Hydrostatic vs Gear Drive Tractors

hey guys Zach here from Kubota Lynchburg to talk about the difference between a hydrostat and a Gear Drive tractor [Music] we're going to start with the hydrostatic tractor because on a compact tractor these days that is the most popular option and I'm going to be focusing on the smaller compact tractors for today like the L Series anything between you know 20 to 50 horsepower once you get into the giant tractors that's a whole nother ball game but when you're looking at a tractor and the sales person or the internet gives you an option between a Gear Drive and a hydrostat what are the big major differences I'm not going to go into the mechanical side I'm going to show you guys the physical side difference and then we'll talk about pros and cons versus one a hydrostatic tractor means it's being driven with a hydrostatic transmission rather than a gear drive transmission what that means is there is less shifting clutching and gears to be used on a hydrostat it's easy to compare to an automatic car versus a you know an automatic you know manual car so an automatic you drive you push the pedal goes forward you let off it slows down it stops with a manual card they're shifting and clutching so if we look in here today if we take a look at the hydrostat now while this one does have a clutch it's only used for engaging your PTO but there's no gear shifter there's no shifting lever knobs here all you have is a hydrostatic pedal and this pedal you can see when I let off of it it comes back into the center to neutral so you have forward and you have reverse now there are other models here like John Deere some of the kubota's and stuff that'll have the hydrostat pedal side by side there's different pedal options but you push harder forward and it goes faster forward you let off and you push reverse and it goes faster reverse you don't have to shift or clutch between forward and reverse or through ranges and if you look here where it says hsd stands for hydrostat you'll see that there are ranges here but you don't have to clutch between them you've got a high neutral medium and low so on a hydrostat you choose your range you put it in there and then you can you know push harder so you do low for heavy duty work you do high for going fast through it you don't have to think about which range which gear you're in as you're going on a hydrostat you just push the pedal and it goes kind of like a riding lawnmower so we're going to hop over to a Gear Drive tractor real quick and on this Gear Drive tractor now I don't have a hydrostat pedal anymore I've got my clutch I've got my brakes and I have a throttle pedal here that's an accessory to my main throttle pedal again a Gear Drive is like a manual car you're going to be shifting and clutching so I have my shifter range here one two three four and then where that low medium high was I have my forward and reverse and I have a high and a low range so if I wanted to go forward on this tractor for example I would push the clutch in I would choose a range let's say second range I'd push it in forward and I'd let off the clutch slowly to engage that now let's say I want to slow down I'm going to have to go ahead and clutch in shift up to first and then let off or if I want to speed up maybe I really want to go real fast I'll shift it into high range fourth gear and then you let off the clutch and this isn't usually done on the go usually you slow down you stop you choose which range and gear you want to be in and then you go a little bit more user intensive but you actually gain a little bit more power out of it so real quick I'm going to show you moving these tractors forward in Reverse just so you guys can get the idea of how one works versus the other and then we'll talk about pros and cons all right so we're going to start with the gear drops here it needs to be a neutral to start up so your clutch in I'm gonna put it in like second gear I'm gonna put it in reverse and as you slowly let off the clutch I actually need to be in a Range as you slow that off the clutch it is slowly going to go I don't need my feet on the pedals now anymore and it's just going to keep on going you clutch in it stops you can shift ranges you can put it into Ford you can put in Reverse however you need to and you let off the clutch and it goes simple easy basic all the old tractors had this style on it now in a hydrostat it is going to be different on the hydrostat you don't have to use that clutch for example on this l3902 there isn't even a clutch this is your brake pedals you don't have to worry about clutching or moving it or anything like that you're literally I'm gonna throw the zip tie away we're gonna start the tractor you're gonna take the parking brake off and all I'm going to do is push reverse or push forward there's no shifting clutching choosing a gears the harder I push the faster I go the slow ride push the slower I go easy on a hide the stack so what's the best option for you which one do you need hydrostat or Gear Drive for most people I say if you're doing a lot of loader work especially in tight areas small areas you just have a couple of Acres a hydrostat is going to be the most versatile it's easy to use and learn anybody can hop on and run it you the wife the kids the grandparents it doesn't matter everybody can hop on and run the hydrostat tractor but you do lose a little bit of power on a hydrostack compared to a gear drive so if your overall necessity is more power or you're pulling implements like Bush Hogs tillers disc Harrows a Gear Drive will actually give you a little bit more power for a little bit cheaper price and if you already are comfortable driving manual cars you know how to shift and clutch and switch between gears and Gear Drive might be the option for you so mainly loader work on a hydrostat or small property maintenance for those bigger projects or those mostly pulling applications look into a Gear Drive the longevity of One Versus the other is really depending on how you use it and maintain it if you use maintain and service your equipment properly they both have the same lifespan so just make sure you know what you're doing learn how to use a hydrostatic Gear Drive properly and you'll be good to go as always feel free to ask questions in the comments or give us your opinion on which one you prefer [Music]

Channel: Kubota of Lynchburg

Views: 22,215

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Id: b9rpL9xZ9h8

Length: 6min 45sec (405 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 27 2023