Lawn tractor transmissions
 

Looking to purchase a consumer grade lawn tractor. My 18 year old Sears
(Murry) riding mower has manually selected gears. Many of the new
machines boast hydrostatic transmissions. Are these really any better?
Are they as durable as regular gears?

Lawn tractor transmissions
 

Jim wrote:

Looking to purchase a consumer grade lawn tractor. My 18 year old Sears
(Murry) riding mower has manually selected gears. Many of the new
machines boast hydrostatic transmissions. Are these really any better?
Are they as durable as regular gears?

Yes and no. Hydrostatic transmissions are great for the precise speed
control they give you, but they are have a down side of being far more
expensive to repair than a manual gear box and much easier to damage
with improper maintenance. For a commercial landscaping service, the
zero turn dual hydrostat units save more time than they eat in extra
maintenance, so they make sense. For home use I'd stick with a manual
gearbox.

Lawn tractor transmissions
 

On Mar 29, 4:44Â*pm, Blattus Slafaly €° �œ ˜º ™ž
wrote:
Jim wrote:
Looking to purchase a consumer grade lawn tractor. Â*My 18 year old Sears
(Murry) riding mower has manually selected gears. Â*Many of the new
machines boast hydrostatic transmissions. Â*Are these really any better? Â*
Are they as durable as regular gears?

Of course they are better, that's why they invented them. Instead of a
set number of gears there is an unlimited range between the slowest and
fastest ratio. Usually the more you press the faster you go. The reverse
pedal usually does the same thing only in reverse. But you do have to
keep your foot on it unless you have one on the column. With real gears
you can move your feet around because they are not busy. It could be a
cost issue. They still make gear shifts on low end models.

--
Blattus Slafaly Â*Ù� Ù£ Â* Â* :) Â*…ž

The higher cost ones in the company line will probably have "cruise
control" option. John Deere does. I didn't go for it but I find no
problem mowing my 2 acre area without it.

Harry K

Lawn tractor transmissions
 

On Mar 30, 8:31*am, "Ralph Mowery" wrote:
"Harry K" wrote in message

...
On Mar 29, 4:44 pm, Blattus Slafaly ? ? ? ?





wrote:
Jim wrote:
Looking to purchase a consumer grade lawn tractor. My 18 year old Sears
(Murry) riding mower has manually selected gears. Many of the new
machines boast hydrostatic transmissions. Are these really any better?
Are they as durable as regular gears?

Of course they are better, that's why they invented them. Instead of a
set number of gears there is an unlimited range between the slowest and
fastest ratio. Usually the more you press the faster you go. The reverse
pedal usually does the same thing only in reverse. But you do have to
keep your foot on it unless you have one on the column. With real gears
you can move your feet around because they are not busy. It could be a
cost issue. They still make gear shifts on low end models.

--
Blattus Slafaly ? ? :) ?

The higher cost ones in the company line will probably have "cruise
control" option. *John Deere does. *I didn't go for it but I find no
problem mowing my 2 acre area without it.

Harry K

The cruse control on my Deere is just a hold down for the drive peddle. *I
have not found it very useful to do my yard. *The front is about 100 x 200
feet.

One thing I have not seen mentioned is that you usually run the motor wide
open on the hydrostatic transmissions and control the speed of the mower
with the foot peddle. This lets the blades spin up to full speed all the
time. *I had a mower *with the fixed gears and it seemed that one gear was
always too slow of a mower speed and the next faster gear required slowing
the motor to keep the speed down.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yeah to the fixed gear bit. I bought a Honda walkbehind 2 speed back
in the early 80s, 1st was a bit slow, 2nd a bit fast, and liked it so
much I bought another about 10 years ago. They then had a 3 speed or
hydro option. I went with the 3 spd. Big misstake! They kept the
original 2sp but added a 3rd, higher, gear. 3rd gear is so fast it
is unuseable for mowing. You would ahve to almost run to keep up.

Harry K

Lawn tractor transmissions
 

The hydrostatice tractors are a nuisance as you have to keep your foot
on the "gas". The manual ones allow you to select 1-6 and go. As
far as durability goes I dont know. I like to daydream/think while
mowing and found that I got slower and slower on the automatic tractor
as my foot let up. I would suggest the manual and save $200 . What
didnt you like about your old mower?


On Mar 29, 6:01*pm, Jim wrote:
Looking to purchase a consumer grade lawn tractor. *My 18 year old Sears
(Murry) riding mower has manually selected gears. *Many of the new
machines boast hydrostatic transmissions. *Are these really any better? *
Are they as durable as regular gears?

Lawn tractor transmissions
 

Jim wrote:
Looking to purchase a consumer grade lawn tractor. My 18 year old Sears
(Murry) riding mower has manually selected gears. Many of the new
machines boast hydrostatic transmissions. Are these really any better?
Are they as durable as regular gears?

Durability of quality-built machines is fine--

Agree w/ other comments so far but would add if have a significant slope
you may find the solid gearing beneficial as the variable speed drive
may not have sufficient braking on downhill slope to avoid significant
speedup...found this on a trial JD green unit in TN so went w/ the
manual shift for that application.

On the speed control, agree they're of minimal value unless have really
large, uninterrupted areas of going 'round 'n 'round for quite a long
time w/o obstructions--not particularly common for residential lawns
outside an estate-sized place.

--

Lawn tractor transmissions
 

on 3/29/2008 6:01 PM Jim said the following:
Looking to purchase a consumer grade lawn tractor. My 18 year old Sears
(Murry) riding mower has manually selected gears. Many of the new
machines boast hydrostatic transmissions. Are these really any better?
Are they as durable as regular gears?

Mine ( a Murray Garden Tractor) has been running 12 months a year for
more than 15 years without any problems. I mow with it in the summer,
and snow blow with it in the winter. The tranny has never had any
problems and hasn't required any maintenance, or even an oil change, if
it contains oil at all.

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

Lawn tractor transmissions
 

"Harry K" wrote in message
...
On Mar 29, 4:44 pm, Blattus Slafaly ? ? ? ?
wrote:
Jim wrote:
Looking to purchase a consumer grade lawn tractor. My 18 year old Sears
(Murry) riding mower has manually selected gears. Many of the new
machines boast hydrostatic transmissions. Are these really any better?
Are they as durable as regular gears?

Of course they are better, that's why they invented them. Instead of a
set number of gears there is an unlimited range between the slowest and
fastest ratio. Usually the more you press the faster you go. The reverse
pedal usually does the same thing only in reverse. But you do have to
keep your foot on it unless you have one on the column. With real gears
you can move your feet around because they are not busy. It could be a
cost issue. They still make gear shifts on low end models.

--
Blattus Slafaly ? ? :) ?

The higher cost ones in the company line will probably have "cruise
control" option. John Deere does. I didn't go for it but I find no
problem mowing my 2 acre area without it.

Harry K

The cruse control on my Deere is just a hold down for the drive peddle. I
have not found it very useful to do my yard. The front is about 100 x 200
feet.

One thing I have not seen mentioned is that you usually run the motor wide
open on the hydrostatic transmissions and control the speed of the mower
with the foot peddle. This lets the blades spin up to full speed all the
time. I had a mower with the fixed gears and it seemed that one gear was
always too slow of a mower speed and the next faster gear required slowing
the motor to keep the speed down.

Lawn tractor transmissions
 

on 3/30/2008 10:46 AM said the following:
The hydrostatice tractors are a nuisance as you have to keep your foot
on the "gas".

Just like in a car. One good thing about a hydrostatic transmission is
that when going down a hill and take your foot off the pedal, the
tractor will not run away, as it has a feature that slows it. I have 30º
hill on both sides of my driveway at the street and I don't even have to
use the brake when going down.

The manual ones allow you to select 1-6 and go. As
far as durability goes I dont know. I like to daydream/think while
mowing and found that I got slower and slower on the automatic tractor
as my foot let up. I would suggest the manual and save $200 . What
didnt you like about your old mower?


On Mar 29, 6:01 pm, Jim wrote:

Looking to purchase a consumer grade lawn tractor. My 18 year old Sears
(Murry) riding mower has manually selected gears. Many of the new
machines boast hydrostatic transmissions. Are these really any better?
Are they as durable as regular gears?





--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

Lawn tractor transmissions
 

MOST hydrostatic tractors both big and small allow for a set amount of
hydro. You don't have to 'hold' them. You obviously had some heapy cheapy
sears fokker or something.

s


wrote in message
...
The hydrostatice tractors are a nuisance as you have to keep your foot
on the "gas". The manual ones allow you to select 1-6 and go. As
far as durability goes I dont know. I like to daydream/think while
mowing and found that I got slower and slower on the automatic tractor
as my foot let up. I would suggest the manual and save $200 . What
didnt you like about your old mower?


On Mar 29, 6:01 pm, Jim wrote:
Looking to purchase a consumer grade lawn tractor. My 18 year old Sears
(Murry) riding mower has manually selected gears. Many of the new
machines boast hydrostatic transmissions. Are these really any better?
Are they as durable as regular gears?

Lawn tractor transmissions
 

"Harry K" wrote in message
...
On Mar 29, 4:44 pm, Blattus Slafaly ? ? ? ?
wrote:
Jim wrote:
Looking to purchase a consumer grade lawn tractor. My 18 year old Sears
(Murry) riding mower has manually selected gears. Many of the new
machines boast hydrostatic transmissions. Are these really any better?
Are they as durable as regular gears?

Of course they are better, that's why they invented them. Instead of a
set number of gears there is an unlimited range between the slowest and
fastest ratio. Usually the more you press the faster you go. The reverse
pedal usually does the same thing only in reverse. But you do have to
keep your foot on it unless you have one on the column. With real gears
you can move your feet around because they are not busy. It could be a
cost issue. They still make gear shifts on low end models.

--
Blattus Slafaly ? ? :) ?

The higher cost ones in the company line will probably have "cruise
control" option. John Deere does. I didn't go for it but I find no
problem mowing my 2 acre area without it.

Harry K

I don't know about Sears's yard tractors but their garden tractors do have a
cruise control. You hold the pedal where you want it and pull up on the
cruise control lever, remove your foot from the pedal and that's it.
There's a little fall back in speed but only a small amount. I did have
trouble getting used to the hydro but it has been flawless for the past two
years. Longevity is another issue and that will be a variable factor for
anyone. There is an oil change interval in the hydro but it's quite long -
I just don't know what it is as I write this. Best of luck on your
decision.

Lawn tractor transmissions
 

"Jim" wrote in message
...
Looking to purchase a consumer grade lawn tractor. My 18 year old Sears
(Murry) riding mower has manually selected gears. Many of the new
machines boast hydrostatic transmissions. Are these really any better?
Are they as durable as regular gears?

Check out the Craftsman "Pro" model they've got on sale right now. Has the
bigger size of the garden tractor (but won't handle ground engaging
attachments) so it's a more comfortable fit to climb into and drive.
Hydrostatic, with cruise control. I bought one last night at their "plus
10% off" sale. It's on sale for $1799.99 less $50 for Craftsman Club
savings. With my retiree discount I got it for $1420 more or less.
Beautiful Black with yellow deck and bumper and accent graphics. Wife
thinks it looks like a bumblebee but I said "but it fits so good". My old
Craftsman is 6 speed but with my "old age" arthritis, it's just getting too
hard to climb up over the seat to get on. And the new ones with the 6 speed
shifter on the fender make it hard to slide into the seat. Get hung up on
the shifter on one side or the cut adjustment lever on the other side. No
problem with the Hydrostatic. I keep an old second tractor at my Mother's
with the hydrostatic and have never had a problem with that.

Tom G.

Lawn tractor transmissions
 

On Sun, 30 Mar 2008 07:46:10 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

The hydrostatice tractors are a nuisance as you have to keep your foot
on the "gas". The manual ones allow you to select 1-6 and go. As
far as durability goes I dont know. I like to daydream/think while
mowing and found that I got slower and slower on the automatic tractor
as my foot let up. I would suggest the manual and save $200 . What
didnt you like about your old mower?

==================================
Over the last 35 years I have owned only 2 Lawn Tractors...(Both
International Cub Cadets) and both with Hydrostatic drive...However on
both of mine I do not need to use either of my feet ever... Yep there
is a brake but I can not remmeber the last time I used it..my speed is
controloled by a lever on the tractors dash ..shaped like a turn
signal stalk but much more robust...push it forward you go foreard
pull it back and you stop pull it back so more and you go backwards..
Want to go faster..then just push the lever forward some more...

My son has a new Cub Cadet which does use foot pedels...to me it is a
major step backwards ...lots more work...LOL

Hydrostatic is the only transmission I will ever buy... like I said in
over 35 years of use I have NEVER had a single transmission problem..

Bob G.