Manual vs Hydrostatic

[FallbrookFarmer]

Okay,
I,m old and barely literate.
But YMMV? Do I need a PM here?

 

[niemeyjt]

Am looking at a used tractor from a small scale seller
When I look at the price of new tractors, I get vertigo
BTW On a totally different subject, If you don't mind me asking, Do you have BUPA or straight NHS?

Straight NHS. Most people do - BUPA costs alot and is not necessary - NHS does the job mostly, if slowly, and if the budget is not exhausted, and if the drugs you need are "approved" (not all are). I pay enough taxes as it is. I guess it is a bit like private education, where you can send children to schools not run by the state if you pay the fees. My mother had it - but ended up with BUPA paying for her to be in an NHS hospital with NHS doctors and nurses in a bed next to NHS patients.

YMMV - Your Mileage May Vary

J

 

[RalphVa]

I drove manual transmission tractors on our farms from a tyke until age 14 when we moved to town. Drove the neighbor's old manual transmission JD a couple of times here before getting my JD 4010 with hydro. I'd NEVER go back to manual transmission. I see absolutely no use for it unless you need lots of hp for ground engagement equipment, but even on those I think it'd be better to just a little bit bigger hp model to account for the slight hydro loss. The manuals are complete klutz stuff compared to the hydro.

Ralph

 

[Ken45101]

I have both, HST on the smaller units (B21, B2710), gear on the bigger (M5040, M9540).

The HST is definitely nicer for loader work where you can keep the engine speed up (for hydraulic flow) while slowly moving the tractor.

But I've always felt that the HST robbed the unit of a lot of power. Maybe I'm wrong. For work where you don't need the engine RPMs up or are running at constant speed (e.g. bush hogging), I'm perfectly happy with the gear transmission.

I will agree that the braking is nice with an HST (love it on the RTV900), but a grear transmission will slow a tractor down until it's at idle speed.

All in all, it depends on the use.

Ken

 

[DK35vince]

I drove manual transmission tractors on our farms from a tyke until age 14 when we moved to town. Drove the neighbor's old manual transmission JD a couple of times here before getting my JD 4010 with hydro. I'd NEVER go back to manual transmission.

The modern Shuttle shift and Power shift transmissions are so much faster foward/reversing, smoother and easier to use than older style manual transmissions there is simply no comparison.

 

[bp fick]

Gear (manual) is $1200 cheaper to buy, doesn't rob the wheels of 10% of the power, and perhaps most of all, doesn't have the annoying whine of an HST. Still, the B2320 Kubota, that I am considering, doesn't have a live PTO with the gear and that may be the deal breaker there. We shall see

 

[FallbrookFarmer]

Straight NHS. Most people do - BUPA costs alot and is not necessary - NHS does the job mostly, if slowly, and if the budget is not exhausted, and if the drugs you need are "approved" (not all are). I pay enough taxes as it is. I guess it is a bit like private education, where you can send children to schools not run by the state if you pay the fees. My mother had it - but ended up with BUPA paying for her to be in an NHS hospital with NHS doctors and nurses in a bed next to NHS patients.

YMMV - Your Mileage May Vary

J

Thanks for the reply /information,
My inquiry is obviously due to the changes here. I sometimes read the horror stories about people dying in hospitals, like the one in the Sun two days ago,the guy who had to call the switchboard to get a drink of water
and was then refused by the nurse, and then passed on.
I always wondered why you would need private insurance, if you already had NHS. I guess some health plans are more "equal" than others

 

[FallbrookFarmer]

Gear (manual) is $1200 cheaper to buy, doesn't rob the wheels of 10% of the power, and perhaps most of all, doesn't have the annoying whine of an HST. Still, the B2320 Kubota, that I am considering, doesn't have a live PTO with the gear and that may be the deal breaker there. We shall see

I think I can see why this might become a "religious" discussion
Thanks, everyone for all the great info!

 

[Stonehaller]

(if you count my 1972 Cub Cadet HST)

Sorry to prolong the thread, but when I saw the reference to the '72 cub cadet it made me remember. Back in the '70s my dad used to sell the cub cadet law tractors with hydrostatic transmissions. He sold several to a manufacturing plant and they ran them around the clock towing parts wagons. I rebuilt all of the Kohler engines for them at least once, but I never once saw a hydro trans. failure.

 

[Ken45101]

and perhaps most of all, doesn't have the annoying whine of an HST.

I have never noticed a whine in my B21 or B2710.

Ken

 

[dieselfreak]

I went from gear to HST back to gear (well, Hydraulic shuttle) I prefer the hyd shuttle over the HST. The HST's loud whining noise got tiresome and gave me a headache (I use my tractor a lot) and I never felt like I was putting enough of the engine's power to the wheels. It always felt "softer" to me than a gear tractor. The ease of use & convenience of the HST was nice, but Kubota's hydraulic shuttle is real easy to use, too.

I'm doing a job with my backhoe and a buddy's L3130 HST and his feels weaker & noisy, too.

I agree. Test drove a new MF 1635, and I am amazed at how smooth the shuttle is. The whine of the hydro is enough to drive me nuts, and was listening to it drive by me.

Powershuttle is the way.

 

[FallbrookFarmer]

Thanks for the reply /information,
My inquiry is obviously due to the changes here. I sometimes read the horror stories about people dying in hospitals, like the one in the Sun two days ago,the guy who had to call the switchboard to get a drink of water
and was then refused by the nurse, and then passed on.
I always wondered why you would need private insurance, if you already had NHS. I guess some health plans are more "equal" than others

Don't know if your still out there, but a further question, if I might.
Is the charge for the private insurance(BUPA) deductable from your tax bill?
It would seem to me that if you were already paying for
"free" health care under the NHS, it only be fair for them to allow a deduction.

 

[Gizmo2]

Nope, I will never go back to gears but then again I will probably not buy another tractor either. I had my last tractor for 20 years sold it for $4,000.00 less then I paid for it new. The extra money for a HST spread out 20 years would literally be nothing at all or at least less than $100.00 per year. Resale on a smaller HST tractor I am sure is better than the same tractor with gears.

 

[dex3361]

Sorry to prolong the thread, but when I saw the reference to the '72 cub cadet it made me remember. Back in the '70s my dad used to sell the cub cadet law tractors with hydrostatic transmissions. He sold several to a manufacturing plant and they ran them around the clock towing parts wagons. I rebuilt all of the Kohler engines for them at least once, but I never once saw a hydro trans. failure.

The 129 that I have is on its second Kohler engine. When I repowered it I found a NOS 16 HP Kohler cast Iron set up for a Cub Cadet that bolted right up and it has about 10 years of use on it. That translates into about 1000 hours of use by me and the hydro is still strong.

 

[Builder]

I agree. Test drove a new MF 1635, and I am amazed at how smooth the shuttle is. The whine of the hydro is enough to drive me nuts, and was listening to it drive by me.

Powershuttle is the way.

I'm also in a HP class (>70) where Hydrostatic is unavailable (at least none that I know of, anyway). If I was back into an itty bitty tractor, I might go hydro, but you're right-powershuttles are SWEET.

My John Deere garden tractor is a hydrostatic and I like it a lot.

I think a lot of you guys mean gear shift tractors that have an actual unsynchronized gear shifter on the tranny hump between your legs. Yes, those are relics. The left hand hyd. reversers, shuttle shifts & powershifts aren't as fast as hydro, but aren't near as slow as the old fashioned gear jammers, either. :confused2:

 

[John Clark]

Do you prefer an automatic or manual transmission in your car or pickup?

If you prefer not to shift like 90% of the population do, then buy a hydrostatic.:thumbsup:

My two cents and you are being overcharged

 

[niemeyjt]

Manual in a car every time.

Hydro in a tractor every time.

What does that say?

J

 

[Gizmo2]

Manual in a car every time.

Hydro in a tractor every time.

What does that say?

J

Your Cool!

 

[RalphVa]

Last year we bought a 2010 VW Jetta TDI with 6 speed manual because we gave up on Mercedes ever bringing over a stick shift diesel. (They have a marvelous turbo diesel with 6 speed manual in their C class for the rest of the world.) Our Tacoma pickup and VW Cabrio are both 5 speed manual. Only time I EVER had an automatic car was when I was a senior in college and freshman in graduate program at Princeton. Had a Chrysler because it was all I could afford. Would have preferred to have a stick VW, but they were all about $1,000. The Chrysler was $425.

For my tractor, I'll take hydro. It is not the same as an automatic transmission but is MUCH better than the typical gear shift on tractors, most of which are VERY klutzy and hard to use. Not like the shifter on the Jetta, which is the best I've ever driven (incl. 3 sport cars, an Alfasud in Italy, Bimmer, etc.)

Ralph

 

[Builder]

Do you prefer an automatic or manual transmission in your car or pickup?

If you prefer not to shift like 90% of the population do, then buy a hydrostatic.:thumbsup:

My two cents and you are being overcharged

Get a GM truck with an Allison automatic. Works just like a medium duty automatic, but also have a manual shift mode so you can toggle through all 6 gears! :thumbsup: