HST Whining

mmoore58 · Mar 25, 2012

Just bought a B3300SU and never realized the extent of the whining noise while accelerating. Are all HST transmissions this way? I love everything about the tractor so far but the whining. I guess I'll get used to it.

bp fick · Mar 25, 2012

First, be sure your parking brake isn't on and that the transmission is in Lo.

This is the obvious stuff. After that? It is what it is. Some guys report the harmonics are amplified through the ROPS on some models and report success with foaming the ROPS to kill the transmission of the sound waves. Also, the nature of the HST is that if you push the pedal down hard, you aren't providing more energy, of course, but making the gearing even taller. It is a bit counter-intuitive, but forcing oneself of the habit of mashing the HST pedal when wanting "more" takes some time to break.

Yes, you'll get used to the noise, somewhat.

k0ua · Mar 25, 2012

Also the smaller the tractor the louder the whine, for some reason. The whine decreases slightly as the tractor breaks in. The lower the range you operate in the lower the whine volume will be. And finally some whine more than others.

James K0UA

TripleR · Mar 25, 2012

In addition to proper range selection, be sure you are running your engine fast enough to produce good power or you will get more whine with more pedal. Remember, the further down you press the HST pedal the higher your "gearing" will be. Too much pedal with too little power and you are going to get more whine.

Every HST I have driven has some whine; nature of the beast.

Edit: Just saw bp addressed it.

mmoore58 · Mar 25, 2012

Thanks for the information. I did not know those things. I have been depressing the pedal because I thought it would do more. I'm fixing to go get on it and try the things mentioned above. I will let you know. Thanks again.

s219 · Mar 25, 2012

When I hear it whine, it's a clue that I am either in too high of a gear, or I need to back off on the HST pedal a bit and/or increase engine RPMs.

Normally it's not an issue, but a few weeks ago I forgot to shift out of High after driving on the road, and got some pretty loud whining when moving a load of dirt with the front loader. Caught me by surprise, but then I realized I had never dropped back into Low when I should have.