I have a hilly garden. The hydro sits in the shed at the bottom of the slope, the gear drive gets used all the time.

A hydro will be fine if you are only ever planning on mowing, get a gear if you want to do work.

I have 3 acres. About 1 acre of lawn area, has a couple 25-30 degree slopes, plant beds, shrubs and trees. About an acre of flat land with tall grass and about an acre of wooded area. I have 2 tractors, both with manual gear drive high-low ranges, 2 reverse-6 foward transmissions. I also use a snow/grader blade, a disc harrow attatchment and pull logs. My friend brought his hydrostatic automatic over to help me out a few times. My 2005 Husqvarna GT2254 8 speed manual and a my 1993 Toro Wheel Horse 314-8 and his Craftsmen GT5000 automatic transmision. Both of my manual 8 speeds had at least twice the pulling/pushing power as his "Hydrostatic automatic". I was pulling new cut pine logs, 10-12" x 10-14' with no problem while his was groaning and barely moving them. He tried to help me push some wet snow, but again the hydro-auotmatic transmission took a lot of power away from the tractor. Other people I know who bought automatics/hydrostatics all said it is easier to use if you are just cutting grass but if you want to use it for other things with attatchments they all said they would go with a manual with a high-low gear box. The manuals just have more power to the wheels. If you plan on using any attatchments I personally would stick with a manual trans. Unfortunatley they are getting harder to find. They are cheaper too. To buy and fix. You would most likey find them available at an actual land scapers supplier/ dealer- not places like Home Depot or Lowes. You will get better service too. Good luck !!

I like manuals too but strong hydros are also available. Plan on spending $5,000 or more for a tractor with a strong hydro. A Craftsman or Husqvarna manual GT costs about half that price.

-Deerslayer

I agree with Deerslayer about the manuals.
The only thing I did not like about my old gear driven tractor
was that the throttle was on the dash, like all the rest I have seen. I always thought that the gear drive I had would have been nicer if the throttle could have been activated with the right pedal, while the left pedal would be for the brake/disengage, sort of like a car. That arrangement would give you the ability to have some adjustment to speed via the throttle without taking a hand off the wheel to lower the throttle or to stop to shift gears.

I say manual the heavier duty the better, hydros will eventually slow down, eventually a big word, some takes 4, 5 or 6 years, others take longer, but the bottom line IMO is they are going to slow down or not pull hill. With a manual I just feather the clutch to adjust speed when mowing or around object. Only thing I don't like about most LTs now are they got elect. clutches, another high dollar part that will fail sooner or later.

Hydro is the only way to go, foot pedal control. I pull a molboard plow with mine, tiller,FEL, box blade, and a back-hoe. Now I'm talking about a real garden tractor, not just something thats labeled GT. The Deere and Massey subcompact tractors are hydro only. In a lawn tractor I might have to agree that a stick is tougher but I won't ever own another stick after having the hydro.

Butch, I agree with you. However, if you want to buy new, a GT with a strong hydro will cost at least $5,000. The subcuts that you refer to cost significantly more.

-Deerslayer

You get what you pay for.

I agree.

-Deerslayer

If you think a hydro won't do what you want it to . . . . or won't last the life of the tractor, you have 2 choices

Settle for the pain-in-the-butt gear drives . . . . or buy a better hydro

My 20 HP Kubota with a hydro will drag any 25 HP gear drive backwards, so don't make ridiculous statements like "A hydro will be fine if you are only ever planning on mowing, get a gear if you want to do work"

A good hydro will work a gear drive to death because you can always operate the engine at full power and then select any ground speed you need for what you're doing . . . . pretty much the 'definition' of work

Deerslayer is right - Good hydros cost more and Butch is right too - They're worth every penny

Don

"A good hydro will work a gear drive to death because you can always operate the engine at full power and then select any ground speed you need for what you're doing"
------------------
I tried to accomplish just that with my old gear drive....for example...I would put it in low gear with the engine rpm cranked to deliver maximum power to the mower for cutting through tall grass. No loss of power through the transmission or transaxle, so it always seemed to do the job.
I like my hydro (low end Hydrogear) for mowing, but like you guys have said, the cheapies like mine are very borderline when it comes to pulling heavy things, plowing, etc. Whines like a pig and makes you feel like you are breaking it whenever you tow or plow.

kachichinee,
"Whines like a pig and makes you feel like you are breaking it"
That one made me laugh! :^) The mental imagery was superb!

Yes, if you have a gear which gives you the ground speed you want/need at full throttle, then the gear drive is perfect . . . . until you run into some heavier cutting and need to slow down a bit. On my old gear drive, I did that by slipping the clutch until I was through the heavy stuff and could again go at the ground speed to match the gear I was in . . . . or, you can shift to a lower gear and probably go slower than you really want, but no need to slip the clutch

With a hydro, you set the engine for max torque and then you have infinitely variable gound speed to match whatever the operation you're doing calls for - A real time saver, plus you have maximum torque at the exact correct ground speed

I wore out 3 different gear drive tractors, used about 90% of the time for mowing. Now that I have a good hydro and know what I would be missing, I wouldn't consider another gear drive and would hate to be forced into one because I was worried about breaking the transmission in it

Kubota (and others) have been manufacturing small diesel (and gas) garden tractors designed for ground engaging work with hydro transmissions for more than 20 years and you don't find many threads here about any of those models with broken or ailing transmissions. True, they are more expensive than 'box store' lawn mowers, but I've ridden (and worn out) enough junk that when I go looking for a good machine, it's NOT at one of the box stores - I would rather buy a used tried and true macine with 1,000 hours on it than a new box store model . . . . for the same money

If you have a fixed budget at say $2K or less to buy your 'lawn mower' and you are dead set on a new machine, then you do have a tough choice to make because no doubt the gear drive tractors in that price range are probably less prone to transmission failures than many of the hydros are - It's just another one of those 'you can pay me now or pay me later' deals

Don

Don, I think you hit the nail on the head.

The point I was trying to make is that darn few readers of this forum own $5,000+ equipment or intend to buy equipment in that price class. Of the people that do have premium equipment, many of them purchased used.

Yet when the issue of transmissions comes up, I always see "get a hydro". I think that advice sometimes misleads people and they buy a box store tractor with a low end hydro and proceed to blow out the their tranny hauling gravel up a steep slope. I thought it would be a good idea to clarify to the casual reader what "get a hydro" actually means in terms of capability and cost.

I think you did a very good job explaining the cost/capability trade-off.

-Deerslayer

if u can afford it i would get a HD hydro for those hills cause u can accelerate at a slower pace and hit reverse if ur front end comes up a whole bunch quicker then a gear. if u plan to haul stuff gear is definetly the way to go as far as lower end stuff goes. i have a jd lt 150 gear and my neighbor a lt 155 hydro. same tires and engine, but i drag him backwards even with a loaded bagger on his.(we get bored sometimes. i have hauled logs literally close to the size of what chowdehed was pulling with hsi gear shift GT's!! my neighbor with the hydro can barely pull a trailer with dirt. by the way, he gets his hydro redone every two years so that doesnt effect my ability to drag him

good luck....the jd x500 series sounds pretty good with their good hyrdo and differential lock, simplicities two garden tractors should be looked at to, as well as wheel horse.