About this pedal thang

[wcampbell47]

Two activities you mentioned were cutting in tight quarters and loader work. The HST is far superior and less tiring than a geared tractor. Have owned both, one geared and two HST. When mowing on a geared tractor depressing the clutch to reverse or change speed of tractor disengages the PTO and mower. With HST PTO stays engaged at same RPM. A geared tractor with loader requires almost constant use of both hands and feet. If you can fly a helicopter you will not have a problem. Left hand steers, left foot operates the clutch, right hand operates the joy stick and/or gear shift, right foot brakes maybe even throttle. Geared tractor is much more tiring than the HST. I never rest my foot on the treadle. Just use heel and toe.

 

[bdhsfz6]

Obviously there are a lot of differing opinions on gear vs HST. If you don't do much maneuvering or frequent repetitive tasks, Save a few $$ and go with gears. In my case, five of the six Kubota's I've owned over the years have been HST's. For the work I do in tight spaces, I much prefer the time savings of not having to stop and shift frequently.

I'm not sure what model year Kubota tractors you're looking at. Since there is no clutch on Most newer L series HST's, many now have split brakes on the left. This is the case with my current L6060 and MX5800 and I frequently steer using brakes.

The HST pedals are also subject to personal preference and some user adjustment is required to use comfortably. I use these techniques:

L6060



MX5800



When operating in reverse, I use the toe of my left foot as shown in the third picture in each row. I can't speak for others but I have arthritis & two joint replacements and have no trouble with these operations.

 

[Newby first timer]

Obviously there are a lot of differing opinions on gear vs HST. If you don't do much maneuvering or frequent repetitive tasks, Save a few $$ and go with gears. In my case, five of the six Kubota's I've owned over the years have been HST's. For the work I do in tight spaces, I much prefer the time savings of not having to stop and shift frequently.

I'm not sure what model year Kubota tractors you're looking at. Since there is no clutch on Most newer L series HST's, many now have split brakes on the left. This is the case with my current L6060 and MX5800 and I frequently steer using brakes.

The HST pedals are also subject to personal preference and some user adjustment is required to use comfortably. I use these techniques:

L6060

View attachment 590210 View attachment 590211 View attachment 590212 View attachment 590213

MX5800

View attachment 590215 View attachment 590216 View attachment 590217 View attachment 590218

When operating in reverse, I use the toe of my left foot as shown in the third picture in each row. I can't speak for others but I have arthritis & two joint replacements and have no trouble with these operations.

Your bottom pics are how I operate my MX5800 as well. Never operated a Geared tractor so I have no experience to say anything about them.
Love my HST and Could not a mad-gen even running Geared for what I do with my Tractor.

 

[k0ua]

Your bottom pics are how I operate my MX5800 as well. Never operated a Geared tractor so I have no experience to say anything about them.
Love my HST and Could not a mad-gen even running Geared for what I do with my Tractor.

Operation of a geared tractor is all still very doable, you are just a lot more "busy". For casual operations it is no great burden, but at the end of a 10 hour day, you are going to feel a lot more fatigued than if you had operated a HST equipped machine. Also very telling is doing precision operations like picking up pallets of of a pickup truck bed, or operating up next to buildings. Much easier and more precise with a HST for most people. Of course skill level of a geared tractor operator varies all over the map. Some are much better operators than others.