Hydro or Gear

[Rockyridge]

Another thing to consider is that many gear tractor do not have synchromesh transmissions (allows shifting without grinding gears) like cars do. I don't know about the one that you are considering but you may want to verify that before you buy. Before I bought a tractor with hydro I tried out a fairly new gear model and it did not have synchromesh trans. I was trading in an old IH and really looking forward not having to deal with the grinding gears any longer. I had assumed that any newer model tractor would have synchromesh but not so.

Possibly others that have more experience with this could provide more info on this.

Good luck

 

[rickster]

HYDRO!!

 

[some zilch]

i will never believe that a hydro is as bullet-proof and long-term-reliable as a gear shift trans; but thats just me. Look how many gear shift tractors from the 50s and 60s are still around, going strong. a manual trans can take much more abuse, heat, contaminated fluid, low fluid, less maintenance than any hydro ever could. I have an L4400 gear, and i bought that tractor b/c it was the simplist/most rugged tractor i could find.

 

[Bird]

i will never believe that a hydro is as bullet-proof and long-term-reliable as a gear shift trans; but thats just me. Look how many gear shift tractors from the 50s and 60s are still around, going strong. a manual trans can take much more abuse, heat, contaminated fluid, low fluid, less maintenance than any hydro ever could. I have an L4400 gear, and i bought that tractor b/c it was the simplist/most rugged tractor i could find.

I can understand that, and I don't have any proof that you're either right or wrong. However, having some experience with city fleets, including police sedans, pickup trucks, wreckers, and motorcycles, plus working closely with the folks who maintained and serviced the bigger trucks, including garbage trucks, I can tell you that many (even most) people felt the same way about automatic transmissions for many years. And then, 25-30 years ago they discovered in the long run it was cheaper to operate automatic transmission vehicles than manual transmission vehicles.

 

[woodsy]

I had a couple of manual tranny tractors and then finally got a hydro tranny tractor. I really did not think I would like it that much. Let me tell you - There is no way I would ever go back to a manual tranny.

The difference is night and day in terms of performance and ease of use. When you're doing a bunch of back-n-forth type work, it can't be beat. It also saves a lot of time because your not trying to find 1st or 2nd or reverse, etc... while your in the thick of it. You know what I mean!

 

[RadarTech]

All of my wife's relatives have gear tractors...
I bought a hydro.

in the snow a week ago I did 3 times the work as her uncle and the only difference was the hydro..
He has a geared 2500 with a 5 foot bucket and 6 ft scrape.. a little less HP than my 3400..
I made 2 passes (down and back per pass) on the 300 yard drive with 5 point turns on both ends BEFORE he even got 2 passes done on the 30 x 20 ft driveway area done. He was using the loader scooping snow and then dumping and lots of clutching!

When I think about ANY loader work I cringed thinking about a clutch!

As for logging..
I pulled 10 or so 20 foot by 8 inch to 18 inch loggs up and out of our woods with the tractor..
On more than one occasion I have thought about the uncle's gear drive.
"if I had that gear drive I might have flipped the tractor due to torque on that little bump"

the thing I see here is with my HST, I can go slow and creep and speed up and no lurching at all.. watching a few people with gears I have seen lurching and sore knees..

AS another thought-- how old are you? will that clutch wear on you?

anyway-- put me down for 2 SOLID votes for Hydro!

J

 

[Fullfan]

Wow some great info, thanks everyone for the input.
Radar I am 44 years old. I am planning on going to the dealer in a weeks or so and doing a "testride"
I will keep everyone posted on what we do.
Again thanks for the information..
Harmon

 

[RadarTech]

Harmon,
I am about 6 years younger than you. and due to some rough wear and tear while in the Marines, my left knee no longer like the ole clutch..
So for something I want to keep for 10-20 years.. the clutch had another repercussion..

think about that while you drive too...

Later,
J

 

[RobertN]

I have located a Hydro at the Gear price
(20k) but I just do not know if the hydro will be the best choice for what I will be doing with the tractor.

Go try them both. Have your wife try both.

I have an older B series HST('85 B8200). It is great. My wife uses the tractor frequently. Works great. We mow, scrape, scoop etc.

I have though, used other tractors. One was a 30hp Massey with a shuttle shift. I helped my friend who owned it, around his property. Worked great. Clutch and shuttle was no big deal. That was a nice tractor, and worked very well around his 5 acre horse ranchette.

I've also spent some hours on a Kubota L35, using the backhoe and the loader. That GST worked great! It was like a hybrid tranny.

I've spent a few hours on my BIL's L2800. It is a regular gear tractor. It works just fine.

One thing to remember when you look at a standard gear tractor, it is not like a car tranny. You put it in the gear you want to use and go. Even my '41 Farmall A is that way.

This is my personal opinion... I really like my B series HST. But, after driving a bunch of tractors, it is my opinion that there's nothing wrong with a gear tractor, and they work just great.

Based on what you described, I might even think of saving the money that it would cost for HST, and put that towards a 4:1/clamshell front bucket...

Most of all though, I would try both before I bought. See if the dealer will bring them out for a demo, or rent them if need be. A couple hundred bucks towards rental would help you decide on a $20,000 tractor... May be money well spent.

In regards to hydro's holding up, consider that Bobcat skidsteers have been all hydro drive for years. All you concrete truck use a hydro drive to turn that big drum of concrete. For years and years now.

For what you described, you might look at used L35's with a hoe too...

 

[some zilch]

I can understand that, and I don't have any proof that you're either right or wrong. However, having some experience with city fleets, including police sedans, pickup trucks, wreckers, and motorcycles, plus working closely with the folks who maintained and serviced the bigger trucks, including garbage trucks, I can tell you that many (even most) people felt the same way about automatic transmissions for many years. And then, 25-30 years ago they discovered in the long run it was cheaper to operate automatic transmission vehicles than manual transmission vehicles.

good point, while that may true of vehicles where the owner is NOT operating, and therefore may not be as "careful" and "gentile" as the owner may be. i can see an automatic being a much better choice for inexperienced drivers, drivers who are going to abuse, and drivers who just dont care about what they are driving b/c it is not theirs. I am sure an automatic is a better choice for a fleet, where ereryone and their brother will be driving them, and most having not clue what they are doing.

myself, i am the sole operator of my tractor, and i can efficiently use the clutch. remember, the l4400 gear is a shuttle, so you are not necessarily fumbling with a stick shifter btwn your legs, hunting for reverse or forward.