any downside to hst?

[Soundguy]

Jerry,

I have to respectfully disagree with you on this point, but it may be out of my ignorance. My understanding is that the repair costs are about the same across the board. Labor to split is about the same and labor to repair is about the same. Now, that is just my understanding (which has been proven wrong before!). jb

I think I have to agree with Jerry.

Looking at average tranny repairs on gear units vs hydro units. In many cases we are talking about a 350$ clutch job on the gear unit.

Some of the hydro trannies on a piece of equipment are a single integral assembly.. that whole hunk o' iron has to be changed out to repair in some cases.

In some of our older mid 80's large tractors used to run tillers.. the gear are BY FAR easier to work on... You can drop a tranny, reseal, add bearings and what not in a day.. for a few hundred dollars of soft parts and bearings, and a couple hundred bucks in shop labor... vs sending a hydro unit out to the specialist shop and then praying the repair doesn't cost 25% of what you paid for the machine... plus your shop labor that tore it down and reinstalled it.

Soundguy

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Chris & Jerry, I think both of you are correct that a hydro is probably more expensive to repair than a gear. However, I think it is probably more common to repair a gear than a hydro! That is contrary to what most people believe, but a typical home user (not a farmer) but a small land owner, is probably far more likely to burn out a clutch or grind the teeth off of some gears, than he is likely to destroy a HST transmission.

Bear in mind that people who are "regular or typical" posters here on TBN are not regular and typical tractor owners. We are folks who love to talk about tractors, who love to play with tractor and who have tractors as a hobby. A typical guy with 5, 10 or 15 acres does not visit TBN, does not collect tractors, and doesn't usually have a clue about the differences between models or brands. That guy is the guy who is typical. That guy is the guy who's tractor is going to have the clutch repaired far more often than guys like JerryG or Soundguy.

JMO

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Bear in mind that people who are "regular or typical" posters here on TBN are not regular and typical tractor owners. We are folks who love to talk about tractors, who love to play with tractor and who have tractors as a hobby. A typical guy with 5, 10 or 15 acres does not visit TBN, does not collect tractors, and doesn't usually have a clue about the differences between models or brands. That guy is the guy who is typical. That guy is the guy who's tractor is going to have the clutch repaired far more often than guys like JerryG or Soundguy.

JMO

From all I've seen, TBN attracts a broad slice of the "typical tractor owner" crowd. That being said, more often than not, that "typical" owner, who happens to be using a newer hydro tractor is more likely to take it to a dealer for repairs than those who own older (where gear drive is far more common) tractors. I'm one of those "stick-in-the-muds" who love my old stuff. The tractors I'm enthused with are generally late 50's through early 80's. Not a lot of hydros on the market back then. And the ones that were out there were either lawn and garden rigs or those somewhat rare IH Hydros. In this modern era, most tractors are very high tech compared to my favorites. That means factory trained dealer mechanics get the lions share of the repairs, transmission or otherwise. That sends the typical repair bill through the roof. There's still a number of smalltime repair shops out there that'll tackle most any gear drive repairs, giving us a cheaper alternative. All things being equal, if you were to send a gear drive tractor to a dealership for major repairs, I'm not so certain they'd come out much cheaper.

 

[JerryG]

Chris & Jerry, I think both of you are correct that a hydro is probably more expensive to repair than a gear. However, I think it is probably more common to repair a gear than a hydro! That is contrary to what most people believe, but a typical home user (not a farmer) but a small land owner, is probably far more likely to burn out a clutch or grind the teeth off of some gears, than he is likely to destroy a HST transmission.JMO

Bob,
Four of the five transmissions that I named above don't have dry clutches to wear out. Three of the five don't have gears that can be ground. Like I said there are several advanced manual transmissions out there that are very much comparable to hydros.

 

[Soundguy]

Bob,
Four of the five transmissions that I named above don't have dry clutches to wear out. Three of the five don't have gears that can be ground. Like I said there are several advanced manual transmissions out there that are very much comparable to hydros.

I think an HST may be an easier trans for a newbie to use.. and thus may last longer during the learning hours.

I've seen a new operator burn out a new clutch in 2 hours!

Still.. I prefer gear...

Soundguy

 

[JerryG]

I think an HST may be an easier trans for a newbie to use.. and thus may last longer during the learning hours.

I've seen a new operator burn out a new clutch in 2 hours!

Still.. I prefer gear...

Soundguy

That's why I stated that "Four of the five transmissions that I named above don't have dry clutches to wear out." These wet clutches last many, many times longer than a dry clutch. A dry clutch could very well be burned out by someone that knew absolutely nothing about what they were doing in that short of time. It is amazing to me how any piece of equipment can last a week with some users. Even the small homeowners equipment like sold at Home Depot and Lowes are brought back because they get torn up in the first few days. The old story of destroying an anvil with a rubber hammer is relived quite often.

 

[Soundguy]

That reminds me of a truck driver we hired once. First day. he showed up at 7am, filled out paperwork... got hired on the spot.. at 7:15 he got in the dump truck to drive it down to the shop to pick up one of the other drivers so they could run the first day together.., backed up 10' and hit a power pole.. knocked it over.. broke the wire which landed on the truck. Had to wat 2 hrs till power company showed up and removed wire. Then the driver quits!!!

All in a days work i guess.

Speaking of wet clutches and lifespan.. how about them wet brakes.... Harder to change.. but what a decent idea...

Soundguy

 

[slowrev]

Can't pull start a hydro can you ?
My friends 5000 ford battery went out last weekend and if we could not have pull started the tractor the hay would not have been rolled up before the rain came.
Ben

 

[JerryG]

Speaking of wet clutches and lifespan.. how about them wet brakes.... Harder to change.. but what a decent idea...Soundguy

Yes, I love wet brakes. They stop much much better, but I agree on them being a lot harder to change. I don't like to change them at all, especially the ones that are next to the transmission case. Thank goodness, they last a very long time.

 

[Doc_Bob]

Chose whichever one you are comfortable with but don’t think that modern manual transmissions are from the rock age.

Mega dittos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bob