Personal satisfaction can come at the expense of efficiency. Once upon a time we all knew we lost a couple mpg by buying an automatic trans in our car, but the
ease of driving was so much better we said fine, lose a little efficiency. Now of course the whole trans efficiency game has flipped around, automatics are usually EPA rated
higher, due to better efficiency than any human control can provide. Commercial equipment changed to "automatic" for a host of good reasons.
We truly have been replaced by robots. And as far as transmissions, I'm ok with that. But for my "fun" car?
Never an automatic. If you've ever tried to get rubber, well ok, a chirp, in second gear with a blue flame six and a three on the tree in the Sixties, you will understand the fun of shifting.
A close friend in high school had a 442 with the Hurst automatic, always wished he had gotten the stick. There's a shoe for every foot.
Take a retired trucker coming out of a RoadRanger trans, well he's likely to want a quad range manual. Or maybe not...maybe he just had enough of shifting after all those years.
I'm a retired senior with very bad arthritis. Hydrostatic is an enabler for me, it allows me to do things I'd never be able to do
for any extended period of time, like loader work. My all manual no reverser MF2615 is great fun to drive, and utterly wears me out after extended hours in the field.
My Kubota is like driving my car, though their standard seat is awful...(hearing this Kubota?)
I also have three different treadle designs to deal with, we all know Kubota and JD do it very differently, well MF's little Iseki has a tiny little reverse pedal behind your foot, frankly
not very ergonomic but maybe the whole thing was designed for a 120 pound guy, not my large frame. So each time I sit down I have to stop and think.
I remember a sign somewhere that said that...
I change the trans oil in my equipment usually at 300 to 500 hours with synthetic if allowed and basically figure it will go forever. Never had a failure, but then I don't pull heavy
loads or work equipment all that hard. Many of you do. Lot of folks pull things with their zero turns. I usually cringe when I see that.
Sometimes the equipment just isn't designed for what you are doing with it.