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Disclaimer - This is a long one folks and is not in any way intended to represent a comprehensive and well-rounded review on the unit, only initial impressions after a very short period of operation.

Took delivery of my Ventrac 4226D today. My salesman made the delivery and did an excellent job of demonstrating the mounting of all attachments and familiarizing me with the basics of operating the tractor.

Fortunately, we did get a few inches of snow today, so I was able to work the unit for a bit.

First impression - this tractor is built like an army tank. The tractor has more steel in its construction than my 8-year old Deere 2210 did (unfortunately, the newer Deere units have even more plastic). It is about 2 feet shorter and surprisingly compact. My wife and I are fans of bully-breeds of dogs (pits, american bulldogs etc), and this machine gives that impression with its agility, strength and solidity in such a compact package. The engine (3 cyl. diesel B&S/Daihatsu) was very, very smooth. Surprisingly so compared to the Yanmar in my Deere 2210 (also a 3 cyl. diesel). The Yanmar's are very well-regarded diesels, so I hope the B&S/Daihatsu Vanguard engine lives up to the Yanmar standards. My dealer said this unit was the first Vanguard he had seen with a newer (aluminum?) radiator. Don't know if this is good or bad (or neither).

Second impression, I need more seat time to acclimate my self to the controls. My old tractor had single joystick to raise/lower and angle the attachment while using two pedals for forward and reverse. It worked well and I was very accustomed to it. I had a challenge running the tractor while plowing. I'd go to raise the plow and instead go backwards because of my "muscle memory." I am very familiar with this muscle memory concept as I work in law enforcement, and have utilized repetition when training with firearms to reinforce the correct movements for various techniques. The key word is "training" or practice. I'll take it very slowly until I am able to make all of this second nature. It is certainly not a shortcoming with the machine. I will likely abstain from doing much work through the neighborhood until I feel more confident in operating the tractor.

Observations (nit-picky) - I have the pedal installed on my unit for forward/reverse. I am glad it is there. However, there are a couple shortcomings in my opinion. First, it has slick, painted surface. My foot would slide over and off it. I am sure the snow/ice and water exacerbated this issue. I plan to obtain some coarse non-skid tape to help alleviate this issue. Personally, I think it should come from the factory so equipped, but not a big deal.

The biggest issue for me so far is what I consider excessive resistance of the pedal and SDLA lever when in in "spring-assist or return-to-neutral or whatever it is called mode. As most of you know, this is the mode recommended when learning to run the unit because when pressure is removed from the pedal or SDLA lever, spring tension returns it to "neutral" position. The spring tension on this thing is too heavy for use for anything other than a very short period of time with my arm. This is most noticeable when trying to move in reverse, but overall needs to be lightened in my opinion. It makes the pedal more difficult to use than it needs to be when going forward and almost ineffective in reverse. The SDLA lever is no treat either with that much resistance. Even without the pedal, I'd want the resistance lessened.

The easy-shift mode makes SDLA and pedal movement much, much easier (significantly less resistance), but this is the mode that led me to almost put the tractor through my garage door today after I tired of fighting the spring-assisted return-to-neutral mode (again, that old muscle memory - not the tractor's fault)! My wife will push herself out of the seat trying to use the pedal and my shoulder was feeling it after a short period of time. Can someone tell me how to reduce the tension on the spring return? I'll ask the dealer as well. If I can accomplish that, I'd be very happy! Maybe there is also the element of a break-in period I need to consider as well.

The V-blade is a very nice unit, but would be well served by adding a 45 deg bevel to the outside corners of the cutting edges to accommodate offset expansion joints. My Deere plow unit was not even half the plow this Ventrac blade is (seriously, it is sad to see what Deere charges for blades that are shoddy in comparison to Ventrac's), but it had those bevels on the cutting edge and it helps a great deal for small discrepancies in pavement levels.

Other than that, I need to add a spinner-knob to the steering wheel as this is a must-have in my book. I am also going to look at replacing the rear tail-lights with flashing led units, which should compliment the amber strobe I have on the way. I'll only do this if I can do it without any significant alteration of the existing set-up, like keeping the lenses and replacing the bulb set-up with LEDs.

Ultimately, I'll chime in more on this impressive tractor once I get more seat time (and run more attachments), but that may take a while with the weather being what it is unless we are fortunate to get a big snow. My salesman ran the debris blower for about 30 seconds today to show me the connections and I have to say it made an impression on me with its power. I am guessing I'll have a rotary broom in about one year (not a need, just a want).

Thanks to everyone for their support and advice on these matters. I am glad to have finally arrived to the status of Ventrac ownership! I've tried to attach some pics and hope it works.

She looks great - Enjoy her! :smile:

Great first impression review. I know you'll love the tractor ! :biggrin:

I never use the center (return position) unless I am just going to adjust position a little to get an attachment mounted. If you put it in the center position and hold the seat down you can move the unit a little without fear of going too far (just watch your foot ). Once you are used to the controls, you won't need that center position very often - the tention is there so it will return to stop quickly and for sure.

I've never had a problem with foot sliding off the foot control, but the sandpaper tape will work great for that if you need it.

I believe you could get some heavy truck mud flaps to put on the outside of your V-Blade (if I understood what you want to do)

You may have said it already, but what attachmnets did you get ?

ENJOY your machine ! :biggrin: :smile: :biggrin:

I keep Ventrac Brochures in both vehicles and on the tractor to hand out when people are interested. :thumbsup:

Thanks jmurray01!

I've obtained some 3M anti-skid tape that should work just fine for the pedal.

I also installed an Edson Powerknob on the steering wheel. Took a slight modification of the steering wheel to reduce the diameter slightly for a 1/2" wide band to accommodate the knob strap, but it turned out fine. Edson makes some nice steering wheel knobs. I bought their economy model (Sportsman series) after seeing some reviews. It is still much nicer then the knob from my old Deere (went with the tractor when it sold).

Regarding the SDLA /pedal resistance, I found a spring/lever assembly back behind the "dashboard" area that connects to the lever. There appears to be an accommodation to adjust the spring tension by adjusting a bolt to which the spring hooks to different positions on the arm. I am not 100% certain this is the correct place to look to achieve my desired result, as I know there are other springs and levers involved in the SDLA operation. I have no desire to screw anything up, but may experiment with it since the setting appears easily reversible.

BKBrown, I think you are correct in that I will ultimately be operating in easy shift mode once I get acclimated to the unit. That may take me some time. I'll also have other operators in the household who I will feel most comfortable with running in the return-to-neutral mode (wife included). Again, this is not big deal, but easing the tension on that lever will go a long way towards keeping new users in training (myself included) happy.

I will have to store some brochures as well. I do expect inquiries as this tractor makes an impression.

I had the following attachments delivered with the tractor:

60" mower
v-blade
48" slip scoop
debris blower

I attached picture (it's small, but all I could find) of the a snow blade with the angle cut on the end of the cutting edge. It allows the blade to ride up more easily when meeting a slight raised piece of pavement than a hard 90 deg corner when that end of the blade is riding at a forward angle. I am no expert on any of this, but am just going off of my limited experience. This is not a big deal either.

I will report back after adjusting the spring attachment location.

Update on the SDLA/pedal tension adjustment. I changed to the spring attachment position by moving the attachment bolt back two positions, which reduced the spring tension. The result was a great improvement in my (and my wife's) opinion. The SDLA lever still returns to neutral, albeit a bit more slowly, but still within an acceptable timeframe. About 2 seconds or slightly under using my crude measurement (it's quicker to return from reverse). The resistance is still a tad more than it would be in easy-shift mode, but it is a pronounced improvement.

As BKBrown alluded to in his earlier post, the higher tension/resistance does give the pedal/lever a quicker return to neutral. I can understand why Ventrac set this the way they did for a new unit with liability concerns being what they are. There appeared to be a setting available to make the tension even higher for those with such inclinations.

I am very pleased with this compromise between lever/pedal tension and a relatively quick return to neutral. I am guessing a little break-in time will only help as well.

Thanks for listening!

I see what you are talking about on the blade, but since I push gravel on our
"State Maintained" road ..... I sometimes like to cut in on the corners (especially if I am using the blade on the back to drag the gravel)

I don't believe it will take long to get used to the touch on the control levers.

I hope you got the 3-N-1 quick attach for the rear.

HAVE FUN ! :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :thumbsup:

Good stuff marnett! New toys are always fun! :thumbsup:

Looks like you already did some playing around with the return to neutral tension, but I would echo what BKBrown said, I never use it anymore, only for a short bit of time when learning controls, then once I got the hang of it, the easy shift is all you'll ever want to use!

As far as the foot pedal and foot sliding off, that is interesting, they supply the no skid tape (or whatever you want to call it) with the 3000 series foot pedal and it seems like it would be obvious to add it to the 4000 series foot pedal. Ventrac has always been good at listening to their customers, so maybe they will be by on here and address it, or you could call them and ask them!
You'll pick up controls very fast and master the blade in no time.

I only have a straight blade, but I prefer the way the cutting edges are. Probably because of the type of application and material I am using it for, but I can see where you are coming from.
Have fun and keep us up to date with any other impressions!

BTW I like your progression of shots on the first post :laughing:
I picture you like a little kid on Christmas looking out the window, waiting for the delivery truck, taking the shot of it through the window as soon as it pulls in the driveway, then running out and making sure to not miss a moment by taking photos of the process of unloading.
Yes I know, real cheesy, but the first picture got me going and I just had to laugh because I've been there. :biggrin:

With the recent snowfall we received overnight, I got some serious seat time today in the 4226D. My impressions were overwhelmingly positive.

engine - the DM950D diesel is remarkably smooth, so much smoother running and better starting than my Deere's Yanmar (no doubt a good engine itself). The Ventrac diesel seems much more refined to me overall.

v-blade - I'll admit the v-blade was something I was not certain about even though the dealer said it was the answer. I was so familiar with the operation of a straight/power angle blade that the v-blade seemed like more than I wanted fiddle with. Today made me a believer. It is so useful to redirect the flow of the snow, even on the fly.

I did swap the hydraulic connections for the v-blade the other day after playing with it. This puts me at odds with the manufacturer's color-code for connecting the hoses, but it was a huge improvement in operation for me by making the operation more intuitive (to my mind at least). Previously, pushing the auxiliary lever out/away from the tractor brought the selected blade wing in towards the tractor and the inverse was true. Now, after swapping the hoses, pressing the lever out makes the blade wings move out/away from the tractor and pulling the lever in/towards the tractor makes the wings move in/towards the tractor. This set-up makes the operation more second-nature to me. I also plan to modify the orientation/rotation of the solenoid selector switch on the dash from an up/down movement to a left/right movement. Looks like an easily accomplished task.

Ventrac 4226D as a whole - I took it slow today. Very slow and patient while remaining in the return-to-neutral mode while my brain re-trains itself. I also used the pedal in concert with the SDLA lever quite a bit. Overall, after a couple hours of some real maneuvering and working the tractor, I felt much more comfortable.

As my comfort level rose, I was was able to appreciate the unmatched capabilities these tractors have to maneuver and put the power to the ground. After plowing several driveways, I went inside and my wife asked me how the Ventrac did compared to my old Deere 2210. I told her the Ventrac simply blew the Deere out of the water. The Ventrac never faltered or hesitated when asked to push some piles of snow that my Deere would have sat and spun its wheels (the Deere 2210 is no slouch either). I was also able to maneuver the tractor in and out of spaces that I normally would not have approached with the tractor. Again, I worked slowly, because I had the realization it would take a lot to stop the Ventrac from entering a space or area that I might mistakenly place it into (like my neighbor's garage door, fence posts etc). When I started moving faster, I consciously made my self slow down to avoid over-confidence (and its pitfalls).

I am certain the positive impression my 4226D is making on me will deepen as I become more comfortable and familiar with its operation. My wife is a horse nut. I have never ridden a horse, but I know they are extremely capable creatures that deserve immense respect. I liken my experience with my Ventrac to what I am guessing it would be like for me to learn to ride a horse. Intimidating in the beginning because you know what the creature can do, but as you learn to ride it, you start to gain mastery of leveraging its potential for good use. Mowing and yard work season should make all of this more apparent to me.

I am looking forward to it.

I'm glad to hear you're enjoying your machine.

It is great when a man and his machine work in perfect harmony.

Glad you are learning how amazing the Ventrac is -- I bet the neighbors that see it are impressed too ! :thumbsup: :biggrin: :thumbsup:

You can guess that with the 4226 having enough power that the 4231 is even more amazing and then think about the traction with the dual wheel set installed. :biggrin:

Once you get out of the return to neutral and use the normal setting, it will be even more responsive. :thumbsup:

The beauty of buying brand new is that you now nobody else has been fiddling around with it prior to your ownership.

Of course, there are a lot of poor quality items on sale these days, so that is why some of the time it is better to buy used, but if you can get a brand new good quality machine - You're rocking and rolling!

I bought my 2011 Mountfield SP414 Walk Behind brand new in June 2011, and it cost a pretty penny, but it is so well made, with a super strong Polypropylene deck and a very durable (so far) Sumec 100CC 2.6HP enigne, so I'm not complaining, and I'm sure I'll get at least 10 years of happy use from it.

The saying is so true - Buy cheap, buy twice!

Very nice marnett! I really like your write-ups, it is always interesting to see things that are important to different people and like BKBrown said, a little more time, get into easy shift mode and you will be clearing driveways like nobody else on the block! :thumbsup::thumbsup: