Mechanical Shuttle Transmission

Golfgar4 · Aug 28, 2002

Well, I'll add my $0.02.

I drove my first shuttle shift tractor last week. It happened to be a Kioti DK35. Up to that point, I was a firm believer that I would get a hydro when I get my tractor.

Now I'm not so sure about that. That shuttle shift was as about as slick a set up as you can find. It worked so smooth that I hardly knew I was shifting directions. And this may sound weird, but I felt like I was driving a tractor! Let's face it, we don't expect the same kind of performance out of a tractor as we do our cars. I was shifting a lever and pushing in a clutch and....and....well, it felt really cool. /w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif

I also now know that the price for the shuttle shift is a good deal less than a comparable hydro.

Now don't get me wrong. Hydro's are great. If you're doing a tremendous amount of going back and forth, they are definitely the way to go. But if you're doing just the average amount of back and forth (and no, I don't know what the average is!), then I sure can't see why someone wouldn't want a shuttle shift. I'm going to pay very close attention to shuttle shifts, regardless of the brand, when I'm ready to buy. But I'll add that I was VERY impressed with the Kioti. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

TBone · Aug 29, 2002

Yes, you can shift from forward to reverse (or vice-versa) without stopping. It works just like any of the newer standard shift trucks and cars with fully syncronized transmissions.

You back out of your driveway and shift to forward while still moving. If you are driving a Chevy Iroc you might be tempted to "pop" the clutch and burn some rubber. I would not recommend you do this with a tractor! You can do a remarkably smooth change of directions, however, by feathering the clutch when shifting. As Golfgar4 said, you really can't imagine how smooth it is until you operate one.

TBone

MossRoad · Aug 29, 2002

Lets say you are doing loader work moving a pile of dirt from point A to point B which is a hundred yards away. You are in a low gear. Drive into the pile and crowd the bucket with a big ol' heaping scoop of dirt. You step on the clutch, flip the lever and back out of the pile. You back up a ways, step on the clutch, flip the lever and travel a hundred yards over to where you want to dump the load. You dump the load, step on the clutch flip the lever and back out. You want to get back to the pile in a hurry so you step on the clutch, flip the lever and shift into a higher gear. Drive back to the pile, step on the clutch, shift into a lower gear, drive into the pile step on the clutch flip the lever, back out step on the clutch ...you get the picture.

With a hydro you approach the pile, fill the bucket, back out and drive at the infinitely variable speed that is correct for the load. You dump the load, back out and take off at a higher speed just by depressing your foot a little more. You have never clutched or shifted.

I urge you to rent or borrow both types of machines and do that for yourself for a few hours on both types of transmissions before you make your choice. Let us know what you decide /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

MossRoad · Aug 29, 2002

How can you change directions without stopping? At some point your speed will be zero MPH.

JohnMiller3 · Aug 29, 2002

<font color=blue>...Lets say you are doing loader work moving a pile of dirt from point A to point B which is a hundred yards away. You are in a low gear. Drive into the pile and crowd the bucket with a big ol' heaping scoop of dirt. You step on the clutch, flip the lever and back out of the pile. You back up a ways, step on the clutch, flip the lever and travel a hundred yards over to where you want to dump the load. You dump the load, step on the clutch flip the lever and back out. You want to get back to the pile in a hurry so you step on the clutch, flip the lever and shift into a higher gear. Drive back to the pile, step on the clutch, shift into a lower gear, drive into the pile step on the clutch flip the lever, back out step on the clutch ...you get the picture....</font color=blue>

David...

You're making us dizzy... and I own gears.... /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

MossRoad · Aug 29, 2002

/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

I wish my keyboard was hydro, but it seems to be manual... I was tired after I wrote that! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

TBone · Aug 30, 2002

If I said that I didn't mean to. Obviously if you change your direction of travel there is a point in there somewhere that you are not moving in either direction. What I meant to say was you can shift the forward/reverse shuttle without stopping.

The same analogy can be applied to hydros. You can't change directions without stopping. With either of them though you never realize that you stopped if you do it correctly.

TBone

MossRoad · Aug 30, 2002

OK, that makes sense. Kind of like throwing the car in 1st while you're still rolling backwards, right? You then use the clutch and/or brakes to slow down the rearward momentum and feather it until you get going forward.