HST vs shuttle

[LouNY]

If you are an experienced gear transmission operator a shuttle and especially a power shuttle will be your favorite, if you have not used a geared transmission and clutch a lot you will most likely prefer a hydro.
An experienced operator working a power shuttle will get more done in a day with less aggravation then with a hydro, that said from what I have read on here most of these readers will probably prefer a hydro and operate a hydro better then a shuttle.
There have been a few times that I would have liked a hydro, but not many. Even just plowing snow in my driveway a shuttle trans will perform much better with less noise and I expect more longevity and with a lower cost of ownership.
That said unless you have at a minimum several hundred or thousands of hours on tractors you may prefer hydros. If so more power to you buy and enjoy.
I'll stay with gears and power shuttles and if available multiple power shifts such as the Puma series from IH or the T6050 style from NH

 

[Sawyer Rob]

- Gardeners prefer a tiller over a plow - HST wins over gears.
- Lawn mowers have to vary in ground speed often - HST wins over gears.
- Snow plowing driveways - HST wins over gears.
- FEL work in tight quarters - HST wins over gears.
- Dragging logs out of the woods - HST wins over gears.
- Very few homeowner tasks will benefit from gears over HST.

I sure don't agree with all of those and I have BOTH hystat and gear tractors...

SR

 

[MossRoad]

I sure don't agree with all of those and I have BOTH hystat and gear tractors...

SR

Yep, and to each his own.

Which tasks do you prefer gear for?

 

[ovrszd]

If you are an experienced gear transmission operator a shuttle and especially a power shuttle will be your favorite, if you have not used a geared transmission and clutch a lot you will most likely prefer a hydro.
An experienced operator working a power shuttle will get more done in a day with less aggravation then with a hydro, that said from what I have read on here most of these readers will probably prefer a hydro and operate a hydro better then a shuttle.
There have been a few times that I would have liked a hydro, but not many. Even just plowing snow in my driveway a shuttle trans will perform much better with less noise and I expect more longevity and with a lower cost of ownership.
That said unless you have at a minimum several hundred or thousands of hours on tractors you may prefer hydros. If so more power to you buy and enjoy.
I'll stay with gears and power shuttles and if available multiple power shifts such as the Puma series from IH or the T6050 style from NH

Those are the pinnacle in my opinion.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Quote Originally Posted by MossRoad View Post

- Gardeners prefer a tiller over a plow - HST wins over gears.
- Lawn mowers have to vary in ground speed often - HST wins over gears.
- Snow plowing driveways - HST wins over gears.
- FEL work in tight quarters - HST wins over gears.
- Dragging logs out of the woods - HST wins over gears.
- Very few homeowner tasks will benefit from gears over HST.

Which tasks do you prefer gear for?

That's on THAT list?

HST wins on grass mowing IF you have a lot of things to mow around. The blade noise drowns out the hydro whine!

As for snow plowing, in the cold you are suppose to let the hydro warm up, for as much as half hour! In many cases, I'll be getting done in half hour with my gear tractor! lol

Loader work, I don't find a shuttle to be any harder to use than a hydro...

Dragging logs, I MUCH prefer a gear trans!! Gear drive is the hands down winner here...

I HATE hydro whine, I don't like all the heat they make and I hate the extra cost for maintenance! and that's after the extra you have to pay to get one! I also don't like the power they rob from the pto...

SR

 

[ovrszd]

That's on THAT list?

HST wins on grass mowing IF you have a lot of things to mow around. The blade noise drowns out the hydro whine!

As for snow plowing, in the cold you are suppose to let the hydro warm up, for as much as half hour! In many cases, I'll be getting done in half hour with my gear tractor! lol

Loader work, I don't find a shuttle to be any harder to use than a hydro...

Dragging logs, I MUCH prefer a gear trans!! Gear drive is the hands down winner here...

I HATE hydro whine, I don't like all the heat they make and I hate the extra cost for maintenance! and that's after the extra you have to pay to get one! I also don't like the power they rob from the pto...

SR

I thought Moss was doing pretty good on his list until he got to Dragging Logs. I have no idea why he would think a Hydro is better for dragging anything.

 

[MossRoad]

I thought Moss was doing pretty good on his list until he got to Dragging Logs. I have no idea why he would think a Hydro is better for dragging anything.

When I had my IH2500b I found it very easy to vary the speed in my woods while dragging out trees. Slowing, stopping, reversing, speeding up, etc... was just a matter of moving my left foot and steering. Never had to touch a lever.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Many Big Dozers are hydro, so what's the issue with dragging? I have no issue dragging with my small Hydro Kubota Wheel loader. It is very precise. Nothing herky-jerky.

 

[mike69440]

Referring to a Power shift on nice shuttle, not a straight crash box type gear trans.

That's on THAT list?

HST wins on grass mowing IF you have a lot of things to mow around. The blade noise drowns out the hydro whine!
Agree. Gear is fine on flat, large fields & lawns, otherwise be lazy.

As for snow plowing, in the cold you are suppose to let the hydro warm up, for as much as half hour! In many cases, I'll be getting done in half hour with my gear tractor! lol
My tractor takes a while to warm up anyways, but close quarter, with frequent forward back work HST, otherwise gear like road plowing.

Loader work, I don't find a shuttle to be any harder to use than a hydro...
Except in really tight quarters!

Dragging logs, I MUCH prefer a gear trans!! Gear drive is the hands down winner here...
Depends on how far you are skidding.

I HATE hydro whine, I don't like all the heat they make and I hate the extra cost for maintenance! and that's after the extra you have to pay to get one! I also don't like the power they rob from the pto...
Yes, Yes, Yes, plus I chug along at low RPM, HST, you run motor faster. If you road a tractor, Gear is nice.

SR

Again, above is referring to a Power shift on nice shuttle, not a straight crash box type gear trans.

 

[goeduck]

Moss List - My Version

- Gardeners prefer a tiller over a plow - HST wins over Gears.
- Lawn mowers have to vary in ground speed often - HST wins over Gears.
- Field and Crop work - Gears win over HST
- FEL work in tight quarters - HST wins over Gears.
- Dragging logs out of the woods - Gears win over HST
- Many homeowner tasks will benefit from Gears over HST
- Many homeowner tasks will benefit from HST over Gears

 

[ovrszd]

Moss List - My Version

- Gardeners prefer a tiller over a plow - HST wins over Gears.
- Lawn mowers have to vary in ground speed often - HST wins over Gears.
- Field and Crop work - Gears win over HST
- FEL work in tight quarters - HST wins over Gears.
- Dragging logs out of the woods - Gears win over HST
- Many homeowner tasks will benefit from Gears over HST
- Many homeowner tasks will benefit from HST over Gears

I concur.

 

[MossRoad]

Moss List - My Version

- Gardeners prefer a tiller over a plow - HST wins over Gears.
- Lawn mowers have to vary in ground speed often - HST wins over Gears.
- Field and Crop work - Gears win over HST
- FEL work in tight quarters - HST wins over Gears.
- Dragging logs out of the woods - Gears win over HST
- Many homeowner tasks will benefit from Gears over HST
- Many homeowner tasks will benefit from HST over Gears

I don't see any homeowner tasks benefiting from gears, but to each their own.

Why do some people prefer shifting over HST in close quarters in the woods? I find myself constantly changing speeds and direction when finagling trees from between other trees in the woods with the tractor, and controlling speed and direction with my feet/foot (depending on machine) while keeping one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the joystick or 3pt controls.

Having to constantly move a hand from one control to the other becomes tedious, and then you have:

clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward,clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward,clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward,clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward,clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward,clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward,clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward,clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward,clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward,clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward,clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward,clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward,clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward,clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward,clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward,clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward,clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward,clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward,clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward,clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward,clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward,clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward,clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward,clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward,clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward,clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward, clutch, shift forward, clutch, shift backward......

all day long.... no thanks.

 

[marchanna]

I like doing loader work with my shuttle. I can unlike the brakes and pivot on one wheel in tight areas. Or when trying to get that maximum bucket full, in low range with the hand throttle powered up, I only have to worry about coordinating the FEL - the wheels will just spin if I push in too hard - no risk of stalling out - then it’s just a switch between high and low range to travel between scoops and dumps. It’s quite quick and efficient.

I used to use my uncle’s Kubota with HST; it was fine for loader work, but I can’t do a direct comparison because my Kioti has about twice as much hp.

 

[ArlyA]

When I grew up within the ag business, HST was just starting to show up in tractors, so I have quite a few hours with geared tractors. In the thousands of hours range and doing loader work would be among this. No HST tractor on our operation. A few years ago, we rented a 35hp HST tractor for the summer to do loader work. I was amazed just how easy it was to operate this rented HST for doing loader and other small space operations.

 

[MossRoad]

Here's a video from Messick's that shows a glide shift. Basically, this is a gear transmission that operates the clutch for you. It would be great for constant speed things like mowing large areas where speed changes aren't frequent. But they say most people doing loader work, frequent speed changes, choose HST over geared transmissions.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

In the woods, I regulate my speed with the foot throttle, and I like the idea of starting out at a low rpm to lower the hp and control wheel spin to get the load going. Many times I'm looking back and I can move my feet where I want to get turned around to see what's happening, and the load keeps on, keeping on.

I have no idea why some think you have to keep shifting all the time? Sounds like they need to cut down a couple more tree's so they can safely get around in their wood lot. lol

As for gardens, I could pound my soil into dust with a gear drive, but I choose to "preserve the soil structure", so gear drive or whiner drive, I would choose the same speed to make the best soil I can...

SR

 

[aczlan]

Here's a video from Messick's that shows a glide shift. Basically, this is a gear transmission that operates the clutch for you. It would be great for constant speed things like mowing large areas where speed changes aren't frequent. But they say most people doing loader work, frequent speed changes, choose HST over geared transmissions.

Our L3830 has a Glide Shift Transmission. It works well, but for close quarters work, I will take a HST any day of the week.

Aaron Z

 

[MossRoad]

In the woods, I regulate my speed with the foot throttle, and I like the idea of starting out at a low rpm to lower the hp and control wheel spin to get the load going. Many times I'm looking back and I can move my feet where I want to get turned around to see what's happening, and the load keeps on, keeping on.

I have no idea why some think you have to keep shifting all the time? Sounds like they need to cut down a couple more tree's so they can safely get around in their wood lot. lol

As for gardens, I could pound my soil into dust with a gear drive, but I choose to "preserve the soil structure", so gear drive or whiner drive, I would choose the same speed to make the best soil I can...

SR

I can see your points. Our woods are relatively young, with most trees being 12" and under. However, there are probably 10% large, mature trees that have to come out eventually because they shade out the new growth; around 5-600 mature trees. Also, the mature trees tend to get storm damaged easily and tipped over, so they have to come out or they rot on the ground (which isn't bad for the forest floor, but they sometimes block the trails). We don't want to cut down the young trees, so we snake out the large trees between them carefully, which requires lots of speed and directional changes. I don't want to clutch or shift all day long. Even if it was clutchless, I don't want to shift forward/reverse all day long. It gets old, fast.

 

[Industrial Toys]

When your driving some distance, or just pulling a trailer, NOTHING beats a gear transmission. Sometimes I have to look to see what all the noise is about, the thousand or so feet away on the road, and see it's some little Hydro CUT screaming away heading down the road.

 

[MossRoad]

When your driving some distance, or just pulling a trailer,....

That's what my Suburban is for.