Biggest HST Tractors out there

[flusher]

Who makes the biggest Hydro out there? I am looking possibly for a hydro that can run my 15' flex wing mower, which requires about 60 pto HP. I would also want an enclosed cab with AC. Does anybody make such an animal?

In the 1970s IH made the Farmall Hydro 100 tractor that had a true hydrostatic transmission

TractorData.com Farmall Hydro 100 tractor information

http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2528&context=tractormuseumlit

These babies had 104 pto hp, which should be plenty for your batwing. The trick is to find one of these and get it running. Sounds like a fun project.

 

[radman1]

Well, yes, but not with a PTO. Many skidsteers, track steers, and dozers
offer tons of hp, A/C cabs, and HST. Have you considered running the
mower with a hyd motor or a hyd PTO?

The CAT 226B is very nice and 75hp.

A hydraulic motor or hydraulic pto is not the answer. Hydraulic is way to inefficient. The flow rate and would have to be huge to get anywhere near 60 pto hp. Even then, it would work poorly. Still need the right machine to pull the 15' batwing-not a skidsteer, or dozer.

A quad shift (semi powershift) or full powershift gives on the go shifting either by moving a lever or pushing a button. The other option is IVT/CVT but then you are spending even more money for a larger tractor in the 125+ hp range.

 

[art]

It was brought up before but IH had the hydro years ago and I'd say the 100 hydro would be good but if you need a good quiet cab. A 186 hydro as well the last model 3488 series had a reasonably quiet cab with air and would handle what you need.

 

[radman1]

Be careful with an IH hydro. Nice when they work, but costly to fix. Much more than a gear/clutch tractor.

 

[dfkrug]

The flow rate and would have to be huge to get anywhere near 60 pto hp. Even then, it would work poorly.

Let's see.....30GPM at 2900psi would require 60hp. That flow and
pressure are commonly available on skidsteers. There are many many
mowers for sale with those volume, pressure, and hp requirements. And
much higher, too.

 

[American Bulldog]

Some good arguments, but in reality hydro is only needed for the drive and not the PTO. My guess is that I need maybe 20 HP of drive, and 50 of PTO. Tractors like the Power Trac are 100% hydro, and they don't get quite big enough. Plus my mower needs a PTO driveline.

The thing is that I use my Deere 5520 for a lot of snow removal, and it is a hassle using the clutch and gears with the snowblower on the back and the bucket on the front. I have a Power Reverser, but not a power shift.

 

[jenkinsph]

Some good arguments, but in reality hydro is only needed for the drive and not the PTO. My guess is that I need maybe 20 HP of drive, and 50 of PTO. Tractors like the Power Trac are 100% hydro, and they don't get quite big enough. Plus my mower needs a PTO driveline.

The thing is that I use my Deere 5520 for a lot of snow removal, and it is a hassle using the clutch and gears with the snowblower on the back and the bucket on the front. I have a Power Reverser, but not a power shift.

Sounds like the 8 in 1 tool dilema, have you considered another tractor to use in conjunction with the 5520?

I do not like having a fel on my tractor so I use the tlb for those jobs and keep the tractors unemcumbered. I keep a gear tractor at the ranch for wide open area work. Hard to have one do all tractor in my opinion.

 

[Big Wave D]

Travesh,

I don't know who came up with it first, but there is a foreign made tractor called a Fendt. They have one model called 900 Vario.

They have a CVT transmission and can be ordered with up to 360 HP.

When I first saw it on the Web, I couldn't figure out why the front of the tractor had a 3pt hitch. Yes, they show them carrying a huge amount of front counter balance, but that sort of seemed overkill for taking it off and putting it back on. I was curious so I kept watching YouTube videos and finally saw that it was a Reversible Tractor, like the NH you mentioned.

The interiors of these things are pure Star Wars for being operated by joysticks and push button controls. I'm sure when it all works it's fantastic, but WOW if the electronics start going haywire, watch out. The bills are going to get enormous fast.

This MIGHT be a bit of overkill for that 15' batwing. :laughing:

Here's a link about this Beast:
Products | Tractors | Fendt 900 Vario | Multimedia | Video Clips - Fendt North America - AGCO Corporation

 

[radman1]

Let's see.....30GPM at 2900psi would require 60hp. That flow and
pressure are commonly available on skidsteers. There are many many
mowers for sale with those volume, pressure, and hp requirements. And
much higher, too.

There is a lot of inefficiency you are not accounting for. Hydraulic peak pto is at max pressure and flow. Any load on a hydraulic system immediately decreases the hp. A diesel engine driven pto will actually increase hp/torque as the rpm decreases. The direct drive powers through and the hydraulic drive system falls flat on its face. I have skid steers with 27 gpm flow at 3000 psi and 80 hp. I have used a tiller and mower on the front. They do poorly compared to a CUT driven pto for the same size of equipment.

 

[Travesh]

BWD,

Very cool video. Would be fun to operate one of those for a day!

The trend is clearly away from directly operated mechanical control linkages and toward electronic control. While this may be scary for the DIY mechanic, I've got more of an electronics and software background and am excited by the trend. Can hardly wait for electronically controlled hydraulic self-leveling loaders, speed triggered joined/split brake control, and standardized control buses and protocols to allow customization of ALL control.