HST: how do you reverse with your foot on the brakes ?

[tungularafishcamp]

Only had my L2800 hst a few years so am pretty new to this stuff but what is this about brakes, you mean there is a brake?

 

[RobertN]

Neither my old Kubota B series, nor the NH TC I have now, moved when I release the HST pedal.

The biggest thing I found, is that I can actually use the steering brakes on the NH; the Kubota version is awful. I thought there was no use for them when I had the Kubota, but since having easy to use brakes on the NH, I have been surprised at how often I use them. In retrospect, I can see how handy they would have been on that Kubota B.

 

[TripleR]

Neither my old Kubota B series, nor the NH TC I have now, moved when I release the HST pedal.

The biggest thing I found, is that I can actually use the steering brakes on the NH; the Kubota version is awful. I thought there was no use for them when I had the Kubota, but since having easy to use brakes on the NH, I have been surprised at how often I use them. In retrospect, I can see how handy they would have been on that Kubota B.

Depending on what you are doing, they can be handy, I use them on our 8540, but don't need them on my L5030. My son uses them on the 5030 with the "Kubota Shuffle", but he is in his 30's; much easier than when in your 60's.

 

[slowzuki]

I use the steering brakes sometimes on the Kubota, its not hard with the cruise lever but it turns so sharp theres hardly any point to bother. Usually when the front end is in really bad mud while trying to turn really sharp or the front tires are in the air adding down pressure to the bucket.

I've also used them when shoving something long like a 24 ft beam on the forks, sideways in through a man door as far as you can. You back up until the rear of the tractor is near the wall of the building and the beam is at the door, cut the wheel and wheel brake to make the front end go sideways, repeat if needed in short jigs and you get the loader tight to the door with the beam inside as far as it will go.

 

[TripleR]

Yeah, going forward the cruise lever works, but reverse is another thing. Like I said, I rarely use mine, but did some experimenting when it was brought up on another thread and find I can do it.

For those who use them a lot, I can see the advantage to having them on the left. Every other tractor I drive has right foot brakes, so at my age, I prefer consistency, especially for those OH C--P moments next to a drop-off or pond or drop-off into a pond.

 

[Grandad4]

In almost ten years of all kinds of use around our place, the only application we have found where the turning brakes have been useful is for making square turns when mowing with the bush hog. For that, we set the cruise control, with the FEL off and in 2wd, of course, and the tractor operates exactly like a gear tractor.

Different users in different situations might reach a different conclusion, but for us the combination of HST, power steering and tight turning radius makes handling so easy the turning brakes are close to being unnecessary.

 

[DAY]

question from an old gear 'n' clutch guy that uses the brakes to steer when the front wheels are off the ground: When you say "set the cruise control" , is that the same as the hand throttle? or is it somehow connected to the HST, like on my car?

 

[RobertN]

Interesting. That is a direct echo of what I said with 12 years of using a nicely set up "B" series. Man, my mind sure changed.

FWIW, I would not turn down another Kubota because of the poorly designed brake layout. I did have 12 years great experience with my old tractor. And, the guy who bought it is a fellow brewer; I still get to visit it I was, looking for a L3410HST to replace the older B8200HSTD originally. When I sold the old tractor, the used market here was limited; that is how I wound up looking at the New Holland TC40D I have now.

In almost ten years of all kinds of use around our place, the only application we have found where the turning brakes have been useful is for making square turns when mowing with the bush hog. For that, we set the cruise control, with the FEL off and in 2wd, of course, and the tractor operates exactly like a gear tractor.

Different users in different situations might reach a different conclusion, but for us the combination of HST, power steering and tight turning radius makes handling so easy the turning brakes are close to being unnecessary.

 

[RobertN]

No, you set the cruise AND the hand throttle. The HST on most tractors(CUT's) lets you have variable speeds at any throttle setting(lest you lug it, and need more throttle). The cruise control, will let you effectively "lock" the HST at a specific speed.

This is true for my old Kubota HST and my newer NH HST tractor.

On my old Kubota, you set the throttle for the power required for the task at hand. Then, when you press the HST and get to the speed you want, you set the cruise. Then, your foot is free from the HST pedal and you can now work the brakes for "steering" control. It does work; it is just cludgy compared to other modern tractors.

For comparison, my current NH(and most JD's I believe; not sure of other brands) has brakes on the left, and HST on the right. Once I set the rpm for the task at hand, I can vary the steering using the individual brakes if the front is light or traction is limited. I can also vary speed by how much pedal I give the HST.

question from an old gear 'n' clutch guy that uses the brakes to steer when the front wheels are off the ground: When you say "set the cruise control" , is that the same as the hand throttle? or is it somehow connected to the HST, like on my car?

 

[crazyal]

I'm not sure why which side the brakes are on (left vs right) would be an issue with the GL tractors. The deck is flat, I don't think I would want anything with a hump. Using your left foot to operate the brakes is not hard at all. On my Case backhoe the brakes are in the middle (and no clutch).