Hydrostatic vs Gear Drive Tractors

One of the biggest decisions you have to make when shopping for a tractor is choosing the transmission type that is right for you and the work you plan on doing. Zach walks us through the differences between a Hydrostatic and Gear Drive transmission and when you should choose each.

[jpgottwald]

I grew up on farm tractors, I love the Kubota Glide Shift Transmission, or GST. All the benefits of both the manual and HST. No loss of power like the HST and no clutching between gears or forward and reverse. I wish the sales people would really show the customers the benefit of this transmission as they are hard to find.

[AnomadAlaska]

I have two tractors. An ancient 17HP Yanmar. Old school (1980ish) gear drive. And a fancy new B2601 hydro. The old Yanmar can pull a box blade and bush hog in 2wd where the newer higher horsepower machine can't in 4wd. Looking at selling them both and getting a 50ish PTO HP tractor on turf tires with a cab to mow and grade in HVAC controlled comfort. As well as other tractor things on our small property.

[vacountryboylifestyle]

I have a l3301 gear drive. I do large area mowing. And the gear drive is perfect. Had to teach the wife how to drive it but she picked up quick. Now only thing I hate about the gear drive is. When you push the clutch down it stops everything. wish it didn't turn off the pto but it doesnt take alot to of time you get use to that. Also I do garden work and alot of loader work and I would not swap my gear drive for a hydro. I still love my gear drive. Far as pulling goes. The gear drive is the way to go hands down. Plus it doesn't whine like a hydro. Hydro's are kinda noisy

[tractortalkwithgary]

I notice on the new tractors, that on the gear drive there is no decal on the rear fender.
On my gear drive L2501 Kubota, the fender has a decal that reads 4WD.

[jutah]

Watched over 10ths of videos. HST v Gear drive.

Best video I have seen explaining the differences.

👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[rossco]

I use a gear kubota l3901 and mid way releasing the clutch the pto on the bush hog will start without moving forward or reverse. I can also use the brakes to make tighter turns. And it feels a lot safer on hills back in the woods than my neighbors slightly larger hydro John Deere. Just depends on your applications and once you get some hours in the seat you will become proficient!

[danielsmit]

If hydro transmissions are as undependable on tractors as they are on lawnmowers I'd choose gear driven every time. A lot of old tractors out there with gear drive transmissions still running strong after 70 years. Had a hydrostat lawnmower the tranny crapped out after a couple of years

[szki]

One huge difference in small tractors the HST usually can run the PTO even when changing directions. Something I wanted. I bought a gear drive only to find out that it didn't have the duel clutch. That allowed the PTO to run when changing directions. This is problematic when mowing in tight areas. As your mower slows down. The L2501 also has huge overlaps between Low and high gears. For bucket work, it sucks if you have any travel distance.

[daveyab]

i do both large field mowing as well as mowing in cramped spaces and i must say switching to HST is real nice in the cramped spaces but forget pulling anything with it. if you do plowing and other pulling stuff get a gear drive. if you need to keep PTO speed high while the speed must be variable get HST

also the mower i use is a SABO -Roberine with a 30 HP volkswagen engine

[silent]

It's like anything else, personal preference. I like ketchup on my fries, some people don't. Now which is the best engine oil ? HERE WE GO !

[ericjohnson]

You should have shown us forward/reverse in the shuttle. A few times like in loader work.

[zackzander]

Hydrostatic is the way to go on these little tractors. The gear drives don’t have live PTO. If I wanted that I’d go by some old POS 1947 Farmall H for a lot less money. For loader work the hydro cannot be beat. Always shifting back and forth between forward and reverse would be just like an old tractor. If they offered a power reverser then maybe the argument could be made to get the manual. These tractors were not designed to pull stumps. They’re for light loader work and light duty property maintenance.

[tractortalkwithgary]

I use my Kubota L2501 to drag up tree tops for firewood. Gear drive will out pull the hydrostatic models badly. There simply is no comparison in pulling power.

[jacobhendrickson]

My l2850 has a 4 speed low and high range with a forward/reverse shifter on the column. I’ve so far used the clutch to do this going from forward to reverse. Would be nice if I didn’t have to.

[johnjaco]

HST whines, more maintance, happy with my gear drive.Easy peezy.

[larrywelch]

Retired down here arkansas on 172 acre farm on the river. Thought a mx 5800 would be all I needed, not. Got a 7060 a year later. That hydro is for well dressed

[richardjohnson]

Do y’all hear the hydrostatic whine. You will have way more power with the gear driven transmission.

[anonymouscitizen]

I had to order the gear drive because all they had were Hydrostats, apparently all the girls only want hydrostatic transmissions 😂🤣😂

[HollisHurst]

typing this at 4 minutes. can you comment on fuel consumption. i use a a 5640 manual trans. to cut grass. a couple of times i've changed rotary mower to my 5200. fuel used was higher than the 5640. i think it's because of the hst. another comment is the maintenance costs... those hyd filters are high priced!!

[hitwall]

do you have to use the clutch on the mx5400 with the manual transmission?