Citydude
Elite Member
Oh boy, not anther poll....For the love of God, someone just admit they have a tractor with the wrong transmission.
Gear or Hydrostatic Transmissions for Compact Utility Tractors?
- Thread starter MinnesotaEric
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Turbys_1700
Elite Member
Well...
At least it's not a poll on the Presidential race...
At least it's not a poll on the Presidential race...
One of my internationals is Hydro and I wish it was gear or toque converter like the others are. Poor thing just sits now that I no longer run the business neglected and unloved.
On the bright side all 3 were purchased within a years time brand new and have gone over 30 years with out fail or major rebuilds due to weakness. They all leak/drip fluid but with machines this old and endless hours of abuse they have seen you don't worry about a drip here or there.
So no engine or tranny rebuilds and mostly similar repairs to everything else I would say its a toss up on which will last the longest. The only real difference I can think of is the gear took 2 starter rebuilds and the other 2 only one and tire wear with the Hydro seemed to be faster than the gear or torque converter. I do however have to think that that was due to my operator for that particular machine as he had a bad habit of excessive tire spin when doing certain tasks.
One other thing that comes to mind now after reading recent posts is My little JD being a Hydro. Now that it also sits most of the time keeping it ready with a full charge in the battery is a pain and if it was a Hydro I could easily just pop start it and not worry about the battery at all. So I am kinda of/ sort of wishing it was a gear now
There you have it one outright wrong tranny and one maybe!
Citydude
Elite Member
I ain't admitting it. You go first!!!!
I have the wrong transmission 10% of the time I run the tractor.
Citydude
Elite Member
k0ua
Epic Contributor
I'll join in this meaningless poll.
I've owned 12 tractors. 5 hydro. 8 gear.
No complete hydro failures. 2 hydros that got so weak I quit using the tractors and gave them to my Sons for parts.
2 clutch replacements on the gear tractors. 1 transmission seal.
Now that I have polled, I get the privilege of declaring my disclaimer. This poll has no relevance because there is no clarity on size and work accomplished with each tractor. For example, my gear drive Kubota has exerted more work energy in it's 1000+ hours than all the rest of my tractors combined with no failures of any kind. Second in line would be my 30 year old Ford which has approximately 4000K hours of field work with a clutch replacement. Whereas my first hydro, a JD 140, only mowed with a 42" deck (I think), and the hydro got so weak it would barely climb a grade in the yard. But since the hydro didn't completely fail and the Ford's clutch did fail this poll is going to chalk one up for the hydro.
The hydro in the JD 140 garden tractor might not count Did it have a serviceable hydro? The newer ones like my LA135 have the TuffTorque transmission.Those are designed to fail. They are not serviceable, you cannot change the fluid in them and there is no filtratration. There is a huge thread on here about how to rebuild them. Some say they wear out at around 300 hours.
ovrszd
Epic Contributor
- Joined
- May 27, 2006
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- 32,246
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- Missouri
- Tractor
- Kubota M9540, Ford 3910FWD, Ford 555A, JD2210
Going back 20 years James. I don't remember. I want to say it was serviceable. Can't say for sure if it had a filter. Just can't remember, sorry.
That ole tractor had a lot of hours on it, many more than 300.
k0ua
Epic Contributor
Well, as you know, hydro's must have clean fluid. So you need good filtration and regular scheduled fluid changes. Else the tolerances in the pistons and bore will allow fluid leakage making the hydro "weak" and over time so weak as to be useless. That is the main reason the TuffTorque transmissions in our lawn and garden tractors give up. No way to even change the fluid, let alone any filtration, so the fine metal particles never have a way of getting out and act as a nice grinding paste.
Of course the designers want them to grind themselves to bits.
Fortunately our "real tractors" have nice filters and fluid schedules. On my Kioti it is 400 hours intervals after the first one. That is four years of usage for the average homeowner tractor owner.
ovrszd
Epic Contributor
- Joined
- May 27, 2006
- Messages
- 32,246
- Location
- Missouri
- Tractor
- Kubota M9540, Ford 3910FWD, Ford 555A, JD2210
I have a LOT of combustion engine powered units. I cannot keep up with the fluid changes without a diary. I keep a logbook. I spend this morning changing oil in 3 to catch up. I record everything including fuel filters, hydraulic changes, FWA gearboxes, etc. I still get behind. I almost need an electronic reminder in my phone.