Hydrostatic or Gear - Which is better?

MChalkley · Apr 27, 2001

Harv - Good to hear from you! I've had DT and GST Kubotas (as well as the current HST), and I never minded shifting the gears at all. That's not why I prefer the HST - it's not convenience, but control, speed and safety.

I know what you mean about being a gear freak - my car is a diesel VW 5-speed, and my truck is a diesel Dodge 6-speed. The only thing I own that I don't want a manual gearbox in is my tractor. You can't compare tractors to other vehicles in this area. I think you ought to wipe the slate clean and try an HST doing some real work sometime - next time you're in VA, come play with mine for a while. I think you'll see what I mean. I can't claim any great intelligence in discovering HST's advantages in these areas, though. I have to confess that I originally decided to go with an HST for safety reasons (I frequently work on jobs with 200-300 hundred people milling around), and I backed into (no pun intended) all the other advantages.

Hey, Rat! Are you still positive this isn't me? What would you know, anyway? People with Michelins on their tractor don't have any sense! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

MarkC

MChalkley · Apr 27, 2001

Larry - When do we get to read more about the "weight studies"? Sounds interesting...

MarkC

MChalkley · Apr 27, 2001

GlueGuy - As for my reputation preceeding me, I'm a little unsure of what to think of that. I do know there's some incredibly nice guys who hang around this board, so that accounts for most of it. I'd like to think I earned some of it, but "deserve" is probably a better word - as in "deserve what I get" or "what goes around comes around". Of course, Harv's comment about the reputation exceeding me may be the most accurate assessment of all - but Harv is also a generous recipient of the "what goes around comes around" principle... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

As for your response to the question of whether gear or hydrstatic is broken, "it depends" - on what? Whether the HST has fluid in it or not? /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

MarkC

Harv · Apr 27, 2001

next time you're in VA, come play with mine

You're on, Mark! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Next time we're driving up to the property, I'll see how the family feels about a 6,000 mile detour. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Billc · Apr 27, 2001

Ahhhh, Mark......mmmmm.....wellllll....Harv is a great guy and all.........but is it such a good idea to say to a guy from California "Come play with mine"? /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Good to see you back.

Bill Cook

cowboydoc · Apr 27, 2001

One more thing that hasn't been mentioned on the hydrostat. Do they have cruise control like the lawn mowers do? If not and you're going to be on one all in the field your foot and leg is going to get awful tired pushing the hydro pedal all day. I know on my old lawn mower it didn't have the cruise on the hydro and your leg would get sore just from pushing that thing straight for two or three hours. I can't imagine how it would be all day in the field. Also I couldn't live without brake steering. Finally if you're planting, fertilizing etc. it's going to be pretty hard to keep her at a constant speed with the hydro without cruise, so you're going to get more or less on your field or pasture, etc. without the constant of a specific gear.

MChalkley · Apr 27, 2001

Cowboydoc - All of the HST tractors I've seen do have "cruise control". Some have the brake pedals on the same side as the HST pedal, though, so it's difficult to do brake turning unless the cruise is on, in which case you're usually going fast enough or in a tricky enough situation that it can't be but, uh, I digress...

Billc - Funny (sorry) you should mention that, but I thought about rephrasing that sentence, then thought "Nah, it's just because of what happened the other day." You see, I was in a strange mall (my wife and I are up in MD for a little getaway to celebrate our 20th anniversary), and I went into a barber shop (though they don't call them that anymore) for a haircut. I asked if they had someone who could do it right then and the girl said "Sure, George is available." To which I replied "George may be available, but unless it's short for Georgina, he ain't cuttin' my hair." Then I saw George. Strictly very light in the loafers. What I can't figure out is why George in a real barber shop is normal, but George in a "hair salon", or whatever they call them nowadays, is almost certainly anything but.

MarkC

GlueGuy · Apr 27, 2001

whether gear or hydrstatic is broken

I think my "depends" comment was in regard to which was better, not broken. It's clear that a lot of what a tractor is typically used for lends itself well to the HST. However, there are still applications where the gear drive might be a better choice.

Back to you Chet.

The GlueGuy

cowboydoc · Apr 27, 2001

Clears some things up Mark. Thanks for the info.

Billc · Apr 27, 2001

Harv...I feel terrible. I never post during the day, only when I get up in the mornings. I've been out putting up 1.5 miles of hot wire, but had to come in and add to the post I wrote to MarkC.

Let me apologize for making fun of California...which I enjoy doing to no end...like: Got a light? Nope, this is California, rolling blackouts, you know." Anyway, I live in north Georgia...not to far from where they filmed Deliverance...you know the movie...."Can you squeel like a pig?". So I shouldn't be throwing stones at you.

Mark, I know what you mean about hair salons. My wife owns one. I can get my hair cut free. Do I? Not on your life. Last time I was in, there was a guy there. He was straight and had a serious look on his face. He sat there with some funny hair salon cap on, with strands of his hair pulled through the cap, and some kind of goop on the strands to give him "highlights" he was about 17 years old. It seems this is the fashion. In my day if we saw a guy doing this the fashion would have been a good whipping or a swirly (stick someones head in a toilet and flush it a couple of times.) Any hair cutting place that does this sort of thing ain't gettin' my business....whether my wife owns it or not!

In Calhoun, the next town up, there is a barbershop. My definition of "barber shop" is this: A barber pole out front that really turns. They're closed on Saturday because the barbers are hunting, fishing, or farming. The only magazines are ones with titles like 'Guns and Ammo', 'Farm Equipment Monthly', 'Sports Illustrated', 'Flying', etc. And the biggest key of all is a hot lather neck shave with a straight razor. When I'm sitting in the chair I would not be surprised if Floyd the barber from Andy Griffith walked in.

Edited by BillC on 04/27/01 02:45 PM (server time).