How long have CUT's had hydro's

   / How long have CUT's had hydro's #1  

Kodiak

Platinum Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2002
Messages
874
Location
Monroe,Washington
Tractor
New holland TC29-9x3 Woods 1012 FEL, Woods, 7500 Backhoe / Kubota L345DT 4WD, Kub FEL, Kub Backhoe
How long have CUT\'s had hydro\'s

When I bought my first compact utility tractor (not even sure they used that moniker back then) in 1979. It was a Kubota L345DT(by the way I still have it) with a non synchro gear tranny. I bought this configuration because it was the option available back then. Even models with shuttle shifts didn't start showing up for a couple of years. So when did hydro's start becoming available in mass? I know there was a few oddballs and one off types running around, but when did the major manufacturers start offering them to the public?

I would also like to know how many of you out there today, that beleive that hydro's are the only way to go. Would still have bought a CUT if that tecnology wasn't available today?
 
   / How long have CUT's had hydro's #2  
Re: How long have CUT\'s had hydro\'s

Oh thanks Russ,
Now I have to hear how much better and safer the hydro's are again !!!!
 
   / How long have CUT's had hydro's #3  
Re: How long have CUT\'s had hydro\'s

<font color=blue>Would still have bought a CUT if that tecnology wasn't available today? </font color=blue>

I think if hydros weren't available, everyone here would be driving gear machines.
 
   / How long have CUT's had hydro's #4  
Re: How long have CUT\'s had hydro\'s

Darn. Just today I took a reference book back to the office so a bud there could use it. My second tractor is a Ford 1210 w/HST I bought about ten years ago. It was around ten years old then. I think HST's were fairly common when that one was built almost 20 years ago.

Around here, the term CUT is one I only noticed recently. Most of the people I converse with have been calling them "compact diesels" when referring to them using a generic term. 8N's, Cubs (not Cadets) and the like are often called "small farm tractors" when classifying them as a group.

The first few years after we built, a Cub 154 LoBoy was what we used. I didn't mind the gear tranny at all, since the only HST I had used at that point was my Dad-in-law's little garden tractor. It had the HST control on a stick you operated with your hand, and it was a pain. One of the reasons I wanted to replace the Cub was that it lacked a 3PH. It had a belly mower and a front blade. You had to remove one to install the other and that took several hours.

When I went shopping for a replacement, I was looking for a small farm tractor. One dealer had the Ford upstairs (yes, upstairs) in his building and only told me about it after another salesman reminded him it was there. He took me up to look at it, and asked me if I wanted to take it for a spin. I said why not, but where? He started it up, drove it to the freight elevator, and we rode down in the elevator with the tractor idling.

That was my first experience with a pedal-operated HST. It was love at first drive. The HST allowed me to vary the speed in turns and provided an infinitely adjustable speed. Often with the Cub I had found myself riding the clutch when making a sharp turn, and there were times when there was no perfect gear for the speed I wanted to use while mowing. The HST on my Kubota is much smoother than on the Ford. It is really nice for inching into something like when attaching and removing the FEL and 3PH stuff. It's also nice for snow removal. Since the Ford doesn't have a FEL, snow removal has been via a rear scraper blade. With one hand on the suicide knob, the other on the 3PH control and one foot going back and forth on the HST pedal you can move a lot of snow............chim
 
   / How long have CUT's had hydro's #5  
Re: How long have CUT\'s had hydro\'s

Wolbert,

Safer....The safety factor rides on the seat. I don't know how either transmission style can be considered safer....but I may soon be corrected !!!

As far as better, I'd have to say Simpler and Easier. For a lot of us, we are part time operators and also encourage our wives or significant others to work with us on the projects using the tractor. I've got to say that the hydro is a lot easier for a newbie to master and is much more forgiving. No experience required as to which gear at what time. If you feel your too fast ... let up a bit on the peadal.

When I was shopping I had my mind set on a gear tranny. The wife really liked the ease of the hydro. Over the past few months, I have really learned to like it too !!

I don't think one style is BETTER than the other...it has more to do with the application.
 
   / How long have CUT's had hydro's #6  
Re: How long have CUT\'s had hydro\'s

<font color=blue>beleive that hydro's are the only way to go. Would still have bought a CUT if that tecnology wasn't available today</font color=blue>

Of course most of us would have; you go with what's best for your use, what's available, and what you can afford. I'm old enough to remember my dad using a team of mules, but I sure wouldn't want to myself nor would I recommend that to most TBN members today./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif And my first tractor experience was a two cylinder gasoline, 2WD, hand cranked, non-synchromesh 3-speed transmission John Deere. Dad and I thought it was just unbelievably great compared to those mules./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif And of course my first car was a vacuum shift, manual transmission Chevrolet. It was great, too, and was "loaded"; i.e., had an AM radio and heater, but not what I'd recommend or want today./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif And we used to live in a house with no running water (well with a bucket, rope, and pulley), had an outhouse out back, but we were better off than some of our neighbors; we had an LPG cookstove and electric lights in the house. I think you see the point.

Now as for when the HST first became available, I have no idea, but don't really want to go back to the way things used to be./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif
 
   / How long have CUT's had hydro's #7  
Re: How long have CUT\'s had hydro\'s

<font color=blue>...I think you see the point...</font color=blue>

Hi Bird...

Excellent... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
 
   / How long have CUT's had hydro's #8  
Re: How long have CUT\'s had hydro\'s

<font color=blue>"I would also like to know how many of you out there today, that beleive that hydro's are the only way to go. Would still have bought a CUT if that tecnology wasn't available today?"</font color=blue>

As you may know, I don't have my CUT - yet. And I've said that I won't buy anything that doesn't have a hydro.

However, this is based on the intended use I have for the tractor. In my case, I expect to be using it in a commercial application, and on a day-to-day basis, I could be experiencing very different working conditions. I feel I will need to have the flexibility that a hydro would provide.

Although I think I would still get a hydro if the CUT was just going to be used on a personal basis, I can understand, and even find attractive, the shuttle shifts or even straight gear operated CUTS. Those provide a dollar savings as compared to the same size CUT with a hydro, and don't take as many hp away as do the hydros.

I don't think we'll ever see gear operated machines disappear. They are ideal for many applications, and will probably always be available at a lower cost than the comparable hydro. And you know what? This is an advantage to you and me. Because it gives us a wider range of choices and allows us to get what exactly what we want and/or need. Sure, hydros will probably always be the bigger sellers, but I like the idea of having some choices, and depending on my circumstances, I would purchase a gear machine. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
 
   / How long have CUT's had hydro's #9  
Re: How long have CUT\'s had hydro\'s

HST was slow to make it to the market place because it is nowhere near as effecient as a gear tranny. Specifically the "clashbox" unsynchronized shift or synchromesh gets the most power to the ground. Period. This is also why it is unlikely you will see larger HST tractors anytime soon.

I had planned on getting a JD4700 with gear trans. but the NH TC45D had a lot more room on the operators station so I went with it. I did not really consider the NH gear tranny beacuse the HST platform was a lot nicer. If I were getting a larger tractor I would definetly go gear. If I were getting another compact I would have to decide then. The HST has a lot of advantages but the clashbox can not be beat in fieldwork.

JT
 
   / How long have CUT's had hydro's #10  
Re: How long have CUT\'s had hydro\'s

"This is also why it is unlikely you will see larger HST tractors anytime soon"

Deere 1050C dozer...324 HP...75,000#...hydrostatic transmission ???

I think its more an issue of marketing...Big tractor buyers like clutches !!!
 
 
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