rScotty
Super Member
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2001
- Messages
- 9,496
- Location
- Rural mountains - Colorado
- Tractor
- Kubota M59, JD530, JD310SG. Restoring Yanmar YM165D
That makes sense to me, Frankly I think we have missed discussing one of the most important things about HST and that is the cost & quality relationship.
Just like a good gear tranny with toroidal shaped gear teeth is quieter, more reliable, makes less gear noise, and costs way more than a cheaper gearbox with straight-cut gears, the same thing is just as true for HST trannys. The higher quality HST cost more, are more efficient, and any whine is almost inaudible. You get what you pay for.
The same goes for higher HP engines. They can also run quieter & cooler because the big engine doesn't have to be running at high RPM under load - it's just loafing along. But again, it costs more to buy and to operate.
My takeaway from this discussion is that a person considering the convenience and operating advantages of HST should also be thinking about putting other things like quality and convenience over price when looking at which tractor to buy.
Personally I wouldn't buy an economy tractor with an economy HST. If economy is the most important thing, I'd be leaning toward some form of geared tractor myself.
But since HST is what I prefer now, I'm likely to be looking at the more expensive tractors and asking questions like, "WHY is it more expensive? Exactly what are those extra dollars buying for me?"
I don't mind spending the money, but I want solid answers to those questions.....One answer that worked for us was HST+. It has adjustable attack rate and no less than 6 ranges. Yep, you guessed right if you guess that with that many ranges you can generally find a range where it doesn't whine at all.
Yes, it also costs more...and not only costs more, but only comes on the premium model tractor. With a big engine.....
Around here we prefer using the HST+ tractor over our glideshift or manual transmission tractors. Only if we were forced into buying economy would we go gears again.
But if dollars are controlling whether we can afford a tractor to help do the work, we would buy a geared machine in a heartbeat and without any remorse. In fact, we did just that back in the years before good quality HST became affordable for us. And we still have those good machines.
Enjoy!
rScotty
The first couple years our trees were still small and I had to mow between them a few times per year per the gubermint agreement, I'd use the turning brakes at the end of the rows to make the turn 180 degrees around the last sapling in the row, and then head down the next row. No need to make wide turns or back up. Very easy. I also had a foot throttle on the right foot, and diff lock on the right heel, as I recall.