HST help

[mgraham112]

I'm still in search of my newer tractor and I wanted to help alleviate my concerns over HST, at least as how I vision what HST is actually like overall.

I like being able to stick the tractor in gear and look behind me to watch the dirt turn or whatever- is having HST and having to keep a constant pressure on the pedal a big PITA..???
It also seems that going over somewhat rough terrain would cause you to pulsate the pedal when hitting a bump.. is this accurate?
Do people actually mow acres upon acres while holding down the pedal.... ?

From where I am at now, shuttle shift is definitely the way to go unless all my concerns are ill informed. Please advise.

 

[s219]

I'm still in search of my newer tractor and I wanted to help alleviate my concerns over HST, at least as how I vision what HST is actually like overall.

I like being able to stick the tractor in gear and look behind me to watch the dirt turn or whatever- is having HST and having to keep a constant pressure on the pedal a big PITA..???
It also seems that going over somewhat rough terrain would cause you to pulsate the pedal when hitting a bump.. is this accurate?
Do people actually mow acres upon acres while holding down the pedal.... ?

From where I am at now, shuttle shift is definitely the way to go unless all my concerns are ill informed. Please advise.

I have never had those issues at all. However, you haven't mentioned any reasons/uses why you'd even consider HST. For stuff like mowing and/or ground engagement work, may as well go with gear or shuttle. To me the main benefit for HST is loader work or grading work where there are a lot of rapid direction changes and you want your hands on the wheel and loader/other controls rather than fussing with a shift lever.

 

[mgraham112]

The use will be split between mowing 15 acres, planting/plowing 3 acres and a small garden and the numerous utility tasks with the loader. It sounds like shuttle is the way to go for sure. Thanks for helping me narrow the selection down.

 

[Shift4200]

I have no trouble holding my HST pedals forward or reverse. After a few minutes you hardly even notice the fact that you're doing it.

I haven't had any issues with pulsing in rough terrain... even when I get knocked around it seems to hold steady. I do mow with mine, but mine has a "cruise control" lever that will hold the HST pedal wherever it was when engaged, I assume this is pretty typical.

I do like how my tractor will stop the instant I lift my foot off the HST. That small difference in stopping time (vs lifting foot to depress a clutch pedal) came in handy a few times where trouble was headed my way. Could be all my imagination.

I also like that i have infinite speeds available to me at all times. This makes it easy to slow down and ease into/out of a tight spot.

-J

 

[Grandad4]

I'm still in search of my newer tractor and I wanted to help alleviate my concerns over HST, at least as how I vision what HST is actually like overall.

I like being able to stick the tractor in gear and look behind me to watch the dirt turn or whatever- is having HST and having to keep a constant pressure on the pedal a big PITA..???
It also seems that going over somewhat rough terrain would cause you to pulsate the pedal when hitting a bump.. is this accurate?
Do people actually mow acres upon acres while holding down the pedal.... ?

From where I am at now, shuttle shift is definitely the way to go unless all my concerns are ill informed. Please advise.

Do people drive miles and miles with their foot on the gas pedal? The HST action on my equipment is EXACTLY the same as that. Folks new to HST operation sometimes try to put their whole foot on the pedal and, yes, that's a way to get an erratic ride. The key is using it more like the accelerator, with your heel on the floor and a slight push of the toes to go forward. You'd have to be going really fast over some bumpy ground for a pulsating pedal to be a problem. When you want to back up, you either set your foot on the floor and press with your heel or move your foot over and press the reverse pedal, depending on which pedal setup the tractor has.

 

[George2615]

I have no problem with HST but the tractor has cruise control so I don't have to hold the pedal. Some tractors have a cruise control lever and some have electronic cruise control, some don't have cruise. IMO HST is far better for doing lots of loader work (a lot of forward and reverse without having to shift). A shuttle may be better for ground engaging work such as plowing. I don't do any field plowing but wouldn't hesitate to try it with HST and cruise. I'm sure many others use HST for plowing also.

 

[astrohip]

I like being able to stick the tractor in gear and look behind me to watch the dirt turn or whatever- is having HST and having to keep a constant pressure on the pedal a big PITA..???
It also seems that going over somewhat rough terrain would cause you to pulsate the pedal when hitting a bump.. is this accurate?
Do people actually mow acres upon acres while holding down the pedal.... ?

I bought my first tractor with HST last summer, after several with more traditional gearing. Absolutely love it. The freedom of no clutch, and being able to go back/forth by simply using pedals (and no clutch or gear-shift) is great.

Having said that... I had cruise control added to mine, maybe a $150 option. I could not imagine using this without the cruise. It's exactly what you mention, having to keep constant pressure on a pedal is a PITA. Cruise makes it a dream.

 

[phiferpharm]

20 Acres, lots of mowing, raking, loader work. Owned a gear tractor, bought a tractor with HST, would NEVER return to a gear or shuttle shift..Have cruise control, rarely use it. Worse problem is that I occasionally hit the key with my knee and turn off the tractor.

 

[mgraham112]

Now I'm back to the drawing board. It's nice to know that there is a cruise control option, now I just need to narrow down the tractors that have that option.

 

[TripleR]

Grandad4 makes a good point, while I often use cruise control on my HST, I also often use the foot throttle on my geared tractors.