bobrpm
New member
Hi,
I just bought a 3165 and I have some questions! First, when I went to look at it and asked about the condition of the clutch, he told me it's hydrostatic. I didn't know they made them that way! It took me a while, but I found out that this would actually be a 3165R. It came with a service manual and operator manual, but neither mention the 'torque converter' or 'instant reverse' transmission. I don't know if they were rarely built this way, but I hope it's not problematic. I'm sure it will be difficult to find transmission parts. It's working strong right now. Any insights or experience with this transmission?
Also, when rolling it off the trailer at home, the 3ph would only raise and lower if the tractor is moving. If the engine is off, I can still drop the 3ph. It's got plenty of lifting power and has no trouble raising a heavy 7' box scraper. It just has to be moving in forward or reverse to raise and lower. Any thoughts?
Finally, it doesn't have a PTO. This isn't a huge deal for me, but I'm wondering how difficult it would be to add it later if I wanted to. I'm not planning on running a brush hog, but I might want a rototiller or auger some time down the road. It looks like there might be a panel on the axle where a PTO shaft would go, but with no clutch on the machine, I don't know if I can add one anyway.
For the work I need to do, I was originally looking for a newer hydrostatic tractor, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that this one was hydro. I hope I don't hear a bunch of horror stories about this transmission!
Thanks in advance.
-Bob

I just bought a 3165 and I have some questions! First, when I went to look at it and asked about the condition of the clutch, he told me it's hydrostatic. I didn't know they made them that way! It took me a while, but I found out that this would actually be a 3165R. It came with a service manual and operator manual, but neither mention the 'torque converter' or 'instant reverse' transmission. I don't know if they were rarely built this way, but I hope it's not problematic. I'm sure it will be difficult to find transmission parts. It's working strong right now. Any insights or experience with this transmission?
Also, when rolling it off the trailer at home, the 3ph would only raise and lower if the tractor is moving. If the engine is off, I can still drop the 3ph. It's got plenty of lifting power and has no trouble raising a heavy 7' box scraper. It just has to be moving in forward or reverse to raise and lower. Any thoughts?
Finally, it doesn't have a PTO. This isn't a huge deal for me, but I'm wondering how difficult it would be to add it later if I wanted to. I'm not planning on running a brush hog, but I might want a rototiller or auger some time down the road. It looks like there might be a panel on the axle where a PTO shaft would go, but with no clutch on the machine, I don't know if I can add one anyway.
For the work I need to do, I was originally looking for a newer hydrostatic tractor, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that this one was hydro. I hope I don't hear a bunch of horror stories about this transmission!
Thanks in advance.
-Bob
