new to tractors...please help

[Bird]

Fruitlady, I'll have to admit that I don't even know how long the HST transmissions have been around, I don't know how long they'll last, and I'm not a mechanic. But from what little I understand about them, and from what I've been told, I expect it to last without as much repairs as a geared tractor. Sure going to be disappointed if it doesn't./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif You know there was a time when the same questions came up about automatic transmissions in cars instead of manual. And I guess the debate continues to some extent, but in severe service, such as police cars, I think everyone now knows that repair costs are cheaper with the automatic than they are with the manual transmissions. And of course, a great deal depends on the operator and maintenance. You can break anything if you try hard enough.

Bird

 

[Thomas]

Fruitlady,
If anybody can explain the pros and cons of HST Bird can. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

I did notice your email address...@virginia.edu...do you work at college etc...for even Dartmouth College...@dartmouth.edu use the same edu.

Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Fruitlady]

Thomas, to support my orchard habit I work about 4 months of the year at the University of Virginia, doing research on rat and mouse testicles. So that actually makes me the Fruits and Nuts Lady.

 

[Thomas]

I understand what kind of work you do,for at Dartmouth animal research {rats & mice & primates} one would be at oz if they really knew what went on instead of what they hear third hand.
To be honest..small fraction of the experiments in the way there handle research I disagree with,but I also realize there a need.

If your ever around Hanover,NH and interested in Dartmouth research,email me @Dartmouth.EDU and maybe a tour can be given.

Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Thomas]

I believe John Deere 4600 offers hydrostatic, 3 range [HST] also Kubota L4310 & L4610 3 range [HST] around the 40 horse power line.

Thomas..NH /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Fruitlady]

Thanks for the invitation, Thomas, but I'd probably be more interested in seeing your tractor than your research. I've come to agree with my libertarian friends, that no where in the Constitution does it say we can force people working hard to pay taxes to support our curiosity. Maybe I'm just showing burnout after 20 years, but I sure feel more satisfaction from seeing what Punkin, my M4700, can accomplish on my little piece of land, than from thinking about the contributions I have made toward scientific progress.
Thank you all, and especially Mohammed, for being there--I've been lurking here for a year now, since I was looking at what tractor to buy and searched the Web to see what information was out there and found you all. The information has been tremendously helpful, and my coworkers are always looking over my shoulder to see what I'm laughing at now--we especially enjoyed the stuck tractors thread and pictures. To me this site is the best thing on the Web. Farmers were never able to share information like this before.

 

[Harv]

<font color=blue>doing research on rat and mouse testicles. So that actually makes me the Fruits and Nuts Lady</font color=blue>

Now there's an occupational sense of humor you don't see every day. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Do me a favor, FruitLady -- be very careful when you design your signature pict. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

I'm really glad you finally came out of the shadows. I'm curious to hear more about Punkin, since we don't have too many M-classers here. Maybe you can teach us a few things. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Alan L.]

MChalkley, you made some good points, but you left out the most important benefit of an HST - safety /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[jfakerj]

ZZ

I just recently went through the exact same thing as you are going through now. I started with the China tractors and then moved to the big 3 or 4. I looked several different tractors with different gearing. I was very uneasy about spending the extra money for the hst. Now the I have my JD 4300hst, I don't think I'd have been happy with any but hst. The difference is really unbelievable.

Jerry

 

[mbjacobs]

My local rental outfit swears by HST. Much more reliable and harder to abuse. They were consantly replacing clutches with the gear tractors.

Maury Jacobs