Lots of good info in this thread.
Only a couple things I would add / did not see mentioned:
1. IMO, I’ve felt a loss of oomph from time to time with an HST going up a hill (especially on the B but to some extent even on the Mx), especially if pulling or running the PTO. My bellyrub estimate is 15-20ish% loss…I don’t have a way to prove it but there is no question it luggs a bit….its not a big deal but it can be felt.
2. Also for a similar sized engines I think the geared tractor delivers more PTO power relative to HST…seems the specs even suggest/ support that. So I think geared would be more efficient for most pulling or PTO tasks.
Exception might be relative to size and scope of work. In a small garden though I think a HST would certainly be ideal. Not in all cases but in general. If you have something that you like to precisely control speed, maybe HST would be an exception such as tiller or something like that.
All that being said, I love the speed control lock on the MX. If it did not have that speed lock, the spousal unit would have already bought me a larger geared machine
![Winking face :wink: 😉](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/joypixels/emoji-assets@5.0/png/64/1f609.png)
. With the speed control lock, for my scale of use / utility chores, in and out of the woods, in and out of garden, around fences and buildings, there is not a demerit with the HST.