Vibration Fatigue Syndrome?

davesisk · Apr 24, 2003

( As an aside, although I love the backhoe, I've actually found the trencher to be the most productive attachment for digging stumps...).
)

I'd love to get hold of a used trencher for mine. Tell us more about the trencher, Wasabi. I think you're the only person here who has one (right folks?). Does it get stuck on anything? If so, how do you get it unstuck? Raise the lift arms and wiggle the tractor around? Sounds like it'll cut through roots with no problem? Any good tricks to using it effectively? We need information! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Dave

wasabi · Apr 24, 2003

Well, since you asked:

I've got the 4' version, 4" wide. At first it was a significant source of frustration. I suspected that was primarily because I didn't really know how to use it....trying to dig too deep too fast or not feathering it or something. It would easily get caught up on roots and such requiring frequent switch toggling of the electronic pto switch to get it free. All too frequently a small rock would lodge between the chain and corresponding teeth and it would jam up, requiring sailor's language and sometimes a hammer to free it up. Each time was a climb down off the seat......set the brake, unbuckle the seatbelt, check the knees .....you get the drill. It took me way too many hours to trench a 50 foot run from the barn to the shed to lay conduit and elec....I was kind of bummed.

Something didn't make sense though. Overall, my tractor package which I bought used, looked to be in very good shape. In fact, some of the implements such as blade, auger and small bucket, showed very little wear. The tractor had 800 some odd hours on it, and as I looked it over better I realized that most of those must have been on the trencher....it was plain beat! ...worn teeth, sloppy chain, etc. My reasoning was that it was our PT was probably used to lay cable or something and then auctioned off when things didn't quite work out. I bought it from the guy who got it at auction.

Long story shorter.....I had the hyd motor repacked by PT, a few new teeth put on and now it is an animal! It tears through roots, throws rocks aside with abandon and digs like a mole obsessed hound. In over five hours, it only got me out of my seat twice (thus this vibed knees thread) I highly recommmend it! Did I mention it is good at outing stumps?

As I was clearing I was musing about laying water lines (an upcoming task). I had been quoted a price of $1 a foot for 3 - 4 feet depth. SO, I thought, as long as I had it there and was going to tear up that field anyway, I'd run a little test. I put the blade in about 3' deep and started driving backwards. I did about twenty feet in two minutes. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

I like my trencher a lot now. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Rick_Taylor · Apr 28, 2003

I haven' t noticed a problem with vibration but I HAVE a real problem with the seat on my 425. I'm no lightweight but I not big enough to be overloading a reasonable seat. After a few hours my lower back/upper butt REALLY hurt! I've tried different pads on the seat but nothing seems to help much without placing me so high it's hard to reach the pedels. I'm looking for ideas for repadding the seat without raising butt altitude too much. Seems to me it needs some very firm upholstry type foam if I can find any.

The idea of the wood blocks behind the pedals sounds like a good one.

pajoube · Apr 28, 2003

Rick,
Let us know if you experiment with the wood blocks for your heels. That sounds like a great idea. As far as the seat goes, there was a discussion awhile back regarding replacing the seat but have not heard anything for some time.
PJ

MossRoad · Apr 28, 2003

I'm 6', 200 pounds with long legs and big size 13 feet. I find the seat most comfortable all the way back. With my feet flat on the floor, my thighs end up being about perfectly parallel to the ground. If I have large winter boots on, when I put the heels all the way to the rear of the foot wells, my toes just barely can't touch the pedals. The tractor fits me like a glove. I could see how a person with shorter legs might not be as comfortable. Even moving the seat forward, your legs might hang down over the front of the seat, causing some circulation loss. Sooo, is the seat too high?

Sedgewood · Apr 30, 2003

Rick Taylor: After a few hours my lower back/upper butt REALLY hurt! I've tried different pads on the seat but nothing seems to help much without placing me so high it's hard to reach the pedels. I'm looking for ideas for repadding the seat without raising butt altitude too much. Seems to me it needs some very firm upholstry type foam if I can find any.


My problem has been with "sitting through" the thin foam on the 1845 seat causing the 'ol buns to really hurt after a couple of hours. My solution was a thicker aftermarket seat from Northern Tool. Attached is a picture. The seat is a couple of inches thicker than the original. I had just put it on a few days before the fire in the engine room and in fact I was about an hour and a half into it's first extended seat time outing when things got a bit hot back there.

Initial observations were that it did raise the seating position but that enhanced general visibility over the lift arm. The extended reach to the pedals seems ok for me (5'11" 190lbs). Also, on this last outing, I was trying to assess my reaction to the rather different bump/bounce response. The old seat was just plain hard - this one bounces. The buns were faring well but the lower back was feeling the compression strokes which in the long run may not be such a good thing.

Sorry I can't do more testing just now /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif - still awaiting insurance company clearance to ship PT off to Tazewell for rehab.

bubenberg · Apr 30, 2003

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gifit is tough getting old /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Sedgewood · May 1, 2003

bubenberg it is tough getting old 

Ah but if you weren't fortunate enough to get old you'd be missing the PT experience - the tractor you wish you'd had 40 years ago. And of course this thing lets you do in your dotage all those heavy lifting projects you'd now rather sit on the porch and contemplate than do.

Sedgewood

bubenberg · May 1, 2003

someday ... i am going to have the biggest pt ... but for now i have to use the small one ... vibration or not the big equipment is wrecking the yards

Rick_Taylor · May 1, 2003

Hey Sedgewood, grab that seat for me if the insurance company wants to 'total' your burned PT! Seriously, do you know which seat you bought from Northern? I wonder how much more room you have in your red machine than my little green one. It's a little confusing trying to look at pictures in a catalog and figuring out which one will improve my situation AND fit.