Hydrostatic or Gear - Which is better?

GlueGuy · Apr 23, 2001

Hey Dude!

Make it up to the property? Get any seat time? How wet was it up there? I got an hour or so of seat time myself (between other stuff).

The GlueGuy

gordon · Apr 23, 2001

Harv you know as well as I it just hasn't been the same around here without his wit./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Your right about the warming up-------its showtime.

Gordon

Harv · Apr 23, 2001

Make it up to the property?

Yup! By the time we got there, the snow was gone and things even "looked" dry. They weren't, of course, so I was forced to wage battle against the weeds with my Solo backpack sprayer again. Actually, I've almost convinced myself that a 3-pt sprayer wouldn't be worth it. So much of what I have to spray is around boulders, trees and on very uneven ground that I would wind up with the backpack sprayer anyway. Besides, it only took me 5 hours of lugging that thing over several acres. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Now, I'm not saying I was desperate to find some excuse to fire up the tractor, but when it was getting close to the time we had to pack up and leave, I looked at the now empty coke can in my hand and said aloud, "Now, how am I going to crush this?" /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Good enough!!! I fired her up, let her come up to temperature (don't want to attack a coke can without happy hydraulics) and approached the can sitting on a nice firmly packed section of our gravel road. After lining up and leveling the bucket as carefully as I could (actually got off the tractor to double check), I delicately lowerd the boom on the unsuspecting vessel. The 800-lb bucket did it's job, creating a flat circle of aluminum that precisely conformed to the gravel beneath. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Then, not to waste the moment, I took my 'Bota for a pure joy ride. Had to stick to the seasoned gravel roads (wouldn't want to have to whip out the pressure washer for this short jaunt), but the weather had turned beautiful and it felt really good to feel that massive (27 /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif) horsepower throbbing beneath my feet. Passersby on the main road looked befuddled to see an (apparently) grown man driving in circles around the daffodil patch, grinning ear to ear! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

I know it's good to get the juices flowing (the tractor's, that is) before it sits for too long, so I had to do something. Right? /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

GlueGuy · Apr 23, 2001

I looked at the now empty coke can in my hand

Which brings to mind the subject for a new thread: "Totally trivial uses for a tractor" /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif. I know now why when I start getting a little err, aggressive, or maybe just a little antsy. My wife says something like; "You need to go out on your tractor!"

Just another reason I married that smart woman! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

The GlueGuy

Anonymous Poster · Apr 23, 2001

Mark,

Was down at my dealers to do some "weight-studies"(report coming). This involved taking my hydro-tractor/implements (in every possible combination) across the busy-highway in front of the dealer, and down about a block-or-2 to the "weigh-station" for big trucks. It has a digital-readout scale with nice big numerals on a post outside(always on!).

So, here I am, all revved-up for my first trip across, waiting for my chance. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

There's a hole, ...Go! ... GO!! ... GO NOW!! (Traffic is closing FAST!)(SERIOUS grip on steering wheel with hands, ...SERIOUS grip on seat with something-else) /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif
gooooooooooooOOOOOOO!! (BEEP! -BEEP!) WHEW!!!

Lesson # 1 for this tractor newbie, ...time (and speed and noise) is relative! (all my previous "tractorin" had been around the dealer's yard @ 5mph, or so.) /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

All that noise in my ears, from that "revved" engine did NOT translate into burning-rubber (or anything like-it!). Guess a tractor is not a GTO.

Or should I have been drivin' a "gear" tractor /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif ??

With this bit of OJT (Scotd 1, you there?) I applied my new-found knowledge to the 10-12 remaining "crossings" and made them without incident.

But I was left-wondering what dumb-newbie thing I'll do next!? /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Larry

frank_f15 · Apr 23, 2001

HARV,HARV,HARV! WAIT TILL U GET TO BE MY AGE! u will surely love the hydo /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif no shifting, no foot work, and just plain easier for us old folk /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif.after all us senior citizens (59) got a right to vote also.

Harv · Apr 24, 2001

WAIT TILL U GET TO BE MY AGE!

Seeing as how I have a birthday coming in less than 2 weeks, I won't need HST for 6 more years! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Fact is, I believe that the majority of the folks on this board are sold on HST, and I knew I was stirring the pot by speaking up on the side of gear grinders. Kinda surprised there hasn't been more opposition showing up on this thread.

Don't tell anybody, Frank, but I also believe that when I finally do try the hydro, I will fall prey to its charms as so many have already testified. My goal at this point is to make sure I don't try it until I can afford it. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Oh, and BTW, GlueGuy -- Hayden fired up a thread back around the turn of the century about the ridiculous uses of tractors. You might enjoy reading that one. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

GlueGuy · Apr 24, 2001

Hayden fired up a thread back around the turn of the century about the ridiculous uses of tractors

I just checked that out Harv, and your "coke can" adventure is missing! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif I guess I could add the one about taking out the kitchen garbage bag with the FEL too. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

The GlueGuy

JATO_RaT · Apr 26, 2001

Can't you people see right through this phony imposter. This is not McChalkley. I'm convinced its JimBim. He's figured out how to get Mark's password and in no time you will all be yaking about your mighty TC's. I can't believe you of all people Bird and Harv are so easily fooled. Rat...

MChalkley · Apr 27, 2001

Harv - Good to hear from you! I've had DT and GST Kubotas (as well as the current HST), and I never minded shifting the gears at all. That's not why I prefer the HST - it's not convenience, but control, speed and safety.

I know what you mean about being a gear freak - my car is a diesel VW 5-speed, and my truck is a diesel Dodge 6-speed. The only thing I own that I don't want a manual gearbox in is my tractor. You can't compare tractors to other vehicles in this area. I think you ought to wipe the slate clean and try an HST doing some real work sometime - next time you're in VA, come play with mine for a while. I think you'll see what I mean. I can't claim any great intelligence in discovering HST's advantages in these areas, though. I have to confess that I originally decided to go with an HST for safety reasons (I frequently work on jobs with 200-300 hundred people milling around), and I backed into (no pun intended) all the other advantages.

Hey, Rat! Are you still positive this isn't me? What would you know, anyway? People with Michelins on their tractor don't have any sense! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

MarkC

MChalkley · Apr 27, 2001

Larry - When do we get to read more about the "weight studies"? Sounds interesting...

MarkC

MChalkley · Apr 27, 2001

GlueGuy - As for my reputation preceeding me, I'm a little unsure of what to think of that. I do know there's some incredibly nice guys who hang around this board, so that accounts for most of it. I'd like to think I earned some of it, but "deserve" is probably a better word - as in "deserve what I get" or "what goes around comes around". Of course, Harv's comment about the reputation exceeding me may be the most accurate assessment of all - but Harv is also a generous recipient of the "what goes around comes around" principle... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

As for your response to the question of whether gear or hydrstatic is broken, "it depends" - on what? Whether the HST has fluid in it or not? /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

MarkC

Harv · Apr 27, 2001

next time you're in VA, come play with mine

You're on, Mark! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Next time we're driving up to the property, I'll see how the family feels about a 6,000 mile detour. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Billc · Apr 27, 2001

Ahhhh, Mark......mmmmm.....wellllll....Harv is a great guy and all.........but is it such a good idea to say to a guy from California "Come play with mine"? /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Good to see you back.

Bill Cook

cowboydoc · Apr 27, 2001

One more thing that hasn't been mentioned on the hydrostat. Do they have cruise control like the lawn mowers do? If not and you're going to be on one all in the field your foot and leg is going to get awful tired pushing the hydro pedal all day. I know on my old lawn mower it didn't have the cruise on the hydro and your leg would get sore just from pushing that thing straight for two or three hours. I can't imagine how it would be all day in the field. Also I couldn't live without brake steering. Finally if you're planting, fertilizing etc. it's going to be pretty hard to keep her at a constant speed with the hydro without cruise, so you're going to get more or less on your field or pasture, etc. without the constant of a specific gear.

MChalkley · Apr 27, 2001

Cowboydoc - All of the HST tractors I've seen do have "cruise control". Some have the brake pedals on the same side as the HST pedal, though, so it's difficult to do brake turning unless the cruise is on, in which case you're usually going fast enough or in a tricky enough situation that it can't be but, uh, I digress...

Billc - Funny (sorry) you should mention that, but I thought about rephrasing that sentence, then thought "Nah, it's just because of what happened the other day." You see, I was in a strange mall (my wife and I are up in MD for a little getaway to celebrate our 20th anniversary), and I went into a barber shop (though they don't call them that anymore) for a haircut. I asked if they had someone who could do it right then and the girl said "Sure, George is available." To which I replied "George may be available, but unless it's short for Georgina, he ain't cuttin' my hair." Then I saw George. Strictly very light in the loafers. What I can't figure out is why George in a real barber shop is normal, but George in a "hair salon", or whatever they call them nowadays, is almost certainly anything but.

MarkC

GlueGuy · Apr 27, 2001

whether gear or hydrstatic is broken

I think my "depends" comment was in regard to which was better, not broken. It's clear that a lot of what a tractor is typically used for lends itself well to the HST. However, there are still applications where the gear drive might be a better choice.

Back to you Chet.

The GlueGuy