Where does it stop?

[4570Man]

HST is the all around better choice for most compact tractors. A good HST ( not all HST transmissions are created equal) can pull equally as hard as a geared on a compact tractors. A HST is a little slower for something like plowing, but on average HST is way faster. My tractor puts out 1.5 more pto HP in a gear model. That doesn't seem very significant to me. A gear might drive up a hill faster or pull a plow across the field faster, but a HST can do everything a gear can do usually better.

 

[k0ua]

Gear is better or some things and HST is better for some things. People could debate that forever. The only thing that got me was the recommendation that the HST was not a good choice for hilly terrain. Nothing could be further from the truth. When in fact it is just the opposite.

 

[Deezl Smoke]

Well I had folks with whole lot of experience say otherwise. People who've spent their lives on tractors of all makes and models. People who sell, service and drive them all, including the salesman with 40 years who had previously been pushing me toward HST until I brought up the terrain factor. Bear in mind I was sitting on the HST at the dealership while he had to go and fetch the shuttle from the distributor, where I drove it, then sell it to me for a grand less. I didn't really care either way, I just wanted to get what was right for my needs and terrain.
I'm beginning to think that this whole shuttle/hydro thing is more about personal preference than anything else.

All that said I got the shuttle after driving both and I actually thought the shuttle was easier to drive than the somewhat awkward and uncomfortable rocker pedal. I think a two pedal setup would likely have been better but it isn't offered on on that model. Even on flat ground the rocker actually felt uncomfortable and clumsy for me so I think it might need some work yet. It doesn't matter a whole lot because I won't be doing a lot of back and forth nor do I have great distances to drive at any speed. I'll likely spend most of my time with the seat turned around digging at stumps.

Being into rock crawling, I'm pretty comfortalbe with gear boxes and know how to feather a clutch, when to use 4WD and when and when not to lock up an axle along with how and when to use cutting brakes. I've also developed a pretty good sense of bottom end pucker factor when it comes to flopping and rolling over.

No higher truth can be said.

 

[Deezl Smoke]

Today is a stormy, rainy day. I had to leave the computer turned off for a while as power was going on and off. Looking around, and thinking about it as well what gets said here, I think I should go back to the 25-27 hp tractors and then buy a separate backhoe of much larger size. Like the Woodmaxx 8600 and put it on an axle with a hitch. Then I can put the hoe spoils into the loader bucket and set them aside if I'm going thru a lawn or some sensitive areas. I also then allows me to use a blade on the back while at the same time having a backhoe handy. I'll see if I can call woodmaxx monday morning. That's a lot of backhoe for less money than a tractor brand of the hp size.

 

[bcp]

Something like this?

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...-making-progress-post2485284.html#post2485284

Bruce

 

[KiwiBro]

Maybe it's in the (rain) water down here but I swear tractors shrink when encountering their first rain shower under new ownership. My 76HP was 'a bit too big for my needs' initially, but it got smaller somehow and now feels like my previous (50HP) tractor.:confused2:

It also burns about the same amount of fuel. Maybe even less. I drove it for 4.5hrs on the road yesterday to its next job. Not even half a tank of diesel (so about NZ$20 of fuel). Given the transporter wanted over $600 for the move, even if I lost a few hundred dollars worth of rubber, it was still worth it. Was nice to take in the slow-moving, largely rural view on a sunny Sunday.

 

[DK35vince]

If I were buying new tractor today, I would probably be leaning toward a power reverser type transmission. With synchronized mains.

 

[Deezl Smoke]

Something like this?

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...-making-progress-post2485284.html#post2485284

Bruce

Yep, just like that.

 

[4570Man]

I'd like to see a gear tractor do this without cursing by the time the job was over. I bush hogged this pond dam and had to back up and down it on both sides. I had to change directions on the hill which is about 25 degrees at the steepest. I can also back down to the water at any speed I want.

 

[jenkinsph]

I'd like to see a gear tractor do this without cursing by the time the job was over. I bush hogged this pond dam and had to back up and down it on both sides. I had to change directions on the hill which is about 25 degrees at the steepest. I can also back down to the water at any speed I want.

View attachment 461124

I agree mowing the pond bank is easier with a hydro. All you can do is offer your opinion on the differences between the hydro and gear transmission. Some people get it and some have to learn everything the hard way.

 

[arrow]

I'd like to see a gear tractor do this without cursing by the time the job was over. I bush hogged this pond dam and had to back up and down it on both sides. I had to change directions on the hill which is about 25 degrees at the steepest. I can also back down to the water at any speed I want.

View attachment 461124

You're moving your foot to change direction. A synchronized shuttle does the same thing but you're moving your arm. What you stated earlier makes all the difference. It depends on the tractor for an advantage with hydro as some hydros of lower horsepower have proved anemic for how a person might use a tractor. These types of variables along with how the user is wired makes all the difference in the world. It can be about personal preference but i'd say it's more of a combination of preference and actuality. All one can ever get to without making blanket statements of which type of tractor is better is to state THEIR OWN PREFERENCE and why as that is all that really fits. I tried two hydros (a Kubota treadle and a Mahindra like I have) before I bought and they both made me nuts. I'm a gear head apparently. I've dragged raced sticked cars for 50 years and it was only 5 years ago that I built a truck with an auto tranny. I still miss shifting while others would vomit at the thought.

 

[DK35vince]

I agree mowing the pond bank is easier with a hydro. All you can do is offer your opinion on the differences between the hydro and gear transmission. Some people get it and some have to learn everything the hard way.

Never said gear was as easy as hydro.
Some just like the feel of a gear machine in a tractor.
But apparently if their opinion differs from yours they are wrong.

 

[4570Man]

Never said gear was as easy as hydro. Some just like the feel of a gear machine in a tractor. But apparently if their opinion differs from yours they are wrong.

Someone said a gear was superior on hills, and it is easily proven they are wrong.

 

[ultrarunner]

I have all three... they all have done well...

When I'm teaching someone how to operate a tractor it is always with the Hydro on flat ground...

 

[arrow]

Someone said a gear was superior on hills, and it is easily proven they are wrong.

Not as easy how your current thinking is firing. They could have meant "going over a hill" The Mahindra hydro I tried would not go over a slight incline in high at high rpms while the gear went over this same hill at idle in 5th gear. In this case, the superiority did indeed belong to the geared in my opinion.

 

[4570Man]

High range is for road travel only. Try putting the gear in the highest gear and try again. My HST will go over any hill the same model gear will. It's operator error such as this that gives a HST a bad name.

 

[Jim Timber]

If you buy a tractor with an FEL and gear transmission you will be in a small minority, perhaps 2%. Should you decide to sell in a year or two upon figuring out all your needs, the market for your FEL/gear tractor will be limited and the offers you receive LOW.

Funny... I could sell my tractor today for more than I paid for it a year ago.

What you're saying is biased to all get out to your frame of thinking. YOU prefer the hydro slush box. I do loader work with a manual tranny and have no regrets. Many of us grew up driving stick in our cars and trucks - it's hardly slow.

 

[Deezl Smoke]

Until hard proof is brought to the table either way, all info given is in fact "opinion".

 

[s219]

Funny... I could sell my tractor today for more than I paid for it a year ago.

What you're saying is biased to all get out to your frame of thinking. YOU prefer the hydro slush box. I do loader work with a manual tranny and have no regrets. Many of us grew up driving stick in our cars and trucks - it's hardly slow.

That's one of my beefs -- I own two vehicles with manual transmission right now, but I see zero relevance to gear transmission in a tractor. Two entirely different beasts. I'd never own a sports car with anything but manual transmission, but with tractors I see pros and cons to gear and HST and don't feel my experience with cars/trucks plays into that much.

Now, if you can properly drop the clutch and smoke the tires on your tractor and demonstrate a proper heel/toe shift, then I might change my mind .

 

[Jim Timber]

That's one of my beefs -- I own two vehicles with manual transmission right now, but I see zero relevance to gear transmission in a tractor. Two entirely different beasts. I'd never own a sports car with anything but manual transmission, but with tractors I see pros and cons to gear and HST and don't feel my experience with cars/trucks plays into that much.

Now, if you can properly drop the clutch and smoke the tires on your tractor and demonstrate a proper heel/toe shift, then I might change my mind .

I'll eat my shoe if you can get the front end to lift on your HST (without using the loader or hooking to a stump). I can apply sharp torque spikes via my gears that you can't dream of with fluid power.

When I was back in school getting my AAS in CNC, the machine shop was next door to the fluid power program. The head of that program is a real turd and thinks his program gets more done than we did (when you break it down, we make all his parts and he's nothing without us :laughing: ), but any way... They made a hydro powered rail dragster as a class project. Complete with cage, wing, the whole 9. The students thought they'd be able to do a burnout the whole length of the parking lot because of the calculated torque their pump and motors were capable of producing.

End of the semester arrives, they're all outside amped with pride and anticipation for the spectacle. It'd do about 3mph.

Driving is driving. Doesn't really matter what the vehicle. Tractor, car, truck. If you can shift one, you can shift the other. Not having to shift might be a plus to you, but I don't like the heat or excess fuel consumption a HST has to offer. To each their own.