Is e-hydro stout enough

SCDolphin · Mar 10, 2005

I had just about decided on Kubota when I took another look at JD4120 (the new 4000 series) I want to do some disking, bush-hog box blade and fel work. I went to several JD places and they said if I was plowing or disking that they did not recommend a hydro. I will be doing more fel work than the other but Kubota never had such advice. Does this mean the JD hydro is whimpy. I really don't want the e-reverser if I don't have too.
Any thoughts

Thanks

timb · Mar 10, 2005

Use the search feature here and you'll find far more posts than you'll ever want to read covering the hydro-vs-gear wars! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

The general reason the dealers may not recommend the hydro for heavy tillage use is you do lose some 'rear-wheel' power compared to gear (more than just the PTO numbers show) and the fear that you may overheat and potentially damage a hydro tranny in such duty. But since many here do use their hydro CUTs for small-area disk and plow use without issue - it's a matter of scale. Doing a garden? Not likely to be an issue. Doing the back 40 (or 100)? Could be.

Deere had some electronic gremlins early on, and I believe each of the other majors also have had their minor bugs. But bottom line, while there are legitimate differences in tranny type (gear or hydro) suitability for specific purposes I don't believe I've ever seen anyone post anything here to indicate that one color hydro is fundamentally more or less durable than any of the others.

dmp437 · Mar 10, 2005

How much discing? I pull a 10' JD KBA with the 4310 in A range and haven't had any problems. Heat buildup is the concern here, not parts breaking. Heat buildup on a 60 degree day is different than heat buildup on a 90 degree day and the eHydro's have a transmission cooler in front of the fan to help cool things down.

Cactus · Mar 10, 2005

( I went to several JD places and they said if I was plowing or disking that they did not recommend a hydro. )

The hydro will hold up fine and work fine,I know from lots of experience.

WhiteRock · Mar 10, 2005

If your worried that you might be over doing it, put a temp gauge on your hydraulic fluid and monitor it. As stated, most folks haven't had a problem. With a gauge you can be sure.

_RaT_ · Mar 10, 2005

After four years of using hydrostatic drive, I cannot get them to get to hot. I have days that hit 100 degrees and even using my boxscraper with all the rippers down full length and hours on end of ripping in low gear the hydrostatic is a marvel. My opinion is that hydrostatics are built well, at least in the brand I own which is all I have experience in.

SCDolphin · Mar 11, 2005

Thanks for the info. I had planned to disc about 30 acres.

Thanks

Dargo · Mar 11, 2005

I'll echo what Rat said. I've had hydro JDs and Kubotas. The only time I've ever had the temp go up in the transmission was when I was doing bush hogging. That was because I had a load of pollen, dirt, and seeds completely cover my radiator when I was in a hilly area and the ambient temp was in the upper 90's. Once I cleaned the radiator and the screen over it, the temps immediately went down. I've never had the trans temps go up enough to notice otherwise even when plowing, disking, and tilling. I'd have to assume that any decent hydro made should be able to do the same.