Buying Advice What you should have ordered from PT

[woodlandfarms]

Mower, Grapple, Pickle Forks are my top 3 in order, then my york rake. After that they all get used about the same (Except the boom pole. Bad purchase).

I am glad I have spare tires, they save me a LOT of downtime.

 

[SpringHollow]

The air manifold preheater makes a huge difference in starts below 50° F. I have a post here someplace showing them. They are an easy install but not as nice as true glow plugs which are not an option on these engines.

What implement you use the most definitely goes in spurts (for example, one year it was a mini hoe and yet there was one year where I did not use it at all). If I had to average it out over the years, I would say from greatest to least:

Snow Plow (my current V-plow setup is much nicer than a standard plow)
Forks
Bucket
Front Mounted Trailer Hitch
Swinging 4' Mini Hoe w/ Thumb mainly for lifting logs
Lifting Boom w/ 3pt adapter
Rock Bucket w/ Grapple
Brush Hog
Non-swinging 6' Deep Mini hoe w/Thumb mainly for digging
Box Blade w/ 3pt adapter
York Rake w/ 3pt adapter
Stump Grinder

Another mod that was nice - I replaced the valve stems with flush valve stems and used the bullet grade tire sealant. I have not put air in my tires in over 3 years. I was constantly filling them before since the rims are kind of beat.

I highly recommend replacing the seat. By far the best change I made. My kidneys and back thank me on a regular basis.

I agree with the other posts - if you are the least bit handy, replace the lights etc yourself.

Modifying or building implements like Carl has done can be fun and rewarding and saves you LOTS of money. I am also pleased with the additional hydraulic circuits I added.

Ken

 

[MossRoad]

That's something on my wish list.... an electric selector valve for the hydraulics on the joystick so I could operate the power angle snowblade with my thumb VS having to take my hand off the joystick and reaching for the knee lever. It would also be handy for things like a grapple, I would think. Its so easy to go wild and customize about anything you want since its such a simple machine. But, all said, the PT is a pretty handy machine the way it comes.

 

[SpringHollow]

The additional hydraulic circuits controlled via the joy stick was something I always wanted but kept putting off. But once I finally got a V-plow, then I needed an additional circuit so I could not put it off any longer. I will say it is nice to now keep the quick attach circuit always connected (I no longer even have disconnects on that circuit). Hard to believe that it has already been 3 years since I made this mod.

Ken

 

[PTWannaHave]

Great feedback all, THANKS!

My thread title could have been more clear, as in "What mods you should have ordered from PT"...

I will eventually compile a list and summarize this thread; happy to collect more ideas in the meantime. As previously mentioned though, I won't keep my hopes up about PT willingness.

 

[KentT]

I don't have any experience with the 14.3ci wheel motors on new 425s, but asking them to upgrade to larger wheel motors may be something to consider, especially if you will be working on slopes. At least one poster here was successful in getting Tazewell to do that...

It can get REAL expensive to do an upgrade later...

 

[PTWannaHave]

Good suggestion KentT if I was getting a 425 like most forum members... I'll be getting the 1430, and I don't recall any talk about being left wanting by its wheel motors...

 

[PTWannaHave]

Re: What mods you should have ordered from PT

OK; here's the list of factory mods I will inquire about:

• replace casters of brush hog with ones from landscape rake (higher)
• Female QDs for Aux. and PTO hydraulic couplings
• 4in long hose with female QDs for each powered implement (to 'close the loop')
• hydraulics with Rotella T6 5W30 (synthetic)
• tie-down hooks on four corners (for securing on trailer)
• longer wheel studs and 1/2-3/4" spacer to allow for tire chains
• reversible motor on tiller
• 6-ply tire like on model 1445

We'll see what they say...

 

[aczlan]

The QDs to "close the loop" might be cheaper to buy from someplace like Quick Disconnects > Discount Hydraulic Hose.com rather than ordering them from PT and you might be better off with the QDs hooked to 2 street elbows (such as: 90° Street Elbow (Pipe)) and a 6" piece of straight pipe (such as: Seamless Male Pipe Nipple (NPTF)) to make a U shape rather than a 4" hose...

Aaron Z

 

[KMA]

For QDs, I modified the aux circuit to use one female and one male. This allowed the implement's and the QA cylinder hoses to be coupled together when not in use. I also had to modify my mini hoe accordingly. The PTO was already setup this way, but included rubber/plastic covers to keep dirt out. The only downside I can see is if you wanted to reverse the flow on a PTO driven implement, but I don't have anything would need this.