BAGTIC
Silver Member
Has anyone had a chance to try one of the HST (hydrostatic drive) versions yet? If so, which one and what did you think?
HST?
- Thread starter BAGTIC
- Start date
I recently purchased a 3940HST and I am very happy with the tractor. I purchased the tractor with a FEL and have access to a bush hog for my 10 acre track. I will be purchasing a finish mower in the near future. The HST makes it easy to operate the tractor. Maybe my wife will like it and she will want to mow........You never know.
Maka
Veteran Member
I am a dealer but can give insight as a user of the 3940HST. We use that model as a rental unit and it has performed incredibly well. I have had a Leinbach 2 bottom plow on it several times and it did excellent, of course the ground was good. Mowers, disc's etc. work nicely and it just goes and goes.
I have tremendous faith in this tractor and its abilities. My rental customers are not easy on this machine and I get lots of praise and in fact one of my renters from last year just bought a tractor from us today.
I hope this helps.
Thanks,
Maka
I have tremendous faith in this tractor and its abilities. My rental customers are not easy on this machine and I get lots of praise and in fact one of my renters from last year just bought a tractor from us today.
I hope this helps.
Thanks,
Maka
Maka
Veteran Member
Oh yeah, we have a customer putting about 75 hours a month on the 3440 with probably 5 or 6 different users. The Daedong engine is smooth and the tractor is working hard with only one problem. They called me and said it would not start. I went out to their location and after checking it out found a stick ramed into the neutral safety switch.
They use a front mounted grapple on it and drive into large slash piles and this happened but that was nothing. They love the tractor so either hydro is excellent.
Maka
They use a front mounted grapple on it and drive into large slash piles and this happened but that was nothing. They love the tractor so either hydro is excellent.
Maka
montanaman
Gold Member
I'm another dealer so I drive them all 
The HST is a very nice unit and I have to be very carefull how I say this but it's a great choice for a tractor that will see a few of users, not all with a lot of tractor experience, like maybe a wife? Also a great tractor for rental because the dealer will make sure that the filters and fluid changes get done and there is a lot less chance of a renter messing up the HST than destroying a clutch in a gear drive.
They are also VERY handy for use where you are constantly making direction changes and speed changes. I've used them moving snow in tight areas and it's so simple it's boring!!
I've had some people look at the HST and think it will take away their manhood to not have a gear drive and others worry about the expense of repair but the unit is from Eaton Gear and should hold up great given proper fluid changes and filter changes!!
For my use, I can get by with gear or hydro just fine and the only drawback of the HST is that it isn't as efficient so keep that in mind when picking between the 3440 and 3940. As long as you get the one with the PTO HP you require, I think you'll love it!
Ken
The HST is a very nice unit and I have to be very carefull how I say this but it's a great choice for a tractor that will see a few of users, not all with a lot of tractor experience, like maybe a wife? Also a great tractor for rental because the dealer will make sure that the filters and fluid changes get done and there is a lot less chance of a renter messing up the HST than destroying a clutch in a gear drive.They are also VERY handy for use where you are constantly making direction changes and speed changes. I've used them moving snow in tight areas and it's so simple it's boring!!
I've had some people look at the HST and think it will take away their manhood to not have a gear drive and others worry about the expense of repair but the unit is from Eaton Gear and should hold up great given proper fluid changes and filter changes!!
For my use, I can get by with gear or hydro just fine and the only drawback of the HST is that it isn't as efficient so keep that in mind when picking between the 3440 and 3940. As long as you get the one with the PTO HP you require, I think you'll love it!
Ken
montanaman said:
I was lucky enough to get a NH TN70A with 8 x8 power shuttle. So I get no clutch forward/reverse and gear for everything else. In this way, both my manhood
and left leg are safe from injury. Sort of like HST + gears = power shuttleBob
Big_Charlie
Bronze Member
I'm currently borrowing a friend's JD955 for mowing my place and have found the HST to be invaluable. I used his JD4700 with pallet forks to pick up the pieces of a maple I cut down and the gears just made it harder when I was trying to wiggle the tractor into just the right spot to balance the weight of hollow, tapered logs on the forks. HST is definitely the way I'll be going when I buy my Montana.