Gear or Hydrostatic Transmissions for Compact Utility Tractors?

[dickfoster]

"If I had to constantly be pressing the pedal to move the tractor, the mowing would be much harder to do."

That's why most have cruise control.

Gear owners get free cruise control with the hand throttle.

 

[houstonscott]

Gear owners get free cruise control with the hand throttle.

yeah, I put the L3800 in gear ( I mow in L3) and set cruise speed at 2200rpm, I'm always in 4x4, and don't touch anything but the steering. Love watching the afternoon drift away while mowing. HS

 

[TripleR]

Gear owners get free cruise control with the hand throttle.

Cruise control came standard on all ours as well.

 

[adventure bob]

While gear owners can set a cruise control with the hand throttle it also changes the PTO speed. My cruise only changes ground speed, not PTO RPM.
For logging with the grapple (lots of fwd and back with ups, downs and grapple on the thumb) I prefer a hydro. For ground implements, I like a geared tractor.

As for a horsepower (too much horse power for hydro...) Big tractors have had hydro for years. By big I mean bigger than 150 horsepower. They are all going to IVT now for ground control and traction.

So ultimately this is one of those areas like bourbon, speakers, and tractor color... A man should never tell another man how to drink his bourbon, which speakers are best, or what color tractor to buy. If asked, a man should simply say what he likes about his choice, not why his choice is "best."

 

[dickfoster]

While gear owners can set a cruise control with the hand throttle it also changes the PTO speed. My cruise only changes ground speed, not PTO RPM.
For logging with the grapple (lots of fwd and back with ups, downs and grapple on the thumb) I prefer a hydro. For ground implements, I like a geared tractor.

As for a horsepower (too much horse power for hydro...) Big tractors have had hydro for years. By big I mean bigger than 150 horsepower. They are all going to IVT now for ground control and traction.

So ultimately this is one of those areas like bourbon, speakers, and tractor color... A man should never tell another man how to drink his bourbon, which speakers are best, or what color tractor to buy. If asked, a man should simply say what he likes about his choice, not why his choice is "best."

Well I can tell you for an absolute fact that my ESS AMT1a speakers are the best speakers that you can't get anymore but I drink scotch not bourbon so you're on your own there. I'm listening to my speakers right now in fact. The wife don't like them for their looks so they've found a safe haven in my man cave. Oh yeah, real tractors should be red.

 

[vsteel]

I love my HST for mowing and loader work, I think it is easier. Yes I have spent 1000s of hours on gear drive machines and yes I can feather the clutch and go slow as well but I like the hydro. I am not throwing the plow, disk, etc on the back and going for 12 hours for several days anymore. I don't have the issue of wishing I had a gear between the gears I have. If I was going to have a farm tractor again I would want gear but for what I do hydro works great. I have not wished for gears at all.

Am I the only one who hears gear whine? I don't see the difference between the hydro noise vs the gear noise, maybe it is because after putting a crap ton of hours running a hydro drive windrower and skid steer it doesn't bother me. Machine noise is machine noise, I wear ear plugs and don't worry about it.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

You sure do things the hard way.
Why couldn't it be simply pulled out ??

Because of space problems I couldn't pull the deadfall all the way out. Even so, I got it out far enough where 30 seconds of loader operation got the whole thing out.

And for that reason, loaders always trump jumping out and sawing logs up and manually loading the grapple--especially when I have hundreds of deadfalls, each with their own unique little struggle, to clear along the shoreline.

 

[KennyG]

Lots of interesting views. I do a lot of mowing and constricted area loader work so I'm glad I've got the HST. If I was doing cultivation, I'd lean toward a gear tractor.

As some have noticed, the movement is toward automatics everywhere. I'm not even sure if you can buy a full size pickup with a standard transmission now. I recently was checking on availability of the new Fiat 124 sports car. I found 31 available within a reasonable radius. 30 of them had automatic transmissions. And that's a lightweight sports car.

 

[jk96]

Lots of interesting views. I do a lot of mowing and constricted area loader work so I'm glad I've got the HST. If I was doing cultivation, I'd lean toward a gear tractor.

As some have noticed, the movement is toward automatics everywhere. I'm not even sure if you can buy a full size pickup with a standard transmission now. I recently was checking on availability of the new Fiat 124 sports car. I found 31 available within a reasonable radius. 30 of them had automatic transmissions. And that's a lightweight sports car.

I think RAM is the only one offering a manual in a HD truck

 

[Jay4200]

There are certain applications where a Hydro is FAR superior - mainly ones where you want to keep the engine running at high speed but have to constantly maneuver the tractor, such as when running a snowblower or a mower, or for loader work. If you're traveling straight and steady, then the gear tractor has the advantage of more PTO power and ruggedness. I split the difference and run a glide-shift, although I do long for a hydro when snowblowing my parking areas, where I have to go back n' forth in a small area a couple of dozen times.