Gear drive vs hydro

[Soundguy]

It must vary, I had a sales manager tell me specifically that margins on basic no frills machines were much less than on higher end machines like the GLs. But that was over 3 years ago.

I know some models of NH's were priced that way. i had the owner of our local NH dealer tell me the 3010S and the TC 30 were economy models specifically targetes at a couple colors tractors in that hp range.. and that those 2 models in particular were not much for profit.. but wee just to keep the customers n a blue machine... may not be like that for all of them though??

soundguy

 

[Reg]

Sounds good to me.
Tie a couple of pairs of strings around the joystick, route them appropriately,
another couple for the hand throttle,
set the brake,
climb in the bucket,
raise it with the remote joystick strings,
bump the throttle with those other strings (errr, which ones ?) every time you want to go down the row a couple of feet,
stop by closing the throttle - no, that is the open throttle string - now its going faster.
better lower the bucket and jump out, which strings for that ?
Ooops..... that was the dump/curl pair in dump direction.


Yeah, I guess I finally DO see the case for hydro trans.

 

[jake98]

Yeah, I guess I finally DO see the case for hydro trans.

Well, we wouldn't ever want to advocate any unsafe practice, but you could do that too, with one more string on the clutch...

I'll only nudge it a few inches, myself.

Jake

 

[N80]

LMAO.
The BX24 has a HST and PTO is based on engine speed not ground speed. It's a live PTO. PTO speed stays the same in forward and reverse and while switching between the two.

Right, the same is true of my gear tractor. And while PTO speed isn't directly related to ground speed, ground speed is related to engine RPMs the same as the PTO speed.

My point is, it seems like some folks are saying that an advantage to HST is that you can go real slow while tilling and mowing. But it also seems like with HST or gear, slowing ground speed down too much and you're going to lose PTO speed as well. So the point seems to be moot. In first gear I'm maxing out at 1.2 mph at ideal pto speed. That's pretty slow and it can go slower than that and still mainatain adequate pto speed. So I don't see a real advantage there....except in the case where some others say that first gear in their gear tractors has much higher ground speed.

 

[vsteel]

I love the HST that I have and I think it does a great job for the work I do. I mow with a lot of obstacles and I do loader work.

I have run thousands of hours on gear tractors and never cared for them for loader type of things. (I never ran one with a shuttle shift.) I also used to have issues with them not having a slow enough first gear when bailing hay and the windrows got thick. But for picking a gear and then tilling for 10 hours, they can't be beat.

For the rest of the article I need a green spinner but only with manual steering, if its powered no knob but I need the full lug tires unless I am mowing then I like the industrial tread. ummm, I also need synthetic oil in them all. I use a manual grease gun and have never used a flail mower. I also use a Husky chainsaw with a Shindawa trimmer.

 

[Egon]

But it also seems like with HST or gear, slowing ground speed down too much and you're going to lose PTO speed as well. So the point seems to be moot.

This one has me confused.

I recall Rototilling with a HST with the throttle wide open and the ground speed approaching zero at times but the PTO speed was what the engine RPM dictated!

spinner but only with manual steering,

Many of us may use a spinner with power steering but do not do so with manual steering and four wheel drive.

 

[art]

Right, the same is true of my gear tractor. And while PTO speed isn't directly related to ground speed, ground speed is related to engine RPMs the same as the PTO speed.

My point is, it seems like some folks are saying that an advantage to HST is that you can go real slow while tilling and mowing. But it also seems like with HST or gear, slowing ground speed down too much and you're going to lose PTO speed as well. So the point seems to be moot. In first gear I'm maxing out at 1.2 mph at ideal pto speed. That's pretty slow and it can go slower than that and still mainatain adequate pto speed. So I don't see a real advantage there....except in the case where some others say that first gear in their gear tractors has much higher ground speed.

With a hydro, you can go.24 mph at PTO speed, as well as .20 or .30 or 3. all at PTO speed and never touch a gear shift lever! You can do that at any engine speed you would like. Switching a range, most hydros have three with some brands only offering two you can get full power up to road speed for what ever you feel comfortable with.

 

[N80]

This one has me confused.

Me too, but that's because I don't know anything about HSt other than a test drive in a parking lot 3 years ago on a tractor I knew I wasn't going to buy...all I remember is pressing a pedal.

I recall Rototilling with a HST with the throttle wide open and the ground speed approaching zero at times but the PTO speed was what the throttle engine RPM dictated!

Makes sense I guess. So the throttle and the 'pedal' are seperate things? In other words, set the throttle to 2100 rpm which means PTO goes 540 and then work the 'go' pedal seperately and go as slow as you want but keep constant PTO speed? That's cool. So you can creep around obstacles and still maintain good mower blade speed.

Okay, that's neat, but again, we're still sort of splitting hairs here since with a gear tractor, especially some of the ones cited above with ground speeds of .24 mph at 540 pto speed, you can still go painfully slow while keeping good pto speed. Maybe not technically as precise.....but in practical terms, maybe a wash?

(Sorry to be thinking out loud, I'm just trying to think through this and I don't have any HST experience and with my tractor second gear is slow enough to mow around shed, cars and house. Which means I don't have a lot of experience using first gear even in my own tractor!)

 

[Egon]

Aha - you have never had the privilege of actually operating an HST equipped tractor! Now it all makes sense.

 

[N80]

Aha - you have never had the privilege of actually operating an HST equipped tractor! Now it all makes sense.

No, I thought I made it very very clear that I had driven one in a parking lot once.