Hydrostatic (HST) Transmission Longevity?

[bandit67]

Well, it seems that the general concensus is that you will probably be fine with an HST tranny in the longevity department.

A few months back, when I started looking again at Sub CUTs after not owning one for 12 years, I was pretty set on getting a gear drive. However, once I started looking, I found many of the smaller machines I was looking at only came with HST.

I can say now after only putting a half dozen hours on mine (I'm in the middle of a move, so seat time is very limited right now /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif) that the HST is AWESOME for mowing and loader work. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif Boy am I glad the manufacturers don't offer gear drive on most of the Subs now, because I may have made the mistake of picking that over the HST if given the choice. So far, I'm very impressed with how that HST tranny does while digging with the bucket - much better than I was expecting.

 

[nharrold]

I have a Kubota B2150HST that is eleven years old and has 2100 hours on it. No problems at all with the HST, except for the whine that gradually develops over time, and which I understand is normal for this transmission. With the HST, my wife is able to operate the machine easily and without the trepidation and reluctance that she'd feel trying to operate a machine with a clutch. Just too much would be going on at any one time for her to keep things under control. With the HST, no problem. (I really like that HST, too.)

As far as resale value goes, I paid about $18,000 for it when new, and I'll be getting about $6,000 trade-in value for it when I buy a new B7800 this coming week.

I'm satisfied.

 

[nharrold]

Incidentally, the HST has been around for a long time in one form or another. On some of the older USCG cutters I sailed on which were adopted from the Navy after the war, the quad-40 mounts were powered by a form of the HST. If the gunner cracked the wheels one way, the mount rotated in one direction. Crank 'em the other way, and the mount reversed. Crank 'em slowly, the mount moved slowly; crank 'em rapidly, and the mount would really spin around.

 

[GeneD14]

I saw a 1969 Farmall 1026 Hydro used for heavy plowing and disking Friday with over 16,000 hours on it. The farmer who owned it said that the tranny has never been touched. In my book that is as about as good as you can get.

 

[slowrev]

Yeah , but that was an OLD full sized IH tractor, not far eastern built /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Actually many people cussed the older IH hydro tractors. And were they really hydrostatic ? or some form of automatic ?