Well you might ask the "old timer" why not get a hydo? Is it because they are bad? or is it because he has never used one and doesnt know a "darn" thing about them? I am also an "old timer" and have owned 4 tractors. 2 gear and 2 hydro. I will never go back to gear. Reasons to NOT own a hydro..
Hydo's eat some power. true. hydro's make more heat. true. think about the power loss thing.. it gotta go somewhere. hydo's whine, true. they whine a little less after they are broken in. A hydro, if it doesnt have cruise-control (most do but not all) could be tiresome to use in long stretch's of mowing or plowing. Reason TO own a hydro: Anyone can use a hydro in 5 minutes or less of instruction. your wife, your kid, your neighbor, your dog. No skill neccessary to make it go. : with a hydo you can change directions instantly back and forth, really handy in loader work. Safer, the tractor stops when you let your foot off of the hydro or creeps extremely slowly, if downhill. And the biggest reason. is you will never have the level of control for "feathering" of the bucket, or a box blade, or hooking up a 3pt as you do with the hydro. bar none, and I dont care what anyone says. Until you have driven a hydro for awhile you just don't understand the "hydro experience" the level of control you have with it. Oh sure you can "get good" at feathering the clutch with a gear. (clutch wear on throwout bearing?) but it is an aquired skill from many years at doing so.. not something you can pick up right away. as an example when digging a shallow trench with a bucket, you can dump/curl the bucket to dig your trench while rocking the tractor back and forth also with the hydro pedal, in a syncrounous motion to acheive the trench much easier than slipping the clutch. Hard to explain, easy to do. when loading a pallet on your tailgate of your expensive truck and feathering the loader, and moving in on the tailgate, which one do you want near your $40,000 dollar truck, gear with clutch or hydro?. to sum it up. Lots of people have lots of opinions. I sure do:laughing::laughing: BUT. ask any of the hydro basher's, how many they have owned? why they will never own another? what went wrong, and is it specific to one hydro/brand. or are all hydo/brands bad? You might find some who will take this tack. but I bet the majority will tell the truth, and admit they have never owned a hydro tractor. or maybe only used one for a few minutes or hours. There probably are some things that a hydo has no advantage or does not do as well as a gear tractor, I guess that is why they still make them, Plowing comes to mind, and I am sure there are others. But in my mind for the average guy with a CUT or a SCUT.. no question in my mind. Hydro. Excuse me I am going to the closet to get my asbestos suit now.
James K0UA
