Hydro or Gear

[Fullfan]

Have done the search thing and did not find what I was looking for. I am going to purchase a L4400 w the FEL in the next 30 days. 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.

90 % of the time the tractor will be dragging fire wood, logs will not be more than 18" X 35'. It will see some brush hoggin time and some FEL work.

What I am wanting to know will the Hydro be the best choice for me?? And the wife will be on the tractor doing her thing with the landscaping moving rocks and mulch.

 

[David_Kb7uns]

If you stepped up to the Grand L series the GST would be a good compromise, sometimes I would like a Hydro for the loader work on the hillside but the gears in the GST pull good with easy shifts and a shuttle to boot.

David Kb7uns

 

[Bird]

Does your wife prefer an automatic transmission car or a manual transmission? I think we're mostly talking about personal preference, but I'd go for the hydro without even thinking about it.

 

[dex3361]

Welcome to TBN, this is a great place to find all kinds of tractor info. I have a L4400 HST and i use mine for skidding logs.I have pulled many logs of that size and I have not had any problems at all. My Previous tractor was a gear shift trans IH424 (37 hp PTO) and I had it for about 10 years. I traded it in for the Kubota and I would not have another tractor without HST. It (HST) gives much more control and with infinitely variable speeds. I dont do a lot of ground engagement work like plowing fields if I did I would go with a gear shift tranny. I am truely impressed with the kubota, you will be pleased. Are you going to get rear remotes? Does it have SS quick detach on the bucket? What area do you live?

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

I don't know anyone that would go back to a gear after owning a hydro. With FEL work the hydro is the best. Yard work the hydro is the best. If you just do straight ahead all the time I doubt it would matter but at the same price I can't see anyone taking a gear over a hydro. Some say a slight loss of HP to hydro but with the jobs your talking about your over HPed anyway. I know where you can get a L3240HSTPlus with 32 hours, FEL with QA bucket for $18500.

 

[MikeInEburg]

I was loading logs on a truck Sunday. The Hydro lets me easily move in 1/4 inch increments. I'd never go back to gear! Unless I spent my days plowing.
Mike

 

[Fullfan]

Guys thanks for the info. I have never owned any equipement with the Hydro transmission. My dad has a 1977 L245dt that has been a great tractor, never one problem. I just want to make sure the Hydro will be bomb proof like his gear drive tractor. And I do want the wife to be able to operate and enjoy the tractor.
I do not see a bunch of FEL work, but some and that sounds like the big selling point on the Hydro.
We live in NW PA on 398 acers. All are wooded but about 15. We have atv trails for the kids and old log roads that will be maintained with the tractor. Foodplots will also be maintained.

Sorry for so many questions, but we just want to make sure we make the right choice..

 

[GLC]

I recently bought an new L4400 gear with loader. It replaced an NAA Ford that I've had for a long time. My work is mostly plowing, discing, and a lot of Bush Hog mowing, basically straight line field work. To me, the loader was an added bonus and not the primary use. I'm happy with the gear model but if I was buying a tractor with primary use as a loader, I would probably reconsider and by the hydro. I pushed snow some this winter with the loader and the gear shifting gets tedious after a while. A better range of speeds would have been nice and would have been available with the hydro.

Also, plan on loading the tires or buying rear weights. The L4400 with loader is pretty tippy and has no traction without the weight. I went with weights and it is just fine now.

All things considered, I'm totally happy with the gear model I have.

My 2 cents.

 

[Fullfan]

GLC. thanks for the input. What part pf PA are you in?? I live in Mercer Co.

 

[JRobyn]

One of my wife's very most favorite things to do is bushogging! But I bet without the HST, she'd not like it near as much.

- Jay
L4330 HST

 

[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.