DT transmission Vs HST transmissions any drawbacks for longivity ?

[Bluegill2]

Branson is made in the USA in South Carolina, they are owned by a parent company in South Korea. Kind of like Samsung products that have taken over the TV, Phone, Refrigerator markets. Up close they are a stout looking tractor and I haven't found any bad reviews so far to warrant a change. Plus I like the color Red more then Orange.

I did a little research and found that Branson is a South Korean company and the tractors are made in Korea and shipped to the states partially assembled where they are completed. Never heard of them until now and of course the closest dealer is about 1000 miles away. That would be a bugger for parts.

What I figured, but was too lazy to look it up.:thumbsup:

 

[R43]

HST, Best in my book!

 

[Gary Fowler]

I didn't read thru this whole thread so it might have been mentioned already. Watch out for those package deals that include a trailer. Most times those trailers are utility trailers and are marginal at best for carrying the weight of tractor and equipment. One TBN member actually found that the trailer supplied with the package wasn't even rated for tractor alone and they were stacking on a tractor, box blade and bush hog. Just be aware of what some dealers are doing with the trailers. I suppose there is a big markup in utility trailers so dealers push them into a package deal which would be OK I suppose if it is a good heavy duty trailer (minimum 5200 # axles with brakes on all axles)with NEW E rated trailer tires and not used D rated passenger tires like I see on most advertisement.

 

[Bluegill2]

HST, Best in my book!

Not for me, but glad it works for you...

 

[GManBart]

Not for me, but glad it works for you...

You've posted that you like gear better 5-6 times in this thread already. Do you think it was overlooked that many times? Are you planning the same reply to everybody who says they prefer HST?

I like both, and have both....just depends what job I'm doing.

 

[mikehaugen]

I have gear... I like it. I may look for a hydro when it comes time to replace but I am not sure. I will most likely check out some kind of shuttle shift though- I used to drive a bucket loader with one in it, it seems like a good compromise between the two. You could drive in 3 or 4 and hit a pile and it would automatically drop to one.

Maybe I'll see what bluegill prefers

...sorry I couldn't resist.

 

[GManBart]

You could drive in 3 or 4 and hit a pile and it would automatically drop to one.

That's pretty much how you'd describe one of the HST+ features....auto hydro dual speed. It senses the decrease in engine RPM, and downshifts for you.

 

[dfkrug]

I can attest after owning 1 Gear and 2 Hydro tractors here, the Hydro tractors offer a
considerable advantage in safety when operating on this extremely hilly and dangerous terrain. As for the 30%
slope preventing pickup of fluid, I can say I have operated on slopes close to twice that steep (close to 30
degrees which is about 57% slope) without any difficulty of fluid pickup in my Kubota L3400hst and my Kioti
DK35se.

Yeah, I have used my Kioti on slopes in the 50+% range, and had no problems with starving the HST. BUT.
When doing so, with the tractor pointed uphill, and using the backhoe, I CAN starve the implement pump.
This is noticable when extending the boom and dipper when, at a certain point, the sump gets low enough
to suck air. BTW, that kinda slope is steep enough to have trouble staying in the hoe seat. I was often a
little low of fluid when this happened. Not an issue, really.

My tractor score is now 11 HSTs and 5 gear-drive units, 4 purchased new. I wrenched on all of them,
including clutch replacements and HST rebuilds. For my use here in the mtns, I prefer HSTs by far,
but I do not plow fields. I find the HSTs much safer with my slopes, and most of the guys I sell my
tractors to are newbies who need a lot of guidance. It is not so easy to sell a gear-drive CUT around
here anymore, esp since 2008.

To the OP's question, I am very confident that HSTs are very reliable, and potentially more reliable
than foot-operated dry clutch gear tractors. Not hard to repair at all. If I got another gear-drive
tractor, I would get an electrically-controlled wet clutch unit, like Kubota's GST. The GST
requires very little use of the foot clutch.

Before I bought my 1st tractor (gear-drive Kubota), I labored under the delusion that the HSTs
were too much of a risk in terms of repair costs and unknown reliability. After rebuilding a few
HSTs, I am now of the opposite opinion and place a much lower value on gear-drive used
tractors.

 

[Bluegill2]

You've posted that you like gear better 5-6 times in this thread already. Do you think it was overlooked that many times? Are you planning the same reply to everybody who says they prefer HST?

I like both, and have both....just depends what job I'm doing.

Yeah, I'll probably post it again...

 

[Ken Kegris]

HST works much better with a loader since you need the the high rpm for full hyd power. You dont need to slip the clutch when going into the pile. You would not need to shift into a higher gear for transport, to dump site just press further on the pedal. the old Hough loader had a cluth and a torque converter to help with the clutch wear.

Ken kegris kkegris@yahoo.com