DonaldP
Gold Member
YES!!!
This is probably what I needed to hear. I need to try a couple of things while mowing.
So in fact with the Auto-Throttle on the advanced HST Grand L model, when you press the pedal, the engine RPM increases just as it does in a car... Now what's perplexing me is this.....
With the HST in the Grand L, I choose what gear I'm in. L, M, or H.
From what I feel and know of the transmission in action, that's it, period. There is nothing happening in the background that can change what gear I'm in.
It does not downshift, or upshift automatically ... It doesn't change to a different power ratio via the rear end or the transmission in any format, whether I let off the pedal or not. Which is a paradigm shift (no pun intended) for understanding how these things might operate differently than older HST types. But I'm not sure. I only have my experience here.
BUT... I do have an alternative that I can use and that's the Fast-Slow Selector that's available at the pull of a switch (located next to the steering column where the turn signal might generally be) in each of the 3 speed ranges (L,M,H).
It seems I'm always in Fast, but can shift into Slow if I need additional torque at the wheels for a moment, or longer if I need to muscle something about or I'm heading up an incline.
I don't have to stop to change from Slow to Fast or vice-versa. Its on the fly as it seems to be only hydraulically managed and not a gearing change.
Important point : *** You know, I have not tried to move into slow setting to harness additional torque while mowing... ***
But I have done this when traveling on the highway at max speed (17 mph) in High range and then heading up a hill. The engine does bog down under the load of the hill in High Speed, so when the engine/trans drops to about 8mph going up the hill (with the pedal to the floor), I shift into Slow... and when I do that the engine revs up a bit, and the transmission kicks into more power, taking me up the hill without loosing much more speed. Once I near the top, I kick it back into Fast, and the engine/Trans has the ability to gain speed as I crest the hill and I'm back to 17mph.
So that basically the description of how I feel and see that HST working in an L series using Auto-Throttle.
This is probably what I needed to hear. I need to try a couple of things while mowing.
So in fact with the Auto-Throttle on the advanced HST Grand L model, when you press the pedal, the engine RPM increases just as it does in a car... Now what's perplexing me is this.....
With the HST in the Grand L, I choose what gear I'm in. L, M, or H.
From what I feel and know of the transmission in action, that's it, period. There is nothing happening in the background that can change what gear I'm in.
It does not downshift, or upshift automatically ... It doesn't change to a different power ratio via the rear end or the transmission in any format, whether I let off the pedal or not. Which is a paradigm shift (no pun intended) for understanding how these things might operate differently than older HST types. But I'm not sure. I only have my experience here.
BUT... I do have an alternative that I can use and that's the Fast-Slow Selector that's available at the pull of a switch (located next to the steering column where the turn signal might generally be) in each of the 3 speed ranges (L,M,H).
It seems I'm always in Fast, but can shift into Slow if I need additional torque at the wheels for a moment, or longer if I need to muscle something about or I'm heading up an incline.
I don't have to stop to change from Slow to Fast or vice-versa. Its on the fly as it seems to be only hydraulically managed and not a gearing change.
Important point : *** You know, I have not tried to move into slow setting to harness additional torque while mowing... ***
But I have done this when traveling on the highway at max speed (17 mph) in High range and then heading up a hill. The engine does bog down under the load of the hill in High Speed, so when the engine/trans drops to about 8mph going up the hill (with the pedal to the floor), I shift into Slow... and when I do that the engine revs up a bit, and the transmission kicks into more power, taking me up the hill without loosing much more speed. Once I near the top, I kick it back into Fast, and the engine/Trans has the ability to gain speed as I crest the hill and I'm back to 17mph.
So that basically the description of how I feel and see that HST working in an L series using Auto-Throttle.