Safety of a HST

[Rockyridge]

In a number of discussions of the value of HST versus gear trans tractors I don稚 recall ever reading much discussion of the safety of HST versus gear tractor.

I needed to turn my tractor around in the woods the other day on an old logging road. I have done that before with a gear tractor and found it much easier and I felt safer with the HST. For any that may not be familiar with logging roads, they are oftentimes dirt roads bulldozed along the side of a hill, of minimal width.

Turning around often involves negotiating going back and forth across the road several times until you get turned around. This can be especially difficult when you need to backup as close to the edge of the road as you can to get turned around. Doing this with a gear tractor requires a certain amount of skill, pushing the clutch in while holding the break and shifting gears and then balancing the clutch release with break release at the same time and turning the steering wheel, each time that you need to change direction. With the HST you can 祖reep back as far as youæ±*e comfortable, turn the steering wheel with the pedal in the middle holding the tractor from going back, and then simply pushing the pedal forward. Much safer!!

Comments??

[john_bud]

For 99% of the casual users a HST transmission is the better choice.

There are lots of +'s for the HST but a few -'s too.

1) You can get off the tractor and stand next to it on the right and by hand make it creep forward or backward (like to hook up a big heavy 3pt attachment). That's a way to get hurt!

2) You can stand up, face backward, steer, lean over and look at the 3pt arms while you control movement with your left heal. Also a way to get hurt.

(Not that I've done either! Just to point out that every system has ways you can use it to hurt yourself!)

[Bird]

Yep, Larry, I've mentioned the safety factor a number of times, although not everyone agreed with me. In my opinion, the HST is considerably safer for everyone, and especially so for new operators. I've mentioned in the past about when my brother-in-law was backing his old Ford and brush hog into the sheet metal "barn" or shed where he stored it. His shoes were wet from walking in wet grass, his foot slipped off the clutch, and he punched his brush hog right through the back wall of his shed. No injuries, but a bit of damage that would not likely have happened with HST.

[PAB_OH]

I agree. I never thought it would be so, but after about 30 hours on it now I can see the safety benefits. It offers much more precise control than I was able to attain with my old gear tractor.

I can "feather" the HST pedal in low range and creep right up to the edge or around obstacles.

I'm sold.

[offcamber]

Originally Posted by john_bud

For 99% of the casual users a HST transmission is the better choice.

There are lots of +'s for the HST but a few -'s too.

1) You can get off the tractor and stand next to it on the right and by hand make it creep forward or backward (like to hook up a big heavy 3pt attachment). That's a way to get hurt!

2) You can stand up, face backward, steer, lean over and look at the 3pt arms while you control movement with your left heal. Also a way to get hurt.

(Not that I've done either! Just to point out that every system has ways you can use it to hurt yourself!)

I think most HST tractors have a seat switch that will kill the engine if the operater is not seated. I know my BX 24 does...

[Bird]

Originally Posted by offcamber

I think most HST tractors have a seat switch that will kill the engine if the operater is not seated. I know my BX 24 does...

I have no idea how many do and how many do not have such a kill switch, but neither my 1995 B7100 nor my 1999 B2710 had one. And while I can understand their value in certain circumstances, I was glad that my tractors did not have one. I had a Cub Cadet "lawn tractor" (riding mower) that had such a switch and I disconnected it.

[Berniep]

MY @# has a safety switch on the seat that will kill the engine if the pedal is depressed a certain amount. It still allows me to move the tractor slowly by pressing the pedal just a little bit. Not that I have done this either, especially not when operating the backhoe and needing to move along the trench.

[Marcussen]

Originally Posted by john_bud

For 99% of the casual users a HST transmission is the better choice.

There are lots of +'s for the HST but a few -'s too.

1) You can get off the tractor and stand next to it on the right and by hand make it creep forward or backward (like to hook up a big heavy 3pt attachment). That's a way to get hurt!

If I do that on mine it will rock a little then the engine cuts out, you have to be seated in order to move the tractor with the HST pedal.

[Sully2]

Originally Posted by john_bud

For 99% of the casual users a HST transmission is the better choice.

There are lots of +'s for the HST but a few -'s too.

1) You can get off the tractor and stand next to it on the right and by hand make it creep forward or backward (like to hook up a big heavy 3pt attachment). That's a way to get hurt!

2) You can stand up, face backward, steer, lean over and look at the 3pt arms while you control movement with your left heal. Also a way to get hurt.

(Not that I've done either! Just to point out that every system has ways you can use it to hurt yourself!)

If that were true..whats the safety switch under the operators seat doing? If I try EITHER of those 2 moves...my engine dies!

[Sully2]

Originally Posted by Marcussen

If I do that on mine it will rock a little then the engine cuts out, you have to be seated in order to move the tractor with the HST pedal.

Same deal here!