I have never owned or driven a Hydrostatic Transmission Tractor. What are the benefits of one and how are they better or worse than a gear tractor? Pros and cons?
Hydrostatic vs Gear Transmission Tractor
- Thread starter sstterry
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M.Magis
Well-known member
I have limited experience with hydro, but I think it depends on the intended use.
sim.-ang.king
Well-known member
If the ISO number is the same, they are the same thing.
All my lawn mowing "Lawn Tractor" type machines are hydros because in mowing I do a lot of shuttle work as it is the most efficient way to mow. All my tractors are gear shift, including one that is shuttle, gear shifted. I started farming with gears and find it fits my usage better. If I were in the feedlot business, or other type of work that involved heavy shuttle work vs field work then I would go hydro.
OP
OP
Texasmark said:
I understand the need for shuttle Shift in certain work, but I just don't see the benefit of purely HST (non-shuttle) for normal farm work.
hurleyjd
Well-known member
I like a gear tractor and on the tractors I find that I would not need 12 or 16 gear speeds. Most of the time not counting reverse I only use two more gear speeds for all of the work I do. One is for running down the road at a comfortable speed. The other is for mowing baling or shredding.
Handy on loader tractors, or anything where you do a lot of shifting between forward and reverse. No shifting, seldom touch the brakes.
Bad for heavy pulling or tillage work. Not hard to overheat and there is a big efficiency loss. Less horsepower makes it to the wheels.
For the most part hydrostatic has gone by the wayside in favor of CVTs in big tractors due to the above reasons. There were a few made a long time ago, but I believe they are limited to compact and utility tractors now. Although a CVT is sort of a variation of a HST, they use hydraulic motors in the transmission.
The shifter between the legs tractors kind of suck once you spend a lot of time in a hydro or shuttle.
Bad for heavy pulling or tillage work. Not hard to overheat and there is a big efficiency loss. Less horsepower makes it to the wheels.
For the most part hydrostatic has gone by the wayside in favor of CVTs in big tractors due to the above reasons. There were a few made a long time ago, but I believe they are limited to compact and utility tractors now. Although a CVT is sort of a variation of a HST, they use hydraulic motors in the transmission.
The shifter between the legs tractors kind of suck once you spend a lot of time in a hydro or shuttle.
chevytaHOE5674
Well-known member
Hydrostatic is great for constant direction changes like loader work. There is some efficiency loss because it is a fluid drive. A hydrostatic trans is surely up to the task of constant heavy loads if it is designed right, they hold up quite well in log skidders, bulldozers, etc.
Their downside is cost, complexity, and maintaince. If taken care of with high quality oil, regular filter changes, clean coolers, etc they are good systems.
A gear tractor is hard to beat for being cheap and fairly reliable.
Their downside is cost, complexity, and maintaince. If taken care of with high quality oil, regular filter changes, clean coolers, etc they are good systems.
A gear tractor is hard to beat for being cheap and fairly reliable.
OP
OP
Thanks, everyone. You have basically confirmed what I thought. Unless you need a shuttle shift, gear-driven is still the way to go for a general all-purpose tractor.
Nesikep
Well-known member
I haven't heard of much forestry/heavy equipment using hydrostatic drives, most are basically automatic transmissions with a reverser, so there's a torque convertor in there that provides a bit of variable speedchevytaHOE5674 said:
chevytaHOE5674
Well-known member
Lots of forestry equipment runs hydrostatic setups. Almost of the "euro" cut to length machines are hydrostatic (Ponsse, Komatsu, JD, Rottne, etc). Most tigercat equipment is hydrostatic. Most of the newer JD dozers are hydrostatic.
The torque convertor with reverser isn't so common anymore.
The torque convertor with reverser isn't so common anymore.
BobbyLummus1
Well-known member
no question its the way to go 4 series and under for loader tractors ,under 60 hp i want a hydro hands down . your not gonna notice a 1hp loss . Resell on a hydro is much better . Cost new is more . Hydraulics run the world . Skid steers and excavators no different . My last dozer was a D3G hydro and i wish id never sold it . I do want a power stuttle gear driven trans on anything over 70Hp . My tractor experience is 115hp 5 series and under
sim.-ang.king
Well-known member
Still applies, your owner's manual will show bunch of screwy numbers for what type of oil to use. The can of oil you should use will have the same screwy numbers on the back of it. Then just pick what ever one you like best, and with the same number.tom4018 said:
Nesikep
Well-known member
BobbyLummus1 said:
resale is good unless it has a problem, hydros are very expensive to fix! they definitely have their applications though, if you have to have slow ground speeds they're nice too
BobbyLummus1
Well-known member
everybody I hear knocking a hydro tractor has never had one . Way more dependable for most operators , especially tractors with loaders under 60hp . I know of countless mechanical shuttled gear tractors with under 1000hrs being split in half from bad operator , many under 500hrs and some less than that .
M.Magis
Well-known member
What makes you think they haven't used one?
chevytaHOE5674
Well-known member
I have a hydrostatic backhoe that is a wonderful thing. But I can tell you from experience when things go wrong it gets spendy. I've personally been inside the transmission 3 times to keep it working and everytime it's been costly (charge pump, servo, and plates resurfaced).
For what those 3 repairs cost in parts I could put 10 clutches and rebuild 10 reversers in a different tractor. Lol
For what those 3 repairs cost in parts I could put 10 clutches and rebuild 10 reversers in a different tractor. Lol
BobbyLummus1
Well-known member
10 reversers ... doubt that . what make and model was that backhoe ?
chevytaHOE5674
Well-known member
Maybe not 10 but still a few lol. A reverser be it mechanical or hydraulic is a lot simpler and cheaper system to build and maintain. I've rebuilt a few shuttle shifts and I would work on them anyday over a full hydrostat. Tore down a failed Kubota hydro and it's back at the customers rotting away in the weeds as the parts and my labor charges would have been more than be paid for a replacment tractor...
It's an old IH 260A. Good old machine just hours and age take its toll on things.
It's an old IH 260A. Good old machine just hours and age take its toll on things.
