Gear or Hydrostatic Transmissions for Compact Utility Tractors?

[SteveM70]

I've ran heavy equipment all my adult life. Things and designs constantly change but I don't buy the rhetorict about making your first tractor hydrostatic. My first tractor was a gear drive and my wife and kids quickly learned to run it efficiently enough that they could use it in a pinch.

That being said, I now see the merits of hydrostatic but to suggest that a newbie should only be looking at hydrostatic is selling people short. It wasn't long ago that tractors as well as cars were manual shift, everyone who wanted to, learned to run them. I don't think for a minute people have changed that much since then.

 

[MossRoad]

Try and find a TV without a remote control... or a car without a key fob. Or a car with a manual transmission. Or a house without HVAC. etc.... people have changed that much since then.... and I'm one of em!

I used to love driving stick, simple, manual controls on a car, etc.... however, our last car had auto, power everything and heated seats.... oh man! Heated seats!!!!

A hydro tractor is very cushy and gets the job done well.

 

[SteveM70]

Try and find a TV without a remote control... or a car without a key fob. Or a car with a manual transmission. Or a house without HVAC. etc.... people have changed that much since then.... and I'm one of em!

I used to love driving stick, simple, manual controls on a car, etc.... however, our last car had auto, power everything and heated seats.... oh man! Heated seats!!!!

A hydro tractor is very cushy and gets the job done well.

With all do respect, things have gotten easier since then. I'll give you that. BUT to suggest people have changed to the point they can no longer run a gear tractor with minimal time is just ludicrous!

My truck has a manual transmission and my home is heated by wood. My kids, both in there early to mid teens can run both and I could train a monkey to turn tv channels.

Again, I'm not arguing the merits of hydrostatic. Just saying that to suggest modern man needs a hydrostatic drive tractor if they have little experience is rediculous.

Argue the good the bad and the ugly all day long but I don't think inept operators factor into the arguement. If someone of normal physical health couldn't learn to run a gear drive tractor they don't have any business on any tractor IMO.

 

[4570Man]

Who said the average person couldn't learn to operate a gear tractor? I was operating a gear tractor when I was 7-8. My operating greatly improved once I could reach the pedals. Now who wants to argue a HST isn't easier? A HST works better for the average task performed by a compact tractor. A HST isn't the best choice for field work, but how many compact tractors do much of that?

 

[MossRoad]

With all do respect, things have gotten easier since then. I'll give you that. BUT to suggest people have changed to the point they can no longer run a gear tractor with minimal time is just ludicrous!

My truck has a manual transmission and my home is heated by wood. My kids, both in there early to mid teens can run both and I could train a monkey to turn tv channels.

Again, I'm not arguing the merits of hydrostatic. Just saying that to suggest modern man needs a hydrostatic drive tractor if they have little experience is rediculous.

Argue the good the bad and the ugly all day long but I don't think inept operators factor into the arguement. If someone of normal physical health couldn't learn to run a gear drive tractor they don't have any business on any tractor IMO.

It not about ineptitude or need... give an unbiased, no experience ever potential tractor owner a test drive of the exact same tractor with gear or HST. Make him or her do all the tasks they think they'll need to do for an entire day. I would be highly surprised if any of them would want a geared tractor after the day of test drives. Its not because they can't do it. It'll be because they realize how much easier it is on the HST.

 

[coobie]

Try and find a TV without a remote control... or a car without a key fob. Or a car with a manual transmission. Or a house without HVAC. etc.... people have changed that much since then.... and I'm one of em!

I used to love driving stick, simple, manual controls on a car, etc.... however, our last car had auto, power everything and heated seats.... oh man! Heated seats!!!!

A hydro tractor is very cushy and gets the job done well.

You need to try the heated steering wheel.My wife loves it,me not so much.

 

[John_Mc]

18 pages and everyone is firmly entrenched in their camp.

Kind of reminds me of a classic oil thread.:shocked::laughing:

Yep. In my book this debate has ZERO to do with whether someone is a skilled operator overall. It's all about personal preference. With practice, you can get equally good at either type of transmission. Yes, that's a skill to develop, but it does not follow that someone good on one could not be equally good on the other with similar practice. Yes, one may be more efficient than the other, delivering more of the HP to the wheels, but if you buy the size tractor you need, it makes little difference. I'm rarely operating my tractor at full throttle anyway. (At any rate, operator decisions like throttle settings and other techniques will likely have more effect on fuel usage.)

I never have understood the big debate. Get what works for you. If I were plowing the big, flat, fields where I grew up in NW Ohio, I'd probably be using a gear tractor. Winding through my hilly trails in VT, I like my HST. Could I use a gear tractor here? Sure. I just choose not to. I have no problem with someone else who makes a different choice.

 

[ovrszd]

Try and find a TV without a remote control... or a car without a key fob. Or a car with a manual transmission. Or a house without HVAC. etc.... people have changed that much since then.... and I'm one of em!

I used to love driving stick, simple, manual controls on a car, etc.... however, our last car had auto, power everything and heated seats.... oh man! Heated seats!!!! A hydro tractor is very cushy and gets the job done well.

My wife's Grand Cherokee has heated steering wheel!!!!!

 

[ovrszd]

You need to try the heated steering wheel.My wife loves it,me not so much.

I should have read on down. Coobie, you beat me to it!!! :laughing:

 

[Citydude]

My wife's Grand Cherokee has heated steering wheel!!!!!

My wife's car has the heated steering wheel as well. What's weird, the thing gets hot enough to be uncomfortable. So then your back to square one, wearing gloves.....another one of life's quandaries....