The wonderful gear vs hst debate. Hst is the only way to go (IMHO) for loader work. Many loaders on compact agricultural tractors aren't extremely powerful like on industrial rated skip loaders/loader backhoes.
Here is a good real world example:
Let us say you are bucking a pile stone, gravel, dirt ect. On a gear tractor, as you buck the pile you are "stuck" in the gear you choose to buck the pile in. No big deal. As bucking, two things happen generally, wheel slippage or engine slow down. R4 tires wear out faster or HP goes down as engine slows. No one wants to buy new tires, or as the engine loads and slows forward propulsion slows and hydraulic power goes down as the operator tries to achieve a heaping or near heaping bucket. Then clutching is necessary when under significant engine load, which equals wear. Not to mention, to buck a "perfect bucket" at a given speed, unlike a professional operator isn't always the easiest. Then transport, dump/spread level, rinse repeat.
HST loader work is much more forgiving, for the tractor and the operator. The tractor approaches the pile (assuming in the correct gear range e.g. low or med) wheel speed is infinitely adjustable for bucket adjustment, bucket begins to fill (lift and curl)as the wheel speed slows by control of the operator to eliminate wheel slippage. While the wheel speed goes down, engine speed remains constant to keep engine speed and HP up (hydraulic power). The wheel speed can easily be controlled from an inch a minute to super fast based on conditions and operator skill to keep jerking, slamming, lugging and equipment wear down to a minimal.
Another factor to consider is loader hydraulic strength. A gear machine as bucking a pile has a fixed "feed rate". The only way to slow down further is clutch slippage which equals bad. Compact tractor loaders have to overcome the push of the tractor and the lifting of the boom/curl in the buck process. If loader hydraulics are sized minimally but adequate for the machine size (on paper), gear drive may struggle depending on operator skill, material trying to buck, bucket size ect. A hst has the ability to reduce forward speed (push) and provide lift and curl with just enough force/push to fill the bucket. No clutch wear, less loader wear, less tire wear, (IMHO) much easier to operate (as I am not a professional operator) no engine lugging, ect.
Either transmission work. With a skilled operator, either can be used with great effectiveness. For most uses of a compact tractor, with most commonly used implements, HST makes the most sense to me. I can't see the advantage of gear trans because I don't pull disc or a plow exclusively. And from what I can tell, most here don't either. Not that that makes one trans better than another, it is just which trans is right for what the needs of the tractor are.
