HST vs shuttle

[Skip77]

Being new to the HST (meaning I know nothing about them) I have some questions for those who know more than I do. I was raised up running tractors from the age of 5 or 6 and was running my dads tractor solo around that age. I have only operated old school manual transmission tractors or a shuttle shift manual tractor so I have no real world experience with a HST. I have heard that the HST can and do lose power as they age do to the hydraulics weakening over time. I have even heard that it starts as early as 6 or 7 years old. I have been looking at and researching different tractors as I will be needing to buy one soon. I have almost 40 acres that is mostly pasture and mostly a hillside. I will be mowing, possibly putting up hay as well as feeding it in the winter. I will need to perform upkeep on the road and haul rocks. I would like to get a backhoe attachment for running water, electric lines as needed or just digging drainage or digging new cattleguard ditches. I also have a pond that I will be draining and cleaning out at some point. With all this in mind I would like your opinions and real life experiences to help me decide if a shuttle or a HST tractor is right for my needs. Once that is established we will then get into size and brand talks.

Thank you

Skip

 

[arrow]

If you are not pulling heavy weight or using ground engaging implements, you'll thank everyone who tells you to get a hydro. And this is coming from a once diehard gear guy.

 

[teg]

...I have heard that the HST can and do lose power as they age do to the hydraulics weakening over time...

Never heard that before and pretty sure is not true.

 

[ProjectKing]

For operation your size I would get shuttle shift or power shift. You are gonna need a 50 plus HP tractor.

Hydro is good for loader work. But for heavy PTO work like hay and mowing shuttle is my choice. I have both.

 

[oldnslo]

Properly maintained a HST should operate for 3000 + hours with little power loss. Yes if not maintained these can be a big power loss.

Unless you are doing a lot of work requiring significant speed changes the shuttle shift is a better choice.

Significant speed changes or a lot of slow precise movements is where HST's shine.

 

[marchanna]

A lot of the HST’s have cruise control now also. So you can set the speed just like with a shuttle.

I have a shuttle. I like it. I don’t feel any need for an HST.

 

[LouNY]

I went with a power shuttle, what I miss the most is a shift on the go, like a TA or Hydra-power.

 

[Skip77]

For operation your size I would get shuttle shift or power shift. You are gonna need a 50 plus HP tractor.

Hydro is good for loader work. But for heavy PTO work like hay and mowing shuttle is my choice. I have both.

I was thinking a 55 or 65 hp would be my best choice but I have noticed a pretty good price difference between the 2. I would be doing dirt work probably the most at first but once that’s out of the way it will mostly be mowing, plowing and tilling a garden and hay work just basics small farm work. This may be a dumb question but what’s a power shift? I have been told that if I get synchronized gears then I would be able to shift on the fly. Is that true?

Thanks

Skip

 

[LouNY]

I was thinking a 55 or 65 hp would be my best choice but I have noticed a pretty good price difference between the 2. I would be doing dirt work probably the most at first but once that’s out of the way it will mostly be mowing, plowing and tilling a garden and hay work just basics small farm work. This may be a dumb question but what’s a power shift? I have been told that if I get synchronized gears then I would be able to shift on the fly. Is that true?

Thanks

Skip

It may be synchronized but with any kind of drawbar load it won't shift like a truck you will be able to go up a gear or two if you are roading it around but pulling hard as soon as you clutch you will be basically restarting in what ever gear you went to, unless you were to try and change gears while going downhill with a load which could easily result in a run away and whole lot of pucker factor.
A power shift is a transmission that acts similar to a manually shifted automatic only they usually are comprised numerous wet clutch packs and or planetary gearsets. A lot of older ag tractors had a shift on the go auxiliary that was a 1/3 or so of a gear change, it was nice for head land turns or hitting a hard spot doing tillage, hauling loads up hill or just slowing down a bit for any reason the going back to your main gear. IH had TA's torque amplifier, Oliver had Hydra-power then Hydra-shifts, AC had the PD power director and so on.

 

[DK35vince]

I have been told that if I get synchronized gears then I would be able to shift on the fly. Is that true?

Yes, I have an 8/8 synchronized transmission.
I can shift on the go, forward or reverse.
I need to stop to change ranges.