Biggest tractor with hydrostatic drive?

[MHarryE]

I like the idea of uprising your excavator. When I retired mine was the first toy I bought, before I got into farming with my cousin. I already had A L3710 open platform. Everything else has grown but the little 2 ton mini stays around. I should upsize but it can demolish a mobile home in 30 minutes (with my neighbors CTL using my grapple to load debris). For your work upgrading the excavator and keeping the tractor seems good. CTLs are nice but they require more maintenance than the tractor I.e. more things to break. 20 years ago there were only 2 CTLs built (ASV and Taekuchi - pardon spelling) but in 2015 they exceeded skid steer production. I went shopping for a CTL and came home with a mini-excavator.

 

[mike69440]

I think that you can get a job done much faster with the front end loader on the skid steer. A lot more power than my M5040 and much easier to maneuver. I have a Kubota SSV75 skid steer. Outweighs the tractor by almost 4000 pounds. I also use it with a large SHoule 17 inch tree shear. I don't think the hydraulics on my tractor would be able to power it effectively. I use a large grapple on the skid steer that again the tractor would not do as well with. The skid steer is much easier to get into tighter spaces and can turn on a dime. I still much prefer the tractor for shredding and disc work. Also like the tractor for grading the road. But I would use the skid steer first to spread the rocks/gravel on the road before finishing off with the grader or rear blade. It is handy to have both but the skid steer is a much more powerful machine.

My neighbor just bought a SV90. I used to chuckle at his L3901 trying to do land clearing. Now I'm Jealous. I do wonder how well the tracks will hold up.
Our farm is called Breezy Ridge, His is called Ledgewood, so there are a few rocks about.

 

[jbpierce]

That's a really interesting tractor. But I don't understand a hand control for fwd/rev rather than a peddle. How do you operate a loader like that? One hand on the loader control, one hand on the fwd/rev control, and one hand on the wheel? I must be missing something.

You're missing a third hand.

 

[L120]

As a young kid, dad had a JD 110 to mow the property. About 7 or 8 I was allowed to actually mow the front & back residential setting type lot. I was the sh*t as nobody else had a lawn tractor or even allowed to help do the yard weekly.

That lil tractor was tough as nails. Had a Kohler 8hp castiron engine and was just heavy duty as they came. The trans was a standard shift 3-speed. Sucked you couldn't run thru the gears like a car, but it was just fun.

Dad had the wheel weights & snow plow for the tractor. Those attachments weren't needed after moving to Southern Alabama.

All those years passed and never really needed a lawn tractor or the funds to buy one raising 2-kids of my own. Now much older and financially set, it was great delight to buy some country property where equipment is a must. Found a pretty good ole tractor on Craigslist a JD L120 with 330 hrs and looked perfect like someone really care of the tractor. Tractors these days are all hydo-driven which kind of sux but oh well. I chose this type of tractor because I knew that anything that could go wrong with it could be repaired. Not by Joe Smo down the road, but repaired by me.

 

[Xfaxman]

That's a really interesting tractor. But I don't understand a hand control for fwd/rev rather than a peddle. How do you operate a loader like that? One hand on the loader control, one hand on the fwd/rev control, and one hand on the wheel? I must be missing something.

My V417 has a F-N-R lever on the left side of the steering column and a foot pedal that controls the speed.

Usually leave my right hand on the joystick and steer with the knob. It only takes a second to change directions since it is an electric switch:

 

[ruffdog]

My V417 has a F-N-R lever on the left side of the steering column and a foot pedal that controls the speed.

Usually leave my right hand on the joystick and steer with the knob. It only takes a second to change directions since it is an electric switch:

View attachment 586799

Same with our Toolcats. It takes no more time or effort to switch directions than it does for someone to move their foot on the peddle.

 

[DK35vince]

My V417 has a F-N-R lever on the left side of the steering column and a foot pedal that controls the speed.

Usually leave my right hand on the joystick and steer with the knob. It only takes a second to change directions since it is an electric switch:
View attachment 586799

Yes, its the same setup as most commercial front loaders
Flip the forward/reverser with your fingertips and your going the other way.
Easy, don't know where the "need 3 hands" comes from. Simply false.

 

[Xfaxman]

Yes, its the same setup as most commercial front loaders
Flip the forward/reverser with your fingertips and your going the other way.
Easy, don't know where the "need 3 hands" comes from. Simply false.

Yep, the only problem is after using it for a while and parking it, I get in the truck, flip the lever to back out of the garage, it doesn't move, the turn signal just flashes .

 

[mmancuso13]

That’s right! Your brain goes with what you know... Sometimes I actually say to myself, why is this things not moving.

 

[4570Man]

Yes, its the same setup as most commercial front loaders
Flip the forward/reverser with your fingertips and your going the other way.
Easy, don't know where the "need 3 hands" comes from. Simply false.

That’s the same setup my backhoe has. And it has a twist knob to change the gears. It works fine and you don’t need 3 hands. I like the ability to change the gears on the go, a feature not found on many HST transmissions. Anyone who falsely says a HST is a complicated system better stay far away from these systems. My buddy’s wheels loader has 2 push buttons on the loader control stick that change the direction. It works fine and is operator friendly but he only has a hi/low transmission and it’s not a shift on the fly setup so essentially the throttle is the only speed control you have.