Power shuttle vs sync-shuttle

phantom309 · Jun 8, 2025

Hi all-

First post in many years...

I'm looking to replace an old Case/IH 385 that I use primarily for pulling 7ft finish mower. It's been great at that task, but it's almost 40 years old and the list of problems is growing, parts are hard to source, etc...

Given that I use it primarily for mowing, I want gear drive.

I'm considering TYM/Branson 5520R and 5835. Either would work great for my needs, so it's almost a coin flip to pick one.

But I thought I'd ask: How is the TYM/Branson power shuttle holding up in terms of long term durability? I would imagine that dual clutch is considerably more complicated than sync-shuttle, but more complicated systems can (sometimes

) still be reliable.

While I'm asking, I'd also like to make sure: On the sync-shuttle, does the F/R lever actually change the gear, or does it activate a circuit to make the gear change like the power shuttle?

I'm leaning towards the simplicity of the sync-shuttle on the 5520, but would like the extra weight and lift capacity of the 5835 also...

TIA for any advice.

ptsg · Jun 8, 2025

On the synchro shuttle, the lever just moves a fork inside the transmission that will then move a collar between forward and reverse. Both shuttle and main gears (1st to 4th) are synchronized, so really nice and easy to use.

On the power shuttle, it has 2 wet clutches, one for forward, another for reverse. There is a control valve with solenoids the sends fluids on these wet clutches, along with the ones for the 4WD and PTO. Then a transmission controller gets signal from the shuttle lever to know which solenoid to power.

I believe the early 5835's had a little bit of issues with this controller, but I'm think it's been fixed ever since.

The synchro shuttle is very very reliable. Mine has been awesome and I've thousands and thousands of direction changes with it.

TYM also just released the new T4058, both ROPS and Cab versions. This is the upgraded model of the 5835.