I had the manual on the 2305 and disliked it. There were pieces you had to take on/off with the 3pt arms when removing/adding the backhoe and I didn't like the hassle. So when it came time to upgrade to a 1026R, I got the hydraulic option (and that lasted less than a week).
Having the hydraulic was an extra plug I had to wrangle in that tighly packed zone with the FEL disconnects (and keep out of the muck). Additionally on the 1026R the manual lift is always there and is no additional work. If you lock the lift arms up after you lift them then the 3pt is completely free. Because of this you won't have an issue unless you want to adjust the mower at the exact same time as adjusting the 3pt. Which really isn't an issue.
As was said above, this is a personal choice and both options do the job fine. In the end though I just couldn't see a real situation where the hydraulic provided me something extra, it cost more, and it actually added a bit of hassle. This is one situation where experience with the 2XXX setups really didn't apply to the 1026R. I spoke with my dealer the day of the delivery when all this came home to me and they agreed. They now don't recommend that option as a "hassle remover" like they do on the 2XXX tractors and the exchanged it for the manual for me (crediting the difference). Things like that are why I think so highly of dealer... Above and beyond.