YT3 series reverser vs. foot pedals

[rockyridgefarm]

the continuing saga of wrapping my head around iHMT

I was doing quite a bit of loader work this weekend past. My Deere 4310 has the two pedal setup. So left hand is spinning the steering wheel, right is on the scv stick, right foot is controlling ratio with direction, and left is there for the brakes (just kidding - who needs brakes?)

As I was working, I was thinking about the iHMT - I can imagine it is just like a reverser mechanical transmission.

I have to admit that I was surprised by the choice of a column mounted lever, especially having looked at the YT2 series twin pedal configuration previously-

A few minutes on the dealer lot is one thing, but when really going - How has the left hand directional lever worked out for someone coming from the foot pedal setup?

 

[yardman harry]

I own and operate the Yanmar LX4100. I do a lot of grapple work and loader work. I took for granted the ease of use with forward/reverse with my right foot.

I had an opportunity recently to do some grapple work with a YT3 series tractor. And a first few impressions. First. I found myself constantly lunging forward on the YT3 as I struggled to find reverse. Second: I kept slamming on the clutch hoping for the brake and found that I was only stomping on not the brake.

I was significantly slowed with my work and I felt clumsy. The hydrostatic tranny definitely improves efficiency. I am able to get the precise angles I am looking for quickly with the lx4100. The YT3 while it was impressive... After about 2 hours of work on it I was already missing my lx4100.

I'm sure you get used to it after a while... But I didn't use it long enough to build that efficiency

Plus the first thing I would do is disable the reverse warning chimel on the yt3.... After about 5 min of that I was done with it...

 

[yardman harry]

Not to deter. The yt3 was awesome. Lots of power. Felt like a Cadillac compared to my tractor. The tranny doesn't Rob power from the PTO so you get more hp for your implements. And as I said after time I'm sure I could be as near as efficient with the column shifter

 

[rockyridgefarm]

this is what I was thinking on all points.

 

[Kiwibru]

We just got through our first cutting of small round bale haylage and loaded all 397 bales, two at a time with a YT359C. I too had a difficult time going from a Carraro with manual tranny to the YT. Once I got the visual cues down with the FEL position and the routine down of p.u. then gently loading them into the farm truck for a load of 26-30 per trip it went pretty darn fast. I smoothed out and used the 3rd (high) range and foot throttle with the directional lever forward/reverse and joy stick. Found I had to do fewer joy stick movements for the bucket other than dropping the bales into the truck as the flat position from ground up allows the bucket to pitch backward with just lifting the arms.
That was a joyful find as it really reduced time for bucket work and the tractor moves slowly when you want or fast backing back up the next group of bales for a p.u.
Even the wife said she thought it went so smoothly compared to years before. She is a tough critic as she is head bale roller for the ground crew. The other thing I really like is now I don't have clutch knee or gear level shift wrist pain! The old manual tranny was a real work out for the whole process, especially baling. With the IHMT I can program 2nd range and use the auto resume feature for establishing the proper rpm for bale formation, then increase the forward movement and rpm of the baler with the push of a button. So smooth. I only had one plug up during the whole period of time baling. That was the ultimate joy for me. I am really liking the change over to the IHMT tranny and glad I jumped on it when I did.