Is the HST+ right for me? (Grooming riding arenas)

[Paystar]

Too bad you don't have a dealer like my Kubota/Deere dealer. He would haul both to my place for me to demo. Then you'd know for sure what works for you.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I do a lot of grading work with my L6060 HSTC using a York rake. To me, the advantage of the HST+ is the ability to change from low to high and back again without stopping. I work mostly in mid range and find the high / low gearing to be near perfect for what I do. I'm grading roadways though and not an arena. YMMV.

When I use the rake behind my MX5800HST without HST+, I frequently have to stop to change gear ranges. The time savings adds up on a 1.5 mile road.

 

[billybonds]

The HST+ seemed appealing until I saw the specs and it really just seems to add a lower gear to each range, not a higher one. If I am reading all the spec sheets correctly, the MX6000 has a faster travel speed in mid range than the L6060 has in mid-high.

I suggest you post the spec sheets here, orr discus the specs with your dealer. If you do not post the specs you are seeing you will not get apples-to-apples discussion.

L6060 spec sheet

MX6000 spec sheet

 

[Hoss710]

Deere shows 8.9 mph in mid range with there hst.

 

[bdhsfz6]

Don't loose sight of the fact that ground speed with an HST is infinitely variable within each gear range. You can always choose a gear range with a top speed that's too high and just back off on the shuttle pedal.

 

[Goose1776]

I went from an MX5100 hst
To a
L5460 with hst+.
To me the hst+ seems smoother and more refined, and definitely quieter..
stall guard, auto throttle, etc is a bonus
And I like the display on the grand L
much more than the MX,
But for just dragging an arena, I’m not sure it would make much of a difference.??

 

[Fallon]

I have a L4060hstc & live at 7,000', so it's probably more like a L3560 HP wise due to lack of oxygen. I really only need low range for heavy loader work, getting a full bucket of gravel or pulling a very full land plane or box blade. Light arena work or light driveway work I'm in medium range & limited by bouncing over obstacles or reaction time more than HP. I've drug my box blade or land plane over my driveway in high range turtle a few times. Not great, but the extra 20hp on a L6060 would have made it fine.

I prefer the dynamic control of a HST to a geared machine. The 2 speed HST+ just means I rarely have to shift out of medium range. Low for heavy work & High for roading.

 

[amhicks21]

I have about 3000 hours on l6060's. I do practically everything in high gear. I plow snow with a 10' plow in high high and only drop to high low when its very heavy snow. I pull a 15' batwing and grade with an 80" preseeder in high low. You'd have no problem pulling an arena drag in high gear. You even still have very accurate control of acceleration and deceleration in high range. The single thing that sets kubota above other manufacturers for me is the HST+ transmission. Ive got quite a bit of experience on 30-35hp kubotas as well so I know how completely useless they are in high range for anything other than traveling on flat ground. the l6060 is honestly like night and day. Ive never run an arena drag but if I can push a 10" snow plow at 17mph, it seems pretty likely you'd be able to pull a drag.

 

[billybonds]

I have about 3000 hours on l6060's. I do practically everything in high gear. I plow snow with a 10' plow in high high and only drop to high low when its very heavy snow. I pull a 15' batwing and grade with an 80" preseeder in high low. You'd have no problem pulling an arena drag in high gear. You even still have very accurate control of acceleration and deceleration in high range. The single thing that sets kubota above other manufacturers for me is the HST+ transmission. Ive got quite a bit of experience on 30-35hp kubotas as well so I know how completely useless they are in high range for anything other than traveling on flat ground. the l6060 is honestly like night and day. Ive never run an arena drag but if I can push a 10" snow plow at 17mph, it seems pretty likely you'd be able to pull a drag.

So would you wait for an L6060 as opposed to take an MX6000 now?

 

[JethroB]

The HST+ hi/low on the fly is my favorite feature on Grand L’s. I’m 95% in medium range. But the other bells & whistles are nice too. The ability to adjust the rollout when stopping is nice, from a gentle-ish coast when letting off the Go pedal to a hang-on to your butt. sudden stop. Brakes very rarely touched.

My dealer didn’t have either of mine in stock but did a swap or transfer from other dealers. I like the GL so much I got a second cabbed model. Open station is for sale btw.