New tractor suggestions for snow removal

[JWR]

Besides pulling a plow where else would a gear drive outperform a hst?

Well, first in efficiency -- using the horsepower you have vice wasting a % in the tranny. Second in places where I am creeping down a very steep hill bush hogging trying to hold myself on the seat by placing both feet on something solid on the platform. Were it an HST I would be stopping the machine (really in this example causing sliding) by taking my feet off the treadle pedal. Third, in any case where I wish to be certain the wheels are turning. Fourth, in any case where I might want to push or coast the thing to start it...etc.

 

[RidgeHiker]

Hst will go slower than a manual transmission, even than a creeper gear.

Also, I believe the op mentioned fork work, another job where a hst will outperform a manual transmission.

I get that the HST can go slower but I assume that is at the cost of dropping pto rpms which makes the blower less efficient and more likely to clog. It seems the real answer are creeper gears, as mentioned by JWR, which maintains higher rpms at slower speeds irrespective of the transmission type. Am I missing something here?

 

[finn1]

When you start racking up several thousand hours and 20 years on your hydros then you can start trying to tell me how -- good they are.
Small homeowner type jobs and light duty fine. When they have to work hard even the super fancy and expensive IVTs are falling short compared to power shift gear boxs.
And before someone brings up there SkidSteers how many make it to 6000 hours without major hydraulic work.
A great many gear and power shift tractors have racked up many 1000's of hours with NO clutches or transmission work or even engine work.

I doubt that I will be operating a tractor in twenty years, and you probably won’t be either, so the point is irrelevant.

 

[finn1]

I get that the HST can go slower but I assume that is at the cost of dropping pto rpms which makes the blower less efficient and more likely to clog. It seems the real answer are creeper gears, as mentioned by JWR, which maintains higher rpms at slower speeds irrespective of the transmission type. Am I missing something here?

No. Engine rpm doesn’t define ground speed with a hst. It does in a gear tractor.

Try driving one mph in a stick shift car, then try it with an automatic.

 

[finn1]

Well, first in efficiency -- using the horsepower you have vice wasting a % in the tranny. Second in places where I am creeping down a very steep hill bush hogging trying to hold myself on the seat by placing both feet on something solid on the platform. Were it an HST I would be stopping the machine (really in this example causing sliding) by taking my feet off the treadle pedal. Third, in any case where I wish to be certain the wheels are turning. Fourth, in any case where I might want to push or coast the thing to start it...etc.

Real hst tractors don’t use treadle pedals. Isn’t Kubota the only one that hasn’t gone to dual pedals?

 

[RidgeHiker]

No. Engine rpm doesn’t define ground speed with a hst. It does in a gear tractor.

Try driving one mph in a stick shift car, then try it with an automatic.

So you are saying that an hst with the same gearing as a conventional transmission can maintain much higher pto rpms at the same slow speed? I may be somewhat dense about his since I have only owned shuttle shifts.

In my car and truck automatics if I keep them in low range the rpms will get higher when I step on the gas but the speed increases as well.

 

[LouNY]

I doubt that I will be operating a tractor in twenty years, and you probably won’t be either, so the point is irrelevant.

I guess that would depend upon your definition of relevant;
On the farm the tractors that I run the most are the IH Magnums 7100 and 7200s.
The 7220 is a "95" the 7110 and 7130 are early "90"s so they are 30 years old and and worked
every year, the other IH's H, . 400, 560, 340 656, 1066, 1086 are all older. The Puma 125 is maybe only 10 years or so old and
the NH T6050 is a year newer. Then there are the Green ones a 4020, a pair of 4430's, and the Ford 8000 which is a "68"
model. They all run and are worked frequently.
And then my yard tractors the IH 574 a"70" is 51 years old and is parked and hooked up to my pto generator ready to go
when needed and the Branson 8050 shes only 6 years old.
But you are right I doubt that I'm still driving them 20 years from now. I am hoping for 10+ more.
I can remember when most of them came to the farm and I have run all of them for many hours.

 

[JWR]

I get that the HST can go slower but I assume that is at the cost of dropping pto rpms which makes the blower less efficient and more likely to clog. It seems the real answer are creeper gears, as mentioned by JWR, which maintains higher rpms at slower speeds irrespective of the transmission type. Am I missing something here?

I like people voting my way BUT, no RidgeHiker you are missing something. HST engine rpm can stay full bore (or whatever rpm you set it at) while the tractor is still, barely moving, etc.

 

[JWR]

Real hst tractors don’t use treadle pedals. Isn’t Kubota the only one that hasn’t gone to dual pedals?

Two pedals or one treadle, same point I made regardless.

 

[JWR]

So you are saying that an hst with the same gearing as a conventional transmission can maintain much higher pto rpms at the same slow speed? I may be somewhat dense about his since I have only owned shuttle shifts.

In my car and truck automatics if I keep them in low range the rpms will get higher when I step on the gas but the speed increases as well.

RidgeHiker -- have you ever driven an HST tractor? The operation is not the same as an automatic trans in a car or truck. In an HST the engine runs at whatever rpm you set it at with the throttle. (Unless loaded down.) Motion of the tractor (forward or reverse) is determined by your foot pressure on either a treadle (single fore and aft pedal) or separate fore and aft movement foot pedals. The harder you press the faster it goes. NOT like an automatic.