Well ... my Mighty Massey, which I call "
My Little Baby Fergie"! Is Amazing then!!! A SCUT sized GC 1725 MB with a whole whopping 25 HP, and 2 range HST!
Here you can see she came to a tire spinning stop from a full 6' wide rear blade full of gravel ... Rear tires are filled, 4X4 with rear axle locked ... Bucket was only filled about 3/4 full as once I drop the blade on the ground, there is not much counter weight (ballast) on the back ...
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So ... I believed if tires are spinning ... I needed more weight ... So, I added 70 Lb steel wheel weights to each of the rear wheels, and rigged up a way to add another 200 Lbs of steel weight lifting plates to the backhoe frame (since have added another 75 Lbs) ... Better, but still spun the tires to a stop on damp clay this time!
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Even added 50 pounds to the floorboard, and made sure the fuel tank was full!!
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If you can't spin a tire with a HST, either you aren't trying very hard, or doing it wrong! Sure I can "stall out" a HST, but can easily do that with a 535 HP semi-truck trying to be stupid starting out in high range with a full load pointed up hill ... Most tractors and semi-trucks aren't usually out doing smoke shows, but I've spun the tires on both!
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But to the OP - for the intended purposes you've listed, I'd say a HST would be the "better" choice. If you're doing a lot of ground engaging like dragging a plow to turn over ground for days/weeks on ended every year, a geared transmission would be a better choice ... For full disclosure I own two HST tractors, and much prefer a standard geared transmission in a semi-truck!