k0ua
Epic Contributor
Now that you know how passionate I am about using hydro equipped tractors, time for some full disclosure.
Yes Hydro tractors have downsides:shocked:
Hydro tractors make a "whiney noise". It seems the smaller the tractor the more whine they make. Also when you "crowd" them or run them in too high of a range for the terrain or load the more whine they will make..My latest tractor is the largest hydro tractor I have owned, and it's hydro whine is almost non-existant unless you are trying to climb a steep hill fully loaded in HIGH range (don't do that).
Hydro tractors do not deliver as much power to the ground or PTO as a geared tractor.. There is loss in the fact you have a hydo pump driving a hydro motor that drives the final gearing.
Hydro tractors make more heat. Yes they do, They have extra radiators to dissipate that heat. Some small tractors have fans over the transmissions instead of the plumbing and radiator. If you think about the loss of horsepower to the ground and PTO, it has to go somewhere. It goes up in heat mostly.
Hydro Tractors have an extra oil filter that needs to be changed every few hundred hours. It is needed to ensure the hydro mechanism gets clean oil.
So what does all this mean? Not much to me.. I will gladly pay the extra money for the filter every few hundred hours, my tractor does not whine appreciably anyway, and the heat is way up there up front of the normal radiator.. It doesn't bother me. I enjoy operating them too much, and when I am trying to set a rock on top of a rock wall with my forks, and I am moving forward in fractions of an inch, yes I want my hydro.!
James K0UA
Yes Hydro tractors have downsides:shocked:
Hydro tractors make a "whiney noise". It seems the smaller the tractor the more whine they make. Also when you "crowd" them or run them in too high of a range for the terrain or load the more whine they will make..My latest tractor is the largest hydro tractor I have owned, and it's hydro whine is almost non-existant unless you are trying to climb a steep hill fully loaded in HIGH range (don't do that).
Hydro tractors do not deliver as much power to the ground or PTO as a geared tractor.. There is loss in the fact you have a hydo pump driving a hydro motor that drives the final gearing.
Hydro tractors make more heat. Yes they do, They have extra radiators to dissipate that heat. Some small tractors have fans over the transmissions instead of the plumbing and radiator. If you think about the loss of horsepower to the ground and PTO, it has to go somewhere. It goes up in heat mostly.
Hydro Tractors have an extra oil filter that needs to be changed every few hundred hours. It is needed to ensure the hydro mechanism gets clean oil.
So what does all this mean? Not much to me.. I will gladly pay the extra money for the filter every few hundred hours, my tractor does not whine appreciably anyway, and the heat is way up there up front of the normal radiator.. It doesn't bother me. I enjoy operating them too much, and when I am trying to set a rock on top of a rock wall with my forks, and I am moving forward in fractions of an inch, yes I want my hydro.!
James K0UA