2 speed tranny vs 3 speed. Is it really a big deal?

[Hill HIgh Guy]

Ok, I'm zeroing in on the tractor I need (want). I got pricing on a Kubota L3901 and I feel that it has the right weight for work on my slopes and it seems really well put together, albeit pretty basic. It just "feels" like too much tractor. I also don't like the loader joystick placement and the treadle pedal is not really comfortable for me. The B2650 "feels" like the right size but I think it might be a little too light for moving dirt and pushing around fairly big rocks and pulling a cutter on a slope. Same issue with the treadle.

I had not really considered green as I had looked at a 3 series E but then saw the new 2032/38R series and its only a few thousand more than the L3901. It's heavier than the B but not quite as heavy as the L. It's lower than the L and I think that would be more beneficial doing slope work. I much prefer the location of the joystick and the twin pedals are much more comfortable to me.

The big hang up for me is the 2 speed vs 3 speed. How big of a deal is this? I've scoured the forum and I can't find anyone saying that they are disappointed in the workability of the machine because of the 2 speeds. I did rent a JD3038E and I didn't perceive an issue but I was pretty tentative with it as it was the first time on a tractor in a while.

I'm building a house on 3 acres and will need to do some dirt work, move rocks, grade, bush hog , clear driveway.

What is the general opinion on 2 vs 3 speed?

 

[nybirdman]

Stay with the three speed for sure no matter what brand you choose.
I run in medium 90% of the time. Rarely use low and high is only used on
the road.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I don't think you have as much speed control with a 2 speed as you have with a 3 speed. With a 2 speed, LOW is mostly too slow and in high it doesn't have the power or it is too fast so you have trouble keeping your speed right using only the HST pedal.

I like to run the HST in a gear range so I can keep the pedal to the metal using the pedal to slow when needed but running it full speed for normal operations. With a 3 speed I can do that, but not so much with a 2 speed tranny.

More gears is almost always better than fewer.

 

[oosik]

Thirty five plus years here - two tractors, both had/have two speed transmission. I've found that eight speeds forward have always been sufficient. I do all the grading, plowing, disking & shuffling around that everybody else does with no problems.

Lets face it - whether the tranny is two or three speed - the only difference is that a three speed has more splits in the gears. One has 8 splits going from 1mph to 20mph the other has 12 splits going from 1mph to 20mph. I HAVE NOT found the additional splits would have been any greater benefit in my operations.

However - if you feel for some reason that twelve speeds is better than eight - for goodness sakes - GO FOR IT.

 

[dodge man]

I've got a Kubota BX and its two speed. The three speeds would be nice. For me the low range is often two slow and the high range doesn't give me the pulling power I want. I suspect most of the things I do except travelling a long distance I would do in the middle range, which I don't have.

 

[dodge man]

Oosik, I suspect he is talking about the 3 speeds with an HST.

 

[jeff9366]

If you foresee traversing your three acres often, two examples being transport of organic debris to a burn pile and transport of a trash can to the road twice per week, you will regret the day you ordered a slow two speed HST.

I assume you have considered GROUND CLEARANCE carefully.


T-B-N ARCHIVE (2) : two speed vs three speed HST site:tractorbynet.com - Google Search

two range vs three range HST site:tractorbynet.com - Google Search

BUY ENOUGH TRACTOR​

 

[Hill HIgh Guy]

Thanks all. Yes it is an HST I'm talking about. I won't be traversing woods and once I clear the scrub trees, the tractor will be mostly used for establishing lawn, mulch, moving rocks. Center of gravity will be important, maybe more than ground clearance. I plan on wheel spacers regardless of machine

Thanks for the links Jeff.

 

[Hill HIgh Guy]

And I've looked at all the other brands. There is both a JD and K dealer in my town and both are very good so it's going to be Green or Orange.

 

[plowhog]

I have a two speed in my MF1710 and a three speed in my MF1758. Both are sufficient for anything I want to do.

High gear in the 1710 is used if transporting from here-to-there. Most work tasks are in low gear, since I don't really want to go fast. The exception is brush hogging using high gear. But it is not run even close to its fullest. That would be way too fast for brush cutting.

Low and medium speeds offer a lot in the MF1758. I think I've only used high gear once or twice, again, going from point A to point B. It can pretty much go as fast as I want even in medium range.

There are lots of trade offs when comparing tractors. Three speeds are probably better than two, but I would weight some other factors as much more important.