Greetings Mark, I find the combination of L2501HST and Woodmaxx 62 works well for me. I think the fact that (vs gear) an L2501 HST puts out a little less hp to the pto is more than offset by the infinite speed HST provides. I typically mow in low range since I'm going so slow anyway. In thinner weeds max speed and slowing down for tall thick stuff. Since I generally just mow the meadows once a year (around August / September) it gets pretty tall and some areas thick. I went with Y blades as the largest stuff I cut are saplings from the previous year.. The first time I used it the meadows hadn't been cut for 4-5 years so there were some little trees and brush, probably none thicker than 1", but it munched them up just fine.