3230 ptronic transmission

[diesel1]

Feedback wanted on the ptronic transmission, thinking of getting one, reliability issues are a concern tho

 

[TheEarlOfMoray]

Just don’t, ours was a disaster of a thing. JCB walked away from it in the end saying they couldn’t do anything. Problem after problem with it. Had a 3230 with the old style box and Cummins engine before that and it was twice the tractor

 

[Andrew]

There was a bit of a design flaw, in top 3 gears not enough oil gets thrown about, which caused the issues. If you’re doing hours and hours continuously on the road at top speed you’ll have problems. The thermostats kept melting too.
Change the oil and fit a new thermostat as soon as you get it, then change the oil regularly they’re ok. They need calibrating regularly which doesn’t need a laptop IIRC but is an ass of a job.
The thing that bugged me is there’s no quick speed change for low speed work - ie going slow up the field then want to go quicker round the end you can’t skip from B2 to C4, you can only skip 2 gears at a time.

Drive mode was good on the road, but you had to be firm with it. Sounded lovely too.

Mine was the first customer machine off the line, put 4000 hrs on it and never had a rebuild, but had a few issues, they were all caused by the thermostat though.

 

[CPF]

I didn’t know if you knew when you going down the gears and you don’t want to go all the way down just push the gearlever forward and it will Hold it self in that gear so when you come to a roundabout or T-junction don’t want to stop.(if It’s
Clear) just push the lever forward. just a bit of information probably know it ,but not many people do.
I found the quickest way to warm the gearbox up by my drivers was not selecting the right gear when they want to go into reverse to high gear can not get down the gears quick enough so slipping the clutch .
I made them go down the gearbox right down then stop then you was in the right gear for reverse . We did have a few gearbox’s blowup .Jcb replaced them at no expense to me. But we was putting on an average over 2 1/2 thousand hours a year on them .

 

[Andrew]

I didn’t know if you knew when you going down the gears and you don’t want to go all the way down just push the gearlever forward and it will Hold it self in that gear so when you come to a roundabout or T-junction don’t want to stop.(if It’s
Clear) just push the lever forward. just a bit of information probably know it ,but not many people do.
I found the quickest way to warm the gearbox up by my drivers was not selecting the right gear when they want to go into reverse to high gear can not get down the gears quick enough so slipping the clutch .
I made them go down the gearbox right down then stop then you was in the right gear for reverse . We did have a few gearbox’s blowup .Jcb replaced them at no expense to me. But we was putting on an average over 2 1/2 thousand hours a year on them .

Flicking the hand throttle forwards also kept it in that gear in Drive. Have to say JCB and Pecks looked after us very well, they always have on all the machines.

 

[diesel1]

How much would a new gearbox be if it tossed up?

 

[Andrew]

How much would a new gearbox be if it tossed up?

Seem to remember someone on FB saying £12k but that could be completely wrong

 

[CPF]

Feedback wanted on the ptronic transmission, thinking of getting one, reliability issues are a concern tho

which Model ,and how old ,and how many hours are you trying to buy ?

 

[diesel1]

2010-11 3230 xtra. 5-7k hrs, will only be doing 100-150 hrs a year myself, leading corn, baling, low loader work,
If I spent 35-50k with a deal should I expect some sort of warranty?

 

[CPF]

2010-11 3230 xtra. 5-7k hrs, will only be doing 100-150 hrs a year myself, leading corn, baling, low loader work,
If I spent 35-50k with a deal should I expect some sort of warranty?

if I was you I would look for an older model one with the normal gearbox in doing those sort of hours I do know of a friend. 3170 coming on the market

 

[Andrew]

If you’re driving it yourself, on that job, and those hours, a P tronic will be fine.

 

[Speedstar]

Best thing you can do is to look hard & find a later 3220 or there are a few 3230 with a eaton gearbox other than that walk way as them Ptronic boxes are a night mare & cost a lot more than 12K to sort more like 20K +

 

[Mad For Muck]

I bought one 2 years ago & ran for a year. Was a 2010 one had about 6000 hours on the clock, one owner from new & was serviced every 6 weeks. Brilliant bit of kit but just had constant issues - non gearbox related tho & in the year we owned it we stuck just over 2000 hours on it just doing roadwork. However the Exhaust fell off, turbo went, the rubber blocks between the back axle & the chassis kept falling off & had loads of other bits thrown at it. Jcb prices were a joke & the dealer who looked after it kept trying to rip me off at every opportunity so sent it down the road & bought an 8 wheeler instead. The fastrac cost more to run than our other tractors doing the same work in terms of parts, breakdowns etc etc but I would have another one, but I would have a manual box due to our work & would want it to come from a fastrac specialist but for the hours your looking at doing a ptronic wouldn’t be a bad buy.

 

[beltbreaker]

Mate has one, when it works it's good (according to him) however it's a bit of a money pit.

How much would a new gearbox be if it tossed up?

£32k for a new box although he and a skilled fitter turned it into a go kart to sort every o ring in the box plus a bearing for about £10k.

 

[daveydiesel1]

Mate has one, when it works it's good (according to him) however it's a bit of a money pit.

£32k for a new box although he and a skilled fitter turned it into a go kart to sort every o ring in the box plus a bearing for about £10k.

So they spent 10k on o rings and a bearing?

 

[CPF]

Feedback wanted on the ptronic transmission, thinking of getting one, reliability issues are a concern tho

Have we all frightened (diesel1 )off gone very quiet I reckon he’s bought one and he’s repairing it 🛠 .

 

[diesel1]

If I find one I think is right, will probably buy it, the chance should be small of it tossing up in the 500hrs i will do with it till I retire.
Find one that's had a replacement transmission maybe, or one with some history knowing where it's come from, talk to the seller if he's sold it to a dealer.
If bought from a dealer, do they have to stand by them for the first month, car dealers have to.

 

[TheEarlOfMoray]

If I find one I think is right, will probably buy it, the chance should be small of it tossing up in the 500hrs i will do with it till I retire.
Find one that's had a replacement transmission maybe, or one with some history knowing where it's come from, talk to the seller if he's sold it to a dealer.
If bought from a dealer, do they have to stand by them for the first month, car dealers have to.

Just buy 1 with a smoothshift box. You won’t regret it

 

[CPF]

With a smooth shift gearbox you still can I have problems with fifth gear

 

[Andrew]

Never run an older fastrac but didn’t they have a lot of problems with electric spools?

For the OPs 100hrs a year a Ptronic will be fine, especially if well cared for.
It also has proper load sensing hydraulics, and an excellent headland management system if they matter to his jobs.