I hear a lot of pro hydro/pro gear transmission debate on this forum. My questyion is has anyone hear ever owned a hydro and decided there next tractor would be a geared tractor because they thought geared tractors were better and did not like the hydro as well ?
Hydrostat owners and did not like it ???
- Thread starter AndyClyde
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DUMBDOG
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A lot of it depends upon what you are going to do with the tractor. Ground engaging equipment should be a gear, hydro is great for loader work.
Have had a hydro for over six years, just added a gear for the above reasons. Love the hydro, the gear will take a little getting used to. As it is a GST, you do not have to use the clutch to shift gears, just for starting and between forward and reverse. Have played with it for about an hour getting used to it. Will be keeping the hydro for some of the loader work, mowing etc.
You have also asked one of the most disputed questions here at TBN, hydro or gear.
Have had a hydro for over six years, just added a gear for the above reasons. Love the hydro, the gear will take a little getting used to. As it is a GST, you do not have to use the clutch to shift gears, just for starting and between forward and reverse. Have played with it for about an hour getting used to it. Will be keeping the hydro for some of the loader work, mowing etc.
You have also asked one of the most disputed questions here at TBN, hydro or gear.
JimR
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My old geared 8N use to blow my left knee out all the time. I now have a hydro and loving every minute of it. I only wish I could have done it years ago.
JDGREEN4ME
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For my use hydro works great and I love it... /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
teddydo
Silver Member
I use my hydro to pull all types of kinds of ground equipment. Like breaking plows, disk, harrow. The power to the wheels is no problem. My 4330 just isn't made right to cultivate with, or plant. I simply do not understand why people say they do not work good on a steady load to the wheels, that's what a Tractor is made for. teddy /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
PineRidge
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rockyridgefarm
Elite Member
whattsa geared tractor?
DUMBDOG
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Guess I cannot say for certain why the hydro is not good for ground engagement equipment, but with 40 acres to plow, etc. each year, I will bow to the advice of the experts that I have talked to locally. Last year, sure did a lot of cultivating with it and it worked fine on the steady load. Except for the time that the cultivator caught a root and tore the cultivator frame apart. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
If nothing else it was a good excuse to get another tractor.
If nothing else it was a good excuse to get another tractor.
dicker
Silver Member
All I have ever known is the e hydro on my JD4310, so my knowledge is limited to 500 hrs on my tractor. Most of my time is divided equally between loader and backhoe.
However, I cannot see a time where I would want to change to gears. The hydro does everything that I ask of it.
Richard
However, I cannot see a time where I would want to change to gears. The hydro does everything that I ask of it.
Richard
timb
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It's difficult to bring up the hydro/gear transmission subject here without starting some very heated conversations as the flames grow high! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I'm not putting down either type of tranny - I feel they both have their place so please take this info in that spirit.
This has been discussed before, but to try to summarize in a nutshell why the 'wisdom' is that a hydro may not be the best choice for ground engaging duty...
Any transmission absorbs power. Fact of life. A fluid connection is not as efficient as a mechanical one can be. Fact. That means, that for two otherwise identical tractors, one gear and one hydro, the hydro will put less power to the wheels than the gear. Not talking about the minor difference you'll see listed for PTO power. That's only the minor loss caused by the hydro's pump. I'm talking about actual power transmission through the transmission to the axles. (drawbar horsepower). Now since most CUTs are probably 'overpowered' for their size anyway - and most owners are reluctant to ballast the tractor for absolutely maximum traction - this small loss of pure efficiency probably does not actually impact 99% of CUT owners. They've got more power than they can put down on the ground anyway (traction limited) and the small amount of extra fuel use is not a big deal either.
The 2nd issue with the hydro comes from the first. That loss of power in the fluid transmission doesn't just dissappear into a black hole. It's being converted to heat. Several thousand watts worth. When the tranny heats up, it isn't doing any favors to the internal seals and o-rings. If it gets hot enough, it will actually begin to change the characteristics of the transmission fluid - among other things increasing fluid shear (the source of the power loss in the first place) - and that leads to yet more heat. So - on paper, push a hydro hard enough to overwelm it's cooling system's heat-shedding ability - and you could cause problems. Now, like the first situation, is it ever going to be bad enough in the real world to actually affect a typical CUT owner? No one seems to really have hard statistics at hand and a lot of people seem to have pushed their CUTs pretty hard without apparent problems.
So - the ground engaging thing is real enough - in a lab or on a test stand (rolling dyno) - but it may very well be debatable as a source of real-world problems for most CUT owners in the field.
This has been discussed before, but to try to summarize in a nutshell why the 'wisdom' is that a hydro may not be the best choice for ground engaging duty...
Any transmission absorbs power. Fact of life. A fluid connection is not as efficient as a mechanical one can be. Fact. That means, that for two otherwise identical tractors, one gear and one hydro, the hydro will put less power to the wheels than the gear. Not talking about the minor difference you'll see listed for PTO power. That's only the minor loss caused by the hydro's pump. I'm talking about actual power transmission through the transmission to the axles. (drawbar horsepower). Now since most CUTs are probably 'overpowered' for their size anyway - and most owners are reluctant to ballast the tractor for absolutely maximum traction - this small loss of pure efficiency probably does not actually impact 99% of CUT owners. They've got more power than they can put down on the ground anyway (traction limited) and the small amount of extra fuel use is not a big deal either.
The 2nd issue with the hydro comes from the first. That loss of power in the fluid transmission doesn't just dissappear into a black hole. It's being converted to heat. Several thousand watts worth. When the tranny heats up, it isn't doing any favors to the internal seals and o-rings. If it gets hot enough, it will actually begin to change the characteristics of the transmission fluid - among other things increasing fluid shear (the source of the power loss in the first place) - and that leads to yet more heat. So - on paper, push a hydro hard enough to overwelm it's cooling system's heat-shedding ability - and you could cause problems. Now, like the first situation, is it ever going to be bad enough in the real world to actually affect a typical CUT owner? No one seems to really have hard statistics at hand and a lot of people seem to have pushed their CUTs pretty hard without apparent problems.
So - the ground engaging thing is real enough - in a lab or on a test stand (rolling dyno) - but it may very well be debatable as a source of real-world problems for most CUT owners in the field.