MossRoad's PT425 Review
This is my ongoing review of our Power Trac PT425. It is only my opinion,
based on my experiences with this unit. I will try to update it as I get more
time on the tractor.
Shortcut to 8 Hour Review
Shortcut to 50 Hour Review
Shortcut to 100 Hour Review
Power Trac, in Tazewell, VA, manufactures the PT425 in the USA. I ordered it on
a Friday, and it arrived in South Bend, IN on Tuesday. The unit was shipped
with the 60" finish mower attached, the 48" brush hog on a skid, and
the 7 foot loading ramps, small bucket with teeth, large light material bucket,
pallet forks, spare mower blades and spare quick attach plate on a second skid.
The unit started right up at the trucking company, and I used it to load some
of the implements into a friend’s full size pickup truck and then drove it up
the ramps that we purchased into my pickup truck with the big bucket attached
and the little bucket nested inside. Unloaded it at our home in the reverse
order. Whole process from pickup to drop off took about an hour.
The entire unit is made of steel. Heavy steel. Extremely heavy steel! I cannot get over the thickness of everything. There is no sheet metal skin to dent. There is no frame to speak of. There are just two sections, front and back, that are joined in the center at a pivot point. Steering is accomplished by hydraulic articulation. When the steering wheel is turned, the unit bends in the middle up to 45 degrees in either the right or the left direction. This provides for an extremely tight inside turning radius of 37 inches while not tearing up the turf. The unit also oscillates plus or minus 12 degrees. That is, the front tires can be on a different plane than the back tires, up to 12 degrees, and none of the tires will be off of the ground. This provides for maximum traction over rough terrain as all the wheels remain in ground contact. The unit is 45 inches wide from outside of the tires and 48 inches long from the center of each tire. It is 90 inches long from the front of the front tire to the rear of the unit.
The front half of the unit contains the lift assembly and the operator station. The operator controls are arranged as follows: The steering wheel is mounted on a center console. There is a throttle and choke to the left of the steering wheel. The hour meter, headlight switch and PTO switch are to the right of the steering wheel. The joystick to control lift and tilt are at about the 2 O’clock position from the steering wheel. In front of the operator’s left knee is the parking brake lever. In front of the operator’s right knee is the quick attach control lever, which doubles as the power angle control for attachments that use it. All controls are easy to reach and comfortable to operate. A foot pedal treadle controls drive direction. The reverse pedal is on the left and the forward pedal is on the right. There is a tunnel hump down the center of the tractor that the operator has to step over when mounting or dismounting the tractor. It comes up to about my mid calf, when seated. Some people might not have the flexibility to step over this hump. I do not have any problem with it. The tractor sits very low to the ground, and the operator really rides in it, not on it. When seated, the operator’s feet are only about 8 inches off the ground. It feels very stabile, wide and low when you are sitting in it. The operator’s foot compartments are large enough to move your feet around and not hit the pedals, although large feet and big winter boots will be a tighter fit. I have size 13 feet, and when I enter and exit the unit, my feet will occasionally hit the direction pedals. If the unit was running and the parking brake was not set, I could see how it would be easy to run yourself over. That is probably why Power Trac stresses that the operator must set the parking break and turn the unit off when exiting the unit. It is very good advice and should be followed.
The seat is attached to the front half of the unit, cantilevered back over the center pivot point. It tilts forward to the steering wheel to provide access to the center lubrication points under the seat as well as the hydraulic oil reservoir. The seat has a very wide range of forward/backward adjustment. I am six feet tall with long legs and size 13 feet, so I keep it at the farthest back position. The backrest is not adjustable, however it holds me in an upright position that I find very comfortable, even after an hour in the seat. The armrests are mounted to the seat back and fold up out of the way. The seat cushion is thick and comfortable as well. The seatbelt is extremely long. The adjustable end of the seat belt strap is much too long, in my opinion. When I wear it, it can actually touch the ground and get caught under the left rear tire. It will have to be shortened to be safe, in my opinion.
The ROPS appears beefy and is bolted to the front half of the unit at the sides of the operator console. There is a large canopy that is attached to the ROPS. Even it is made of thick steel. It sticks out about 6 inches to the front of the ROPS and completely back over the operator seat. Since the canopy is attached to the same half of the unit as the operator, it always keeps you covered, even when fully articulating the unit to either side. I operated in light drizzle and heavy snow and never got wet. The sides of the canopy are turned down and edged with a protective vinyl strip to guard your head. There is about 8 inches of clearance between the canopy and the top of my head. It is painted flat black inside and this helps reduce glare. Forward and side visibility from the operator’s station is excellent. The only place that you cannot see well is the spot directly behind the tractor. This might cause a problem if you are backing up a very small trailer, however anything about four feet long or longer should not be a problem to see.
On the front of the unit permanently mounted lift arms provide a mounting point for all implements. There are two arms powered by two hydraulic cylinders. The arms are made of very thick steel. The front to back tilt is controlled by a third cylinder. There is a quick attach plate permanently mounted to the front of the lift arms. There is one hydraulic cylinder on the quick attach plate to provide a locking mechanism for implements. The lift arms have a maximum lift height of 52”, which is on the low side if you ask me. However, I rarely load a truck at home. I always bring dirt and rocks to my home, not take them away. The lift height is still high enough to load the truck from the back if needed, and I have a low tilt trailer that I will be putting sides on, so in the big picture, I can live with this. If you need to load pickup trucks from the side, this is something that you should consider. It will not work. You would have to load from a ramp at the side of the truck. The lift arms are rated for 800 pounds. I find this is more than adequate for loader work and fork lift work for a machine this size. The hydraulics are very strong and quick responding. The joystick seems touchy, especially the tilt function. You can move the implements too quickly if you are not careful. This could result in injury if someone is near the implement when it is moving. Keep all people away from the work area at all times! I would decrease the sensitivity of the joystick if I could. This is something that I will talk to PowerTrac about.
All implements attach to the permanently mounted front lift arms by means of the quick attach system. If you want to change implements all you have to do is lower it to the ground, push the lever in front of your right knee to unlock the implement from the quick attach plate, tilt the joystick to the side and back away. It literally takes 5 seconds to disconnect an implement. To attach an implement, the process is reversed. Approach the implement, adjust the height of the quick attach plate with the joystick, slip it into the quick attach receiver on the implement and tilt the joystick to the side, push the lever in front of your right knee to lock the quick attach plate and you are done. If the implement requires hydraulic power, such as a mower, the operator must then shut off the unit, set the parking brake, get off and connect the hydraulic lines to the PTO. If the unit requires power angling, such as the snow blade or power broom, or an auxiliary hydraulic cylinder, such as a grapple bucket or snow blower chute, the quick connect cylinder hydraulics are used. All hydraulic lines are permanently mounted to convenient points on the lift arms and are fitted with quick connect couplers. The PTO hoses are larger than the quick attach hoses and they cannot be mixed up. There are dust caps on the PTO connectors, however, no dust caps are provided to guard the quick attach locking cylinder hoses while they are disconnected when using the power angle function on an implement. I will have to buy some. One headlight is mounted on either side of the operator console. They are very bright 35 watt sealed beams. However, in my opinion, they are mounted way too low. They will work fine for the mower deck, but the snow blade blocks them somewhat. Also, the lift arms cast a shadow on the quick attach point and you cannot see it in the dark. I will be mounting an extra set of lights up high, under the canopy to provide a more downward beam.
The back half of the unit contains the engine, hydraulic pumps, hydraulic reservoir, fuel tank, battery, engine cover and hydraulic oil cooler with electric fan. The engine cover is a heavy steel box with expanded steel mesh for sides. It is very heavy and tilts to the rear to provide access to the engine compartment. The hydraulic oil cooler and fan are mounted on the top of the engine cover, so that the hot air blows straight up. The electric fan is thermostatically controlled and very quiet. There is a handle on either side of the engine cover and a nice limiting device, so that it cannot fall too far backwards. Under the engine cover directly behind the operator is a five gallon plastic fuel tank with a large opening. It is semi-clear and very easy to see the fuel level in the tank, so there is no need for a fuel gauge. I use a very large funnel with screen when fueling and it fits into the tank opening with ease. An inline plastic fuel filter is on the right side of the engine. The engine oil dipstick and fill are easy to access. The battery is way down in the right rear corner and appears very hard to get to. The engine oil filter is tucked into the right side of the engine and appears tight as well. The hydraulic oil filter is in the right front of the engine compartment and also appears tucked in. As I have not yet changed any of the filters, I cannot say how hard it will be. There is a pin type trailer hitch on the back of the unit. The pin is supplied. The hitch is welded to the rear of the unit and appears very stout. There are no reverse lights. I will add reverse lighting at the same time that I add the additional headlights.
To Summarize: So far I have only used the small bucket with teeth, the pallet forks and the snow blade. All work well. The unit is easy to learn, and a pleasure to operate. The articulated steering is smooth and very helpful when lining up equipment, as you can shift the front of the unit several inches to either side without moving forward or backward. The Quick Attach system is AWSOME! There is no other way to describe it. Implement changes can be done in as little as 15 seconds, without getting off of the tractor. The hydraulics are very strong. The low center of gravity makes the unit feel very safe and comfortable. The controls are sparse and not confusing.
The only problems that I have had so far are:
So far, the PT425 has lived up to it's advertising and the high praise of other PT400 series tractor owners that I have talked to. I have been very pleased with the unit and would recommend it to anyone that has done their homework, test driven several brands and decided that this is the machine for them.
I will add more to this review when I get to 8 hours, as that is when the first maintenance will be performed. And then I will add as I use the other implements and at 50 hour increments. Happy Tractoring!
Every 8 hours of operation the machine has to be lubed. There are several grease zerks on the loader arms and pivot points under the seat. There are also many ball bushings that need to be lubed. There are two side covers on the center console that have to be removed to access some lube points. This required that 6 bolts be removed. Not too hard, but not too convenient either. First time took about a half an hour. Now that I know where everything is, it should only take about 15 minutes. Took the time to clean off some dirt and sand that accumulated on the front of the unit. Everything appears tight and dry. Happy Tractoring!
Well, I finally have 50 hours on our PT425. To say that I am very happy with the purchase would be an understatement. It performs everything that I have attempted and has done it with flying colors. I have used all of the implements and they all function well. All are extremely durable and capable.
I changed the hydraulic fluid filter as specified in the warranty. Even though the filter is tucked way down inside the unit, I had no trouble getting it out and replacing it with a new one. I made a call to Power Trac and they talked me through it. I bled the hydraulics as they recommended and all was well. Took about 15 minutes.
I also switched to Mobil 1 in the engine. Engine oil change was easy. Changed the filter as well. This is a little messy. I found that if I put paper towels under the filter before I remove it, it caught any spills and it was easy to clean up.
8 hour maintenance now only takes me 5 to 10 minutes. Lubrication points under the center tunnel are a pain to get to. 8 bolts have to be undone every 8 hours. I will come up with a modification for those bolts. I don’t want to use thumb screws, as they could snag the operator’s pants on entry and exit. I’m thinking of slotted ¼ turn fasteners.
As mentioned before, the headlights should be mounted up under the canopy. I will modify that later. And a rear light would be handy.
I am finally comfortable with the sensitivity of the joystick control. There is no sensitivity adjustment, and I just had to get used to it by using it.
Both the small bucket with teeth and the large light material bucket work great. The little bucket is an aggressive tool for tough jobs and the big bucket hauls gobs of stuff. I would recommend that anyone considering a purchase should get both.
The pallet forks are great for moving stuff around our yard. I kind of bought them on a whim, but I actually find a use for them about every two weeks. They were only $250 bucks, so they are well worth it.
The four foot brush mower is a brute! I have only used it for about two hours, but it was taking down everything up to about an inch and a half in diameter. This was while it was lightly snowing and things were pretty dead, due to it being February. I’ll try it again in the summer when everything is green and report back how it works.
The sixty inch finish mower works well. It makes a very nice cut. It has a wide range of height settings. One drawback is that you need two wrenches to change the cutting height on each wheel individually. While I never change the height on my home lawn, several places that I occasionally cut while doing volunteer work like it a little shorter. Takes about 5 minutes to change the height. The mower deck is very loud and leaves a little windrow on the right side if the grass is thick. The rear plastic wheels seem a little thin. It you turn too fast on a very tight turn they will tear up the lawn a little. Slowing down on the tightest turns solves this. I will still look for wider wheels with rounded edges as a replacement option. Also, it is important to be sure that the tilt control is set to the middle of its travel when mowing or the pitch of the mower could bind on tight inclines. The deck is easy to clean with the front lift arms raised all the way. A garden hose and a long handle hoe turned upside down make quick work of any stubborn grass.
I found a little paint problem behind both of the front wheels on the tractor ‘body’. There are lots of little pin head sized bumps in the paint. Almost looks like welding splatter that was not ground off or rock damage from the wheels throwing things against the tractor. The spots rust. I will remove the wheels and see what it is and notify Power Trac of what I find. I will probably end up grinding it down, prep, prime and paint, then put a clear sealer on it similar to rocker panel protection on a car.
The arm rests, while comfortable, seem to get in the way when doing tight maneuvers. I keep them folded up most of the time and only use them when doing long runs of mowing. Also, when folded down and making the tightest turn possible and on uneven ground(probably near the maximum 12 degree oscillation) the arm rests will rub the front of the engine cover, causing them to tear on the rear, beneath and behind your elbow. A little duct tape and off you go, but this should be looked into by the factory.
One note about the seat belt: as reported earlier, it is too long on the left side. If you forget to put it on, it will drag under the left rear wheel. This will cause the tractor to pull down on the seat belt and start bending the seat mount down, backwards and to the left. I thought about shortening it, but if I did and someone wanted to operate the tractor with the seat pulled all the way forward, and he or she were thick in the waist, so to speak, they might not have enough belt left over. So what I do is always remember to wear the seat belt, click it in, tighten it, and then throw the slack between my legs. It has become a habit.
To Summarize:
After 50 hours the PT425 has lived up to my expectations. It still seems to be a tough, capable, well-built machine. The implements are sized correctly for the unit and all work well so far. The quick attach system is still awesome. The tractor is gentle on the turf. The rear tires on the sixty inch finish mower are a little thin and square sided. The armrests might not be worth the money, unless you do a lot of long straight runs. The long seatbelt issue needs to be addressed. Routine maintenance can be performed quickly, however the lubrication points under the center tunnel need easier access. The fit and finish from the factory is that of an army tank, not a luxury car, and that is fine with me. Happy tractoring!
Close to 100 hours on the PT425 now. It is also about 1 year old. Happy Birthday! I have very few complaints about this unit. As mentioned before, the seat belt is too long and the armrests rub in extreme maneuvers. New to the complaint list are the small inflatable tires on the brush hog, mower deck and snow plow. They don’t hold a bead very easily and go flat often. The brush hog is the worst culprit because it takes the most abuse. I switched to solid tires on the brush hog and haven’t had any problems after 5 hours of use. Also, I question the claim of 800 pounds lift capacity. While the tractor could probably lift 800 pounds right at the quick attach point, once you add an approximately 100 pound bucket and get a load in it, it appears to be closer to 600 pounds. It is still more than adequate. I have filled the large bucket with granulated limestone, heaping over, and it worked fine… until you turn the unit. With the articulated steering, when you turn, the machine actually becomes shorter, which appears to change the center of gravity. It is very easy to tip the machine forward with a heavy load raised high while turning. The operator must be aware of this! If you lift a heavily loaded bucket all the way up and try to turn quickly, you could tip over on your side very fast. I would recommend that you only lift the bucket to its highest point with the wheels in a straight line, just before dumping. Don’t travel with a load held high. This is just good safety procedures for all front end loaders, but is particularly important with the PT425 in my opinion. With that said, on to the good stuff.
60” mower deck worked great all summer. Nice cut with nice stripe pattern. Easy to clean and grease once I found the grease zerks. I can mow a full flat acre in about 20 minutes. I give it a 9 due to the fact that you have to adjust the rear tires with a wrench. But more elaborate adjusters would just raise the cost of the deck. I leave mine set to the same height most of the year anyway, but some folks like to change heights often, say between two different yards or locations.
48” brush hog is AWSOME!!!. Go watch the videos. Once I changed the inflatable tires to solid tires, nothing stops it. I give it a 10.
60” power angle snow plow works great, although it is hard to maintain a flat edge contact with the driveway and extreme angles. Even with this minor problem, I give it 10 because how many plows can angle left, right, tilt front and back and push snow up five feet”?
Pallet forks are pretty good. Well worth the $250.00. I use them to lift things as well as pop out roots and turn over brush and leaf piles. Very versatile. I bent one of the forks once when pinching it under an extremely heavy 3pt hitch brush hog. I think the hydraulics bent it, not the load. I give them an 8.
The small bucket with teeth is very rugged and I’ve used it a few times on really tough soil. When I first purchased, I used it because I thought it was the right tool to use. Since then, however, I haven’t met anything the large bucket couldn’t do, so, unfortunately, the little bucket with teeth sits in the garage in nearly new condition. In all honesty, after a year of operating, I don’t know if I’d purchase the small bucket if I had to do it over again. To justify its existence, I’m building a grapple to attach to the small bucket for clearing brush piles. Maybe I’m just lucky to have soil that is easily workable. I still give the little bucket a 10 for construction, but I just don’t use it that often to rate it for usability. Fortunately, it wasn’t that expensive, and I will get a lot of use out of it once the grapple is completed.
The large light material bucket has become my most used implement. It is priceless. I’ve hauled 90 tons of granulated limestone, several tons of black dirt and lots of landscape mulch. I also used it to turn over my garden a foot deep instead of a tiller and have made several flower beds in very little time. My wheelbarrow is now sitting in a junk pile. If I had to recommend any implement this would be the one that would justify purchasing the tractor. It is simply indispensable. I rate it 10 +.
8hr maintenance isn’t that bad once you get it down to a routine. About 10 minutes. Still, I wish those bolts were ¼ turn hex latches.
The touchy joystick is only touchy at the ends of the stroke. Be careful or you’ll end up with a lap full of dirt. Practice makes perfect. The hydraulics are super strong and can easily outperform the weight of the machine.
Wish there were standard dust caps for the quick connect hydraulic hose ends when not in use. I’ll buy my own.
Wish the rear hitch was a 2 inch receiver instead of the pin hitch.
Backing up trailers hooked to the rear hitch is amazingly easy. I thought an articulated unit would be twice as hard as say, a garden tractor, but it is twice as easy! I have a short tongued Rubbermaid cart that I can put just about anywhere with this tractor.
A tie down hook should be standard on the front of the unit for securing to a trailer. I added one myself. It was only $10.00.
I bought an 18’ car hauler trailer and use it often to transport to and from volunteer work at church and the little league, as well as to some property that we own. It trailers very easily and is a joy to use when loading implements on and off the trailer.
Now for the famous “I wish the lights were mounted under the canopy instead of where they are”. Obviously they aren’t that bad or I would have moved them already. It is on my things to do when I’m out of things to do list.
Finally, the quick attach system is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I actually look forward to changing implements. How many people can say that? I feel so much more inclined to start a project because I know I can finish it using multiple implements with no hassles or time delays when changing them. I can trailer the tractor, 2 buckets, pallet forks and two mower decks all at the same time on an 18’ trailer and not have to move one of them to get to another. And I still have room for more attachments on the trailer!
To Summarize:
After nearly 100 hours of operation and 1 year of service, the PT425 has lived up to its advertising. It is a rugged, well-built machine that is very easy to learn to operate. All of the implements are tough and durable with the exception of the small inflatable castering tires on the brush hog. Replacement with solid tires solved this problem. The tractor is a little tippy when turning with very heavy loads held high on the lift arms. The operator must be aware of this at all times. With a little practice, 8hr maintenance is not too hard, taking about 10 minutes. The turf tires provide excellent traction on snowy pavement and are extremely easy on the lawn. In dry, hard dirt I can stall the tractor before losing traction. In mud or on wet grass, they do spin easily. It trailers easily and feels very safe on slopes. The quick attach system is the highlight of the machine. It makes me so much more productive over a 3pt hitch. I’ll never go back to a conventional tractor.
In my opinion, the PT425 is the ultimate homeowner or small estate machine and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a tractor in the 25HP and under size range.
Happy Tractoring!