Good lawd tractors are becoming more and more idiot proof and UGLY! With all those major bells and whitles and bunches of electronics thats one expensive tractor!
Gear Drive Transmission VS HST
- Thread starter Boria
- Start date
Electronics are one thing guaranteed to require parts orders. A lot of mechanical items are great as someone with moderate shop skills and equipment can solve issues that pop up.
Blown capacitors and fuses are usually a simple fix, but when it comes to ECUs and what not, it's a BOAT!
TripleR
Active member
Equipment
BX2200, BX2660, L5740 HSTC, M8540HDC and some other tractors and equipment
At the risk of opening up a barrage of ridicule and shame, it is all relative. I actually used a crank start only Allis Chalmers with a set of steel wheels and well remember when our brand new Ford 600 was delivered, our neighbors were still farming with mules and continued to do so for quite some time. I watched the technological progression of tractors and ridicule suffered by the first farmers to show up with cab tractors and now I know of no one who uses an open station tractor for row cropping in my area.
I will take all the comfort and technology I can get, I have spent way too many ten plus hours breathing dust and fighting mosquitoes seven days a week. I only put a few hundred per year now, but it is on modern, reliable tractors.
We have some old ones, Ford 600s, Case 995, Massey Ferguson 375 that my brothers like, but not for me anymore.
Here is an interesting clip on a "modern, high tech tractor."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jJQchm1pa0
I will take all the comfort and technology I can get, I have spent way too many ten plus hours breathing dust and fighting mosquitoes seven days a week. I only put a few hundred per year now, but it is on modern, reliable tractors.
We have some old ones, Ford 600s, Case 995, Massey Ferguson 375 that my brothers like, but not for me anymore.
Here is an interesting clip on a "modern, high tech tractor."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jJQchm1pa0
Hello all, I'm new here and hopefully soon a Kubota owner.
Sorry for the dumb question, but I was curious if one is able to operate a gear drive transmission on a tractor like you do on a motorcycle - ie a wet clutch designed to be "ridden".....or, like with a car, does "riding" the clutch on a tractor severely shorten its life and burn it up?
Sorry for the dumb question, but I was curious if one is able to operate a gear drive transmission on a tractor like you do on a motorcycle - ie a wet clutch designed to be "ridden".....or, like with a car, does "riding" the clutch on a tractor severely shorten its life and burn it up?
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It's not really a tractor or Kubota question. As you already suggested, it's really wet vs dry clutch. Most/many are dry clutch, so you drive them more like a car, or maybe more accurate to say like an old truck. 
If you have a wet clutch, then most still drive them about the same, but you can ride them more without damage. At least that's what I think I know.
If you have a wet clutch, then most still drive them about the same, but you can ride them more without damage. At least that's what I think I know.
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Gear driven transmissions use straight cut gears and you DO NOT shift threw the gears as you would on a car, reguardless of wet or dry clutch. Pick the speed you want and slowly let the clutch out and go.
The main issue is lack of synchros, but yeah, you don't row through the gears on a tractor, though you can shift (within the same range) rolling if you finesse it. However, I thought his question was about feathering the clutch like you often do on a motorcycle (modulated against the brake, particularly in low speed maneuvers), rather than "get off it" to reduce heat/wear like you do on a automotive clutch.
gpreuss
New member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
L3200DT w/FEL, K650 Backhoe, 5' Rotary, 40" Howard Rotavator, 6' Rhino blade
I'd like to add my 2 cents worth to this.
First, I use my FEL a lot for digging, removing big rocks (hundreds of pounds), and landscaping. When the tractor comes to a stop, trying to move something pretty big, the tendency is to back up a bit and charge in again. My policy for 35 years with my L185DT, and now with my L3200DT is never to push and dig in anything but 1st gear; about a mile an hour wide open. The result is just that the tires start slipping on the dirt. With an HST in the low range I could hit it doing about 5 mph, and bend something, or worse.
Second, I have an HST mower. My land is pretty hilly. Since it is 2WD, with smallish tires, and I weigh in near 300 lbs, it gets stuck a lot going uphill. So I back up and try a different track. Problem is when you are rolling backwards, and take your foot off the reverse pedal the mower stops on a dime, and likes to spill me off the back end. I don't know how this equates to a bigger tractor, but it does scare the heck out of me on the mower!
First, I use my FEL a lot for digging, removing big rocks (hundreds of pounds), and landscaping. When the tractor comes to a stop, trying to move something pretty big, the tendency is to back up a bit and charge in again. My policy for 35 years with my L185DT, and now with my L3200DT is never to push and dig in anything but 1st gear; about a mile an hour wide open. The result is just that the tires start slipping on the dirt. With an HST in the low range I could hit it doing about 5 mph, and bend something, or worse.
Second, I have an HST mower. My land is pretty hilly. Since it is 2WD, with smallish tires, and I weigh in near 300 lbs, it gets stuck a lot going uphill. So I back up and try a different track. Problem is when you are rolling backwards, and take your foot off the reverse pedal the mower stops on a dime, and likes to spill me off the back end. I don't know how this equates to a bigger tractor, but it does scare the heck out of me on the mower!
And why can't you go slow with a HST. Even in high I can go so slow with the hst you can barley tell it is moving. In low with the hst you can crawl it as slow as you want. I don't get why you can't do this? This is easily done with a hst. I truly don't get this.
And again why can't you take your foot off the pedal slower? You don't have to snatch your foot off as fast as you can. Sure if you come off it fast it will stop fast, but slamming on the brakes will stop you fast too, but you don't have to slam the brakes on either. This is kind of like saying you don't like a gear because you let off the clutch to fast and it jerks you around. It is all about finesse on both of them.
09Ram
Member
Equipment
09 Ram 2500, Grand L3830, GST, 6 ft Brushhog, 6 ft Box Blade, 8 ft Disk, Auger
My 3830 GST will change direction without the use of the clutch under power with the use of the "shifter lever next to the steering wheel. I can also shift gears on the fly and seldom ever use the clutch. Odd that you said the L3200 wouldn't do this stuff... I am constantly changing from forward to back while digging and moving dirt with the FEL without needing to use the clutch at all... If I could have designed the way a tractor should work I think it would have been a GST... I was on the side of a huge rocky hill the other day moving rocks with my FEL and there were no oh crap moments I can remember.
I also have some riding mowers we use. I have an old craftsman 42" gear trans mower and a new Husky 48" HST rider... My wife and I fight over who is going to get to ride the Craftsman due to the HST wearing our right leg out. It has cruise but in maximum cruise control level it is much too slow so we have to hold it all out balls to the wall to get through the lawn deal and it still takes forever. We can put the craftsman in gear 6 and let it eat
Soon to be new owner. Will do some plowing and bush hogging (roughly 20 acres of mowing and plowing 10 acres for food plots). Loader work, backhoe work, rear box blade. I have always been on gear tractors except for the 800 model with the Select-O-Speed. I am torn between gear drive and HST. I realize that the HST is more efficient and easier to operate, but I am purchasing this to last me hopefully the rest of my life. I work on my own equipment and I know I can replace a clutch if needed.
I was tossed when buying my new tractor, my thoughts where, Ive never owned or ran a hydrostatic tractor besides a lawn mower.......so im not missing anything. lot less crap to go wrong.
That is my thinking as well. I just feel like long term the gear drive version is more durable, less prone to failure, and cheaper to repair. I like the 3901 hst size, but the silly right hand brakes are not for me.
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TripleR
Active member
Equipment
BX2200, BX2660, L5740 HSTC, M8540HDC and some other tractors and equipment
As to longevity/durability, I can't remember the last time I read of anyone having broken/worn out an HST. We also have some tractors made in the 50s and sixties with the original clutch. Used properly, either will probably outlast you and more.