To hydro or not

[mattl]

New guy here. I am also new to tractors in general. I have a smallish 3 ac rolling hill homestead and am looking for a mower/ garden tractor for maintenance.

I have been looking at B5100, B6100, B7100 series older tractors. It would seem any of these models would work for my needs. Because of the hills, the 4wd may be better.

My dilema is whether to choose a manual gearbox or a Hydrostatic? I like the idea of a simpler Non-hydro tractor. Will the hydro be more maintenance and more expensive?

Can ya'll provide pros/cons of either?

Matt

 

[ipz2222]

The hydro is sooooeasy on the body but..././,,mkl, it's expensive if you ever have to have it worked on. But , it's also very reliable. If at all possible, get the 4wd. It's a BIG safety factor on hills.

 

[mattl]

Good to know. Easier on the body because of the lack of clutch-grab?

Thanks for the response.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

Hot topic of debate here on OTT. DO a search of thread on gear vs hydro and you'll see many posts about the same topic.

 

[Rob]

its all a matter of personal preference really, but the manual gearbox versions are a better option if you want to use your machine as more of "tractor" as opposed to a "lawn mower".
had both versions and prefer the manual gearbox without a second thought now, the 7100hst was a good machines but never really worked as well somehow, now gone and i dont miss it, but have retained the manual 7100 and 8200.

For my useage the manuals are a far superior machine with a lot of options you could never do with an hst.

For example, we have a lot of long flower borders hear which are narrow and require regular mulching, our b7100 is the perfect size for the task with a similar sized trailer.
What i do when working alone on this sort of task can only be performed with a manuaul version.
I reverse the loaded trailer down the border to the starting point, stick the the B7100 in low ratio & 1st gear. On tickover it slowly creeps forward in a straight line i can manually unload the mulch from the end of the trailer onto the border, this saves me having large heaps etc to level out.
Works really well on long straight runs, allmost auto pilot, been doing this for years now on numerous machines.
You cant do it on a hst , so thats one up for the manual version to start with.

rob

 

[lsmurphy]

Here in E TN all we got are hills.

Yes, 4WD and manual.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

Ohhhh by the way I do currently have a B6100 for sale, its being sold as a package deal tractor and 4 attatchments. Take a look in the buy/sale/trade section.

 

[mattl]

Thanks. I'll search for more info on this.

 

[mattl]

Good info guys. I'll check yours out Eric. Thanks for the quick responses.

 

[Bluegill]

Personal preference. I don't like hydro trans. Manual a 4wd for me.

 

[dmanlyr]

Only choice is the HST. It is easier on the body and will run longer than a manual transmission between repairs hands down.

Of course that is assuming given equal maintenance on both a manual and HST unit.

David

 

[dmanlyr]

its all a matter of personal preference really, but the manual gearbox versions are a better option if you want to use your machine as more of "tractor" as opposed to a "lawn mower".
rob

Seriously? Really? I guess you can tell that to the operator driving that 10 yard or more heavy loader at the quarry.... that he is driving nothing more than a lawnmower.

I guess those monster off road dump trucks as well are just big kids toys with there standard hydro transmissions?

You cannot even get a manual in most of these heavy machines.

Nope, personal preferences aside, a HST will run circles around a manual gear drive any day of the week, with less downtime to boot. And when you are 50+ years old your joints wont hurt from damage done by mind numbing, meaningless clutching and shifting...

But then, each to there own, but seriously, lawnmower? Really? The operator at the quarry I get my materials from is gonna have a good laugh at that statement!

David

 

[dmanlyr]

For my useage the manuals are a far superior machine with a lot of options you could never do with an hst.

For example, we have a lot of long flower borders hear which are narrow and require regular mulching, our b7100 is the perfect size for the task with a similar sized trailer.
What i do when working alone on this sort of task can only be performed with a manuaul version.
I reverse the loaded trailer down the border to the starting point, stick the the B7100 in low ratio & 1st gear. On tickover it slowly creeps forward in a straight line i can manually unload the mulch from the end of the trailer onto the border, this saves me having large heaps etc to level out.
Works really well on long straight runs, allmost auto pilot, been doing this for years now on numerous machines.
You cant do it on a hst , so thats one up for the manual version to start with.

rob

Sorry to seem to be picking on you, but I hate it when HST's are given a bad rap for anything other than operator preference as any manual is far inferior to a HST in reality.... As has been proven time and time again from the smallest piece of equipment to the largest.

So it is untrue that you cannot do the quoted item on a HST as well... nothing here that makes a manual superior.

All you have to do with the HST is bypass the operator presence safety switch, something that all new MANUAL tractors have as well, set the cruise to hold the HST as a speed even SLOWER than a manual transmission is capable of, get off the machine and do your work.

So in reality, the HST is capable of being driven even slower than that low 1rst in a manual, so in reality the HST is capable of things a manual is not capable of, NOT the other way around.

Again, a HST is capable of running circles around a manual.. hands down.

Of course, that is assuming that it is safe to work around moving machinery without a operator in control. Which is a different topic than the over being discussed here.

 

[Russell King]

I have a gear drive tractor and a HST Cub Cadet lawn mower.

The HST is much easier to speed control and feels somewhat safer in tight conditions (but that may just be the size) since it always goes to "nuetral" taking your foot off the pedal.

The gear tractor has some speed control in any chosen gear because it does have a "gas pedal" but even taking your foot off it will still be moving until you push in the clutch. When mowing you can't really slow down much since you have the PTO engaged and the motor is required to be at fairly high RPMs so you set that with the hand throttle and don't use the foot throttle much. You can slow down by reducing the engine RPM but for mowing you will loose blade speed also.

 

[mattl]

Hope I didn't stir up a hornets nest. It sounds like there are strong opinions about it. Being new, I didn't realize there is an ongoing debate about it.

I appreciate all input guys.

Have a happy Easter!

 

[dmanlyr]

As far as I am concerned it is a friendly debate.

One thing that regardless of my staunch support of HST's, is that I will always point out that in the end it is operators preferences as to what type to use.

David

 

[Eric McCarthy]

Nope, personal preferences aside, a HST will run circles around a manual gear drive any day of the week, with less downtime to boot.

I'll take that bet with my gear tranny and show you up without clashing gears. When would you like to go????

 

[Rob]

Its like i said, its a personal thing, everyone to there own.
I had the hst 7100 and found less versatile than my manual verion with my applications, but thats just my preference.
I have a prof rideon mower/tractor which is hst also , great for mowing until its gets a bit slippery, thens its a no go situation.
Anway, i have been using heavy plant equipment for 30 years now from small compacts and mini digger right through to H9 ackerman 360's , JCB's etc etc, they use similar hst setups but you cant really compare small compacts with mighty earth moving kit, it may be the same basic technology but its on a whole diffent level.
Just my input, everyone has a choice and opinion....freedom of speech and all that stuff

have a good one, i still prefer my manual

rob

 

[Rob]

In all honesty the best advice would be this " try before you buy".
have a good tryout if possble on both variants , weighup the pros and cons of both and then combine that hands on testing with any info you may have read online, best of both worlds.
Only you can be th best judge of what suits your requirements the best, good luck.
rob

 

[kubotasam]

I bought my third B7100 a couple of months ago. This one is a hydro. So I have 2 gear drive and 1 hydro. I don't have much seat time on the hydro yet so I can't say which I like better yet. What I will say is the reason I was looking for a hydro is the PTO is live and on a gear drive it is not. I want a live PTO for my snow blower. It is a pain to have the snow blower stop when you want to stop the motion of the tractor.