hydrostat vs. gears??

slowrev · Sep 16, 2004

Soundguy,
I am with you on your response to Slowzuki.

A neighbour uses Ford 3000 and 5000 to farm with. His 5000 has no power steering in one direction and he can't get parts to fix it. His 3000 has no gauges left on it cause ya can't get replacements.

My friend just rebuilt the power steering on his 5000 this year, all parts came from NH. I have seen complete Ford instrument clusters in aftermarket catalogs.

British built IH stuff seems to be the hardest IH stuff to find parts for, but CNH has most all of them. David Browns can also be hard to get parts for, especially the DB's rebadged as Oliver 500 and 600. Most older tractors are fairly easy to get parts for.

Looking for tractor parts call a dealer. Most on here say to find a good dealer to buy a tractor, well they are the surest place to find parts too.

A few good parts sources for older tarctors are the-co.com and valu-bilt.com, rvtractorparts.com. will ship to ya and have a very good selection.

familyman · Sep 16, 2004

Elves, my L2800 is a 4 speed unsynchronized trans with 2 forward ranges (8 forward speeds) and 1 reverse (4 reverse speeds) on the shuttle. I've got to come to a dead stop every time I switch gears, so I generally leave her in 2nd and use the shuttle for L/H/R when digging or moving dirt. This limited flexibility can be trying at times. When I start mowing with it next year (my STX38 is on its last legs) it won't be too bothersome and for most uses besides dirt moving/excavating it's not a problem. BUT--there have been many times when using the FEL that I'd yearned for HST to speed things up. In the long run, for my varied uses, this tractor will serve well and I've never looked at it and thought, "I wish I had a...". I will honestly say that if all I had to do was dirt work, I'd look at buying a hydro. But for me, cost was one of the considerations and I wanted quality for what I could spend, so I got a geared tractor. Once my kids graduate, the plan is to sell the home in semi-suburbia and buy some acreage a little further out that I'm sure will need improving. We're even talking about keeping some horses and other animals and my machine will serve well for that, too. But so would a hydro, since, at this point, we're not planning on raising crops but may have a bit of field mowing to do. So plan for possible future needs, as best you can, as well as for what you need today. Oh, and get a tooth bar.
There, I'm done rambling! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Good luck, and keep us in the loop.

Charley

rambler · Sep 16, 2004

(
A neighbour uses Ford 3000 and 5000 to farm with. His 5000 has no power steering in one direction and he can't get parts to fix it. His 3000 has no gauges left on it cause ya can't get replacements.
)

www.valubilt.com should be able to ship all the parts he needs UPS. As well as Worthington salvage, they are a network of salvage yards all over the country, more or less started in Worthington, Minnesota.

New Holland has started to slow parts support for the 100 series of tractors, but I'm shocked that he couldn't find parts for a 1000 series machine. Any gauge I want for my older 960 is on my dealer's shelf, other than that proof meter which is too spendy for anyone to buy, so no sales, so discontinued. There are places that rebuild or sell remanufatured ones tho.

--->Paul

slowzuki · Sep 17, 2004

I'll have to let him know, he doesn't do the internet. As a note I live in eastern Canada and I'm sure this isn't the case in Ontario and other places in Canada.

It took me 3 days to get an oil filter ordered in for the Case - IH 585 and it was made until what, 1990? Plus the filter is used on almost every international diesel. They had to come from a store 4 hours away.

Ledgemere Farm · Sep 17, 2004

I still see allot of tractors with narrow fronts working on small gentleman farms. I love a narrow front end for raking, mowing and for backing up a hay wagon.

Now that I have gotten used to a hydro, I can't believe what I have been missing all of these years! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

To20Chris · Sep 17, 2004

I just noticed that this post was revived after 7 months - so did you buy something, and if so, how do you like it?

JATO_RaT · Sep 17, 2004

Don't expect a response too quick. This was his last post to date. That goes back to February. It is pretty old but then, so is the topic. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

PineRidge · Sep 17, 2004

Some posts never seem to die. After all everyone has their own opinion on either a gear or HST tractor. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Dargo · Sep 19, 2004

My grandfather, in his upper 90's, didn't think that the automatic (hydrostatic) transmissions in cars would ever catch on. Once he got into his 80's he decided that they would likely be okay. Besides, he said that his left knee just wasn't what it used to be. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

My point is, gear transmissions obviously have a long history and can be very durable. However, the "new" hydro transmissions just may work out to be okay. I liked the gear transmission tractors I had and I've gotten to where I like the hydro models. They both seem fine. As many have said before, buy what you like.

As far as being strong, I recently (well, in the last 10 years or so anyway, time is becoming relative) got to drive one of the giant Titan coal mine haul trucks a few feet or so. (didnt' trust me much further /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif) It was an automatic. I don't think they make 'em much bigger than that, and it was basically a hydro.

Bird · Sep 19, 2004

( My grandfather, in his upper 90's, didn't think that the automatic (hydrostatic) transmissions in cars would ever catch on )

I was 12 years old when my dad bought his first automatic transmission car (hydromatic Oldsmobile) and mother was mad at him for doing it; said he just did that because she didn't know how to drive an automatic. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Of course, after a few days, she was happy with it and they never went back to a manual again.