same time as replacing the cable, the pin in the arm of the trans. broke and came out. I have been replacing the pin with 1/4 inch hardened bolts and after about 2-3 hrs of movement they break causing the Pt to sometimes go out of control until I turn off the key. I cannot find the size of the original pin for a replacement, so I just keep a supply of the bolts on hand until the next one breaks.

 

[RegL]

Over 600 hrs and no problem with the treadle cable yet. Now that I've said that, I may as well call and order up a new one.

 

[BobRip]

500 hours and no problems with treddle control. Crossing my fingers now.

Bob Rip

 

[DHS]

500 hours on my PT-422 without treadle problems.

Dale

 

[KentT]

Almost 400 hours on a PT-425 purchased in Dec 2000, with no treadle problems...

 

[marrt]

I cannot find the size of the original pin for a replacement, so I just keep a supply of the bolts on hand until the next one breaks.

What do you mean? Are you saying PT doesn't stock this pin? It sounds dangerous that the machine goes out of control when the bolt breaks.

 

[menchhofer]

I am sure PT stocks the pin..I cannot find one locally, so I use the bolts....$50.00 plus shipping for the pin would be a bit steep....but then maybe not considering the safety factor. The original pin lasted about 200 hrs.

 

[BobRip]

I am sure PT stocks the pin..I cannot find one locally, so I use the bolts....$50.00 plus shipping for the pin would be a bit steep....but then maybe not considering the safety factor. The original pin lasted about 200 hrs.

I think there is still something wrong with your treddle control. I would get a new pin from Power Trac even if you have to pay $50 plus shipping. There must be something else you need from them (oil filters, bush hop blades, etc.) This sounds very dangerous.
I suspect that the PT design is pretty good an evidenced from the positive comments here and the hundreds of happy customer, although it is not perfect. We need to isolate your particular problem. My philospy kicks in here. Fix what you know is wrong, (in your case the pin), then trouble shoot from there if the problem still exist. If there are two problems with something, one can mask or change the symptons of the other. Try to separate the sections of the treddle control and see if the friction or other problem is in one section or the other. Keep doing this till the problem is found. Also resist the desire to redesign the product. I doubt if PT would still be in business if this area was a really bad design. I am not against improving a design (I do it all the time, although sometimes I make it worse), but it usually takes a lot more effort than you originally think. If you make something work like it did when new and installed correctly, this is usually good enough. I think the value of people's redesign is adding features that PT never thought, and only occasionally fixing design problems.
I hope this makes sense. Best of luck.

Bob Rip

 

[toy]

I am sure PT stocks the pin..I cannot find one locally, so I use the bolts....$50.00 plus shipping for the pin would be a bit steep....but then maybe not considering the safety factor. The original pin lasted about 200 hrs.

My 425 pt doesn't have the hydraback so I don't have one to look at, but if it works the way I visualise it if I could get to where I could look where the cable connects to the hydraback. The lever that it connects to should self center for the neutral position and when you push on the treadle it should move the lever and the lever should have a spring that adds resistance in order to push the lever back to newtral when you let off the treadle there should be a spring for each direction and at neutral there shouldn't be any tension on the springs. If it wasn't too much trouble I would disconnect the cable from that lever and work the lever back and forth to see if it was working properly if it works freely then I would check to see if the treadle cable slide freely inside its sleeve and check to see if the sleeve is kinked or damaged in any way that would cause excessive resistance in the treadle. I would disconnect the cable from the treadle and see if the treadle pedal moved freely. I would make sure that both ends of the sleeve was clamped tightly to keep it from sliding when you push the tram pedal , cause if it slides it will cause you problems. All that being said I repeat that I don't have a hydraback on mine these are just some suggestions that I would look at if any of them were applicable to my machine , and you probably already checked these but incase you hadn't maybe someone else can give other ideas. Oh yea lubricate every thing up good.

 

[menchhofer]

When I get the time I will take the suggestions listed and try to make sense of this problem. Thanks