HST Transmission

[art]

Cowboydoc, youare wrong on the reliability of the hydro's on the farm. We have farms that are still using them and have used them for tillage work and they are frustrated as they can't purchase new ones. One farm in particular has a 1066 IH that is producing over 170 horsepower on the dyno and has over 8000 hours on it and never touched. I will admit they may not be the most efficient in the tillage end but this farm replaces it's clutches on there tractors between 4000 and 5000 hours. The farms are using them for feed mixing duties as the variable speed is a plus and the second favorite spot they like them right now is for PTO work. With a mower they wll blow the doors off a sound gaurd cab while passing the gear drive!

 

[JerryG]

Art,
Is the transmission in the IH the same design are the one in the compact tractors of today? Or do they just function similarly?

 

[art]

They are very much the same, the controlling mechanisms are different. The problem with the tractors were that they used there standard high low range rear end instead of a three range which boosted the performance levels quite a bit on hydro's.

 

[cowboydoc]

Well I'm glad your guys like them but you can't even give away one of those tractors here. Most any farmer will tell you they are a piece of junk. That's why they don't make them anymore. And just try and fix one when it does go bad. You won't if you're smart, they just junk them as it costs four and five times to fix one as to what the tractor is worth. Put one of them on the dyno and see what they are running for actual hp when under load. I have never seen one stock that even came close to rated hp. I'd sure like to talk to any of the guys that would prefer one of them over a geared tractor. And are these guys farming alot of acres or just a small farm? Most people I know that have had them you couldn't run them even half a day and they would get hot.

 

[JerryG]

The getting hot would be what one would have to be concerned about the most it would seem. I don't know how you would be able to keep the heat under control in a very high horse power tractor. The cooler would have to be enormous.

 

[cowboydoc]

Yes it would jerry. I also don't think the 1066 is a true hydro. I also know, unlike the hydros of today, that the hydro on the internationals was EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. They were known to free wheel and develop creep even in park. Also they were not reliable on a hill at all. If you engaged reverse you were likely to slide 10' or more before it engaged at times. There were quite a few suits againt IH on their "hydro". That was another reason they quit making them and also because everyone I knew couldn't keep one together running it 24/7 like you do farming.

 

[Egon]

Also note that the heat gain is lost efficiency.

Egon

 

[ZJ_HR]

Yooperdave,
If you want to have ag tractor with stepless gearbox go with one of 3 brands mentioned.

My advice is to get simpler, cheaper and more reliable (less electronics) tractor with power reverser and 3 (or more) step powershift. This is enough for pulling load, ploughing, and especially baling hay. I mean that Cowboydoc will agree with me.

On my newer tractor I only have synchro-splitter and synchro-reverser, and this is far better than mech 3F/1R gearbox on my older tractor, so powershift (especially 3 step) will be unbeatable advantage to me. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Second thing, more important here in Europe, is efficiency - lower fuel consumption per wheel HP, as fuel is twice or more expensive here.
Even the best hydrostatics have several times bigger loses, mean waste heat. Maybe it's not a problem to dissipate that heat through cooler, problem is that this waste heat you MUST PAY through bigger fuel consumption. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

ZJ

 

[KubotaSteve]

Everything is a trade off when it comes to options on a tractor. Hydro gets you speed for the loader operation and mowing but also there is more power loss and more heat. Smaller tractor allows you in tight places but can't handle larger tasks as efficiently as a larger machine.

 

[art]

Cowboydoc these boys are our average 80 to 100 cow farmers. /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif The heat in a hydro is NO higher then that generated in any transmissions that use the larger pumps. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif If you like I have a used 7800 JD here in the yard and I'll get some readings for you. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif The Hydro's we have in this area all run there rated horsepower and then some as I stated before a 1066 was rated at 115 and putting out 170 with no problem. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif Don't know but I'd say maybe there was a problem there with the knowledge of the tractors and how to use them. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif As I stated earlier if they would have had a three range I think they might still be at it today. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif