HST or man

[CSAW]

If you are going to make your living with your tractor (doing lots of loader work) I would go HST. If it is for your own personal use and you plan to keep it for a long time I would go manual. (Much less to go wrong) If you get a manual be sure it has some kind of sychronized shuttle shift and not the old style standard shift. With a shuttle you can still shift forward and backwards without stopping. If used correctly a clutch will last virtually for ever. If it does not they are much much cheaper than HST parts and anyone with some mechanical ability can change one.

The more simple something is the better it is.

 

[Buck]

I've got manual. My neighbors got HST. I cut my lawn. My neighbors wife cuts theirs.

With respect to someone viewing us both cutting our lawns at the same time from a distance of 1000 ft., I look like I am 80 years old. She looks 20 years old. You can really maneuver with HST.

Now of course my neighbor paid more than I did for HSD.

 

[frank_f15]

HST WITH NO DOUBT FOR ME. FOR A LOT OF FELL OR CLOSE WORK U CAN NOT BEAT THEM.

 

[Westbilly]

Let me see........ toothpick in the eye or icecream sundae?
.........................stepping on a nail or pedicure?
.........................root canal or juicy fruit chewing gum?
.........................Gear tranny or HST?

Get the point?

 

[ewoss3]

well said Westbilly

 

[RobS]

I've got gears. Here's my perspective:

Pros of Gears:

Less expensive to purchase.
More power to the ground and PTO.
More reliable (subjective, I know /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif )
More "tractor like" (very subjective)

Cons:

More effort/hassle when changing directions a lot (FEL work).
Harder for "casual users" to master (my wife loves our gears as much as I do though)

Don't let all the HST fans on this board scare you away. A GST tractor gets the job done just fine. Tractors have had gears for decades. My next tractor will likely have gears as well, though I sure do like the power-reverser transmission idea.

BTW, my truck has gears and our minivan is the only vehicle either my wife or I have owned with an automatic. That's only because you can't get a stinking minivan in the states with gears /w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif As soon as our youngest is able to climb in and out by himself, we're going back to a Jeep or something... with gears /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[cisco]

Somewhat like automatic vs stick shift on a car. If you're runing around town, the automatic is very convenient. If you are a long haul highway person, then the better fuel economy of a stick shift is useful. As to tractors, the GST is a decent compromise, with, per Kubota, no decrease in power to the wheels or pto - farmers around my area use either the straight gear shift or a GST, because they need all the power they can get per dollar of diesel fuel (and the fact that the geared tractors are cheaper also helps). For country squires who don't often stress their tractors to the limits, or contractors with alot of forward/backwards direction changes, HST is preferred. As to reliabliity, my mechanic says geared tractors are more reliable and easier to repair, but also admitted that HST is quite reliable. Bear in mind that we have a whole generation of younger folks who don't know what to do with a cluth and gear shift (that is why Porsche invented the "tiptronic" shifter -their engineers initially rebelled at putting an auto shift in a car that they had built around the max. horsepower to the wheels concept - but the public demanded the convenience). If you have family members who aren't adept gear shifters, forget about a clutch/geared tractor. Though GST would be OK for the technically challenged, I'd recommend an HST.
Note that I wanted all the power I could get for a small tractor, so took GST on a L3410 (same frame and weight as 3010, but more horsepower - darn close to the distinctly larger 3710HST - however, light tractors with lots of power need 4WD, and even then one runs out of traction before one is likely to run out of power).

 

[JATO_RaT]

Less expensive to purchase.
More power to the ground and PTO.
More reliable (subjective, I know )
More "tractor like" (very subjective)


Rob, some of these statements may apply to JD more then other brands. When I was looking at a L4610 Kubota, HST was less costly then GST. As far as reliability, this really is one that has applied to JD according to my local JD dealer. I was very close to considering a 4700 when he talked me out of it. He said until they figure out how to build an HST unit, stick with Kubota (he sells them as well.) No question that you get more power to the ground and PTO although in many instances the loss is very small with HST. Tractor like, hmm, won't even comment on that other then to say bring your manual tranny over, lets move some dirt and see who can get it done faster. Rat...

 

[sherbs]

At age 18, Gear Shift was cool. At 40, HST Rules!

 

[frank_f15]

AH! HAH! I WAS JUST GOING TO ADDRESS THE AGE FACTOR. drove many tractors with gears no problem, but as i got older, it got harder(shifing i mean)/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif . for me now the hst is the only way to go, do u lose some power ? yep, do i care? nope. just like the ease of the hst, at age 60 my legs and arms had a tough time with the hd clutch and no powersterring.