HST or man

JATO_RaT · Feb 25, 2002

InternationalMan, I thought you were a man of the world, but I guess it means that you like me have an International tractor. I'm not familiar with the 300u. What is it. I have a 454D International. It did everything until I got my Kubota. Now its pretty much the dedicated mower which works out really well because it has a 1000 RPM pto in addition too a 540 RPM pto on it that I use with the engine speed down around 1150 RPM, it plows through most anything in 4th gear. Its a great tractor. My Internatinal has 8 forward speeds and my Kubota is HST with virtually infinite speeds up to around 17 mph. Rat...

frank_f15 · Feb 25, 2002

WELL SAID GLUEGUY! IN THE SHORT TIME I HAVE OWNED MY HST, i cannot recall one time i wish it was a grear tractor.in fact i still am amazed that it took me so long to get one.

internationlman · Feb 25, 2002

Rat the 300 utilty is a wide front ended tractor made for aprox. 2 years I believe from 1957 to 1958 . This tractor is my project plus work horse need to get painted yet. Compete rebuild on motor plus rebuilt torque amplifier tractor now produces 44hp at pto on dino. Not shore yet if I want to retire this and by Kubota or the other Orange machine

Wall · Feb 8, 2004

The Pump and Motor will wear-out on the HST causing the trator to become weak and slow may-be not even move at all. If you get 10 years of service you would be lucky or not really not doing much work

Old_Hickory · Feb 9, 2004

( The Pump and Motor will wear-out on the HST causing the trator to become weak and slow may-be not even move at all. If you get 10 years of service you would be lucky or not really not doing much work )
I challenge you on that one. I have a John Deere 4400 hydro and I work the guts out of it, 4 years and 1000 hours log skidding you name it and not one bit of problem or loss of performance.I punish the tractor and I have had to pay for some mistakes I have made in testing the limits,but never had a hydro problem.

Henro · Feb 9, 2004

The Pump and Motor will wear-out on the HST causing the trator to become weak and slow may-be not even move at all. If you get 10 years of service you would be lucky or not really not doing much work 

Wall,

I think you may have gotten your forums mixed up!

This tractorbynet...NOT Comedy Central!

My belly is starting to hurt...I don't usually get the opportunity to laugh this much... /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Yes, I guess if a HST did perform like you describe it would truly be a traitor

That's what you meant when you said trator, right? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

slowzuki · Feb 9, 2004

The dealer in town has sold Kubota for 20 years now, about 25-50 units a year of all models. Kubota has done the HST thing from the late 70's if I recall correctly. They have not had a single HST tractor apart for clutch or tranny repairs.

I do have experience with a semi failed HST, but not Kubota. It is a 1968 Ford 120 Garden tractor. We didn't know you could move the HST lever to start and stop or change speeds so we used the clutch every time. Ended up damaging something from starting in the highest gear and letting up the clutch and from towing about 2000 lb of dirt. The trailer was way too heavy and my grandfather pulled the tractor and wagon with his car. The wheels were pumping the engine over.

It still runs and can mow fine just winds up for a few seconds before moving now.

( The Pump and Motor will wear-out on the HST causing the trator to become weak and slow may-be not even move at all. If you get 10 years of service you would be lucky or not really not doing much work )

Dozernut · Feb 9, 2004

Wow, I wish someone had told me this years ago /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif. Maybe I woudn't have bought one. It has been trouble free, but I was probably just lucky! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Bob_Skurka · Feb 9, 2004

I have an 11 year old tractor with a hydrostatic transmission that has been abused more than I care to admit. Just about everything on that tractor's engine has been replaced, as well as parts of the undercarriage and the fiberglass hood (from hitting the wall . . . my wife did it and don't bring the topic up around her . . . PLEASE), but the HST transmission has been, and continues to be absolutely reliable and has never needed any work on it ever. Am I just lucky? I doubt it. I think that HST transmissions are rock solid and reliable and have been for a couple of decades!

TCQBass · Feb 9, 2004

New member, regular reader. Thought I'd jump in with a few thoughts.

I have 2 tractors: an old Kubota 6200 with hst and an older JD 830 gear with FEL.

As a homeowner, it really doesn't matter when doing FEL work that the JD is not hst. It's just what I'm used to. Now I'll admit, when i use my F-I-L's NH 555, I get spoiled to the hst real fast. But my JD gear, and I've noticed many others also, is designed where the forward to reverse shift is a straight motion. Quite efficient and no gear grinding when you're used to it.

I bought my 1984 model Kubota with almost 2500 hours on it. It was bought new by a mechanic who serviced it by the book. When I bought it, every light worked and everything was intact on the tractor, so it was obviously very well taken care of. I use it primarily for mowing. HST took a little getting used to. Let off the pedal and it's like standing on the brake on the JD. I never use the brakes.

All this to say longevity and dependability of a tractor won't be an issue with the average homeowner whether it's gear or hst. My tractors can take much more than what I normally dish out and yours probably will too.

If I were buying new, it would be a matter of $$$ and dealer recommendation. If the dealer (like one around here) didn't recommend hst for my use, I'd consider that because that may be a service issue down the road. Or I'd find another dealer.

Hope this helps.