New tractor. Getting used to GST transmission.

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Titan17

Member

Equipment
L3901 TLB, Caroni RFM, Scag Wildcat ZTR, Piranha TB,York RE 96", MTL HD 48" grap
Jan 13, 2019
92
6
8
Uncasville, CT
Drove my new tractor today. I'm used to HST. My other tractor is a B2910HST.
Bit of a learning curve for me. Had hydros for almost 20 years. I kept letting off pedel and stepping on clutch.
Any GST owners please chime in. What rpm can I up shift at and shift to reverse.
Can you use reverse in place of brakes when changing direction??
Can you upshift from 1st to a high gear in one motion or 1 gear at a time.
How long is this going to take for a GST novice.
Thks in advance for any tips.
 
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North Idaho Wolfman

North Idaho Wolfman

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Titan17 said:
Drove my new tractor today. I'm used to HST. My other tractor is a B2910HST.
Bit of a learning curve for me. Had hydros for almost 20 years. I kept letting off pedel and stepping on clutch.
Any GST owners please chime in. What rpm can I up shift at and shift to reverse.
Can you use reverse in place of brakes when changing direction??
Can you upshift from 1st to a high gear in one motion or 1 gear at a time.
How long is this going to take for a GST novice.
Thks in advance for any tips.
Click to expand...
With your HST, set the throttle to a rpm and go.
With a GST you should vary the throttle as you work, I rarely set the throttle to any set RPM, besides when I'm doing mower work or snowblower work.

Loader work is always foot throttle, forward, throttle up, into pile, then throttle down, shuttle to neutral, then to reverse, then throttle back up, throttle down, shuttle to neutral, then to forward...and so on.
Smooth movements.

You do not manual clutch between shuttling or shifting, yes you can move from any gear to any gear at anytime, just remember that on down shifts that too many gears down and you'll eat the steering wheel. :p

Yes you can shuttle or shift at any RPM, it will take it, but it's better on the system if you just drop the RPM's down between actions.

Yes you can shift from forward to reverse, or reverse to forward without braking, in fact it's better to use the GST's hydraulic clutch because it has the same material as the brake disks, there are just way more of them and they stay cooler because they have fluid forced into the clutch pack.
 
T

Titan17

Member

Equipment
L3901 TLB, Caroni RFM, Scag Wildcat ZTR, Piranha TB,York RE 96", MTL HD 48" grap
Jan 13, 2019
92
6
8
Uncasville, CT
I have to start thinking of it as a standard shift when changing gears. I like the comment about eating the steering wheel. Had a VW Beetle like this - semi auto clutch.

My first tractor was a B5200 w/fel. Naturally I used the clutch and gas on that. When I got my 1st hydro few years later thought it was unnatural to let off the pedal for more power.

Haven't done loader work with it yet but have high expectations on the power end of the trans.
Seems like the mechanics love this trans for it's power and durability. Service man at local dealer loves the GST machines; says they're the hardest workers in all the different size machines. And Rock solid dependable.

As I get older I don't adapt as fast to changes but a few hours/days this spring when I start working it should get me going.
 
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troverman

Well-known member

Equipment
MX6000 HSTC; 2020 Kubota Z421KW-54 zero turn mower
Jun 9, 2015
1,184
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NH
My 2002 L4310 GST was probably my favorite tractor. I also came from HST when I bought it, and have since bought another new HST.

Here's my advice...don't shift multiple gears at a time. Feel the shift happen and then move to the next, and the next, etc. It is smoother. If you do skip gears, don't skip into the next range (if yours is 12 speeds, the range change is every 4 gears). I don't think Kubota forbids it, but I always found one quick change at a time to be smoothest.

Even though you don't need to, I always used the clutch for stopping and taking off. I would NEVER use the forward to reverse shuttle as a brake.

Don't change speeds going up a hill. There is a lag between different speeds, and the tractor will literally stop and might start to roll slightly backwards depending upon how steep the hill is before a very hard and abrupt change and moving forward again. Likewise, don't change speeds going downhill unless the grade is very mild.

These are great tractors in that you have the option of a fixed engine speed with the hand throttle or variable with the foot throttle. If you use a 3pt hitch PTO powered attachment, you'll notice these tractors supply better power to the PTO compared to a same-engine HST.

In the end, I bought another HST because I do a lot of work on hills and the HST was better for more precise maneuvers.

Enjoy!
 
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Bulldog777

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L3200, RTA1266, Modern 5' BB, Mustang 60 FM
Jan 25, 2017
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Messicks has a video demonstration of the GST transmission on YouTube. It may be helpful.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 
T

Titan17

Member

Equipment
L3901 TLB, Caroni RFM, Scag Wildcat ZTR, Piranha TB,York RE 96", MTL HD 48" grap
Jan 13, 2019
92
6
8
Uncasville, CT
troverman said:
My 2002 L4310 GST was probably my favorite tractor. I also came from HST when I bought it, and have since bought another new HST.

Here's my advice...don't shift multiple gears at a time. Feel the shift happen and then move to the next, and the next, etc. It is smoother. If you do skip gears, don't skip into the next range (if yours is 12 speeds, the range change is every 4 gears). I don't think Kubota forbids it, but I always found one quick change at a time to be smoothest.

Even though you don't need to, I always used the clutch for stopping and taking off. I would NEVER use the forward to reverse shuttle as a brake.

Don't change speeds going up a hill. There is a lag between different speeds, and the tractor will literally stop and might start to roll slightly backwards depending upon how steep the hill is before a very hard and abrupt change and moving forward again. Likewise, don't change speeds going downhill unless the grade is very mild.

These are great tractors in that you have the option of a fixed engine speed with the hand throttle or variable with the foot throttle. If you use a 3pt hitch PTO powered attachment, you'll notice these tractors supply better power to the PTO compared to a same-engine HST.

In the end, I bought another HST because I do a lot of work on hills and the HST was better for more precise maneuvers.

Enjoy!
Click to expand...
Thks for the tips. I read the replies a few times
This is info not in the owners manual and will definitely help!!
I'm better at repairing than operating.

Just watched video. PO ran it like that with about 20% throttle and pedal as needed. It looked really smooth when I watched him.
 
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troverman

Well-known member

Equipment
MX6000 HSTC; 2020 Kubota Z421KW-54 zero turn mower
Jun 9, 2015
1,184
263
83
NH
Once you figure the system out, you'll get even better at operating it. Mine was usually operating a flail mower behind it at wide open throttle. If I ever needed to change gears on a hill, I knew exactly where the gear change lag was and would momentarily apply the brakes. If you stop on a hill heading upwards and need to take off, you can use the foot throttle from idle and feather the clutch just like a stick-shift car, or you can use the hand throttle held open a fair bit, hold the tractor with the brake, pop the shuttle into forward, and release the brake as soon as you feel the tractor engage and start to tug.

The GST is pretty smooth once you are used to it, but can be abrupt if the operator is fresh. It's way nicer than a regular clutch and gears only tractor. Might not be as smooth as HST, but the benefit is more power to the PTO for the same engine HP rating, and a more involving operating experience. They also have better engine braking going down a grade.
 
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Titan17

Member

Equipment
L3901 TLB, Caroni RFM, Scag Wildcat ZTR, Piranha TB,York RE 96", MTL HD 48" grap
Jan 13, 2019
92
6
8
Uncasville, CT
troverman said:
Once you figure the system out, you'll get even better at operating it. Mine was usually operating a flail mower behind it at wide open throttle. If I ever needed to change gears on a hill, I knew exactly where the gear change lag was and would momentarily apply the brakes. If you stop on a hill heading upwards and need to take off, you can use the foot throttle from idle and feather the clutch just like a stick-shift car, or you can use the hand throttle held open a fair bit, hold the tractor with the brake, pop the shuttle into forward, and release the brake as soon as you feel the tractor engage and start to tug.

The GST is pretty smooth once you are used to it, but can be abrupt if the operator is fresh. It's way nicer than a regular clutch and gears only tractor. Might not be as smooth as HST, but the benefit is more power to the PTO for the same engine HP rating, and a more involving operating experience. They also have better engine braking going down a grade.
Click to expand...
That's exactly what I be been doing when taking off in a higher gear, using the clutch like the regular gear tractor I used to have.

This spring I'll be using it more at my mini farm so we'll see how I do.

I know the fluid runs cooler and cleaner.
 
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