[Tseg]

Not to mention the frustration of having that thing stuck at the end of your driveway in a snowstorm! I was very close to getting this Toro, but after reading all the negative reviews I went w/ the Ariens Rapid Track.

The reviews at Home Depot are just as bad, all with the same issues.

The toro TRX is a travesty.

What hydrostatic transmission is used in this Toro TRX HD?

 

[ST1100A]

Looks like they use the Hydro-Gear that is not a very well built unit. We have had nothing but problems with all Hydro-Gear hydrostatic units in every type of machine they were placed into over the past few years. They just don't hold up and last long at all. They are constantly wearing out and slowing down plus breaking gears inside them.

 

[Rooskie]

'Don't buy a new one'
That seems to be the upshot sentiment in the reviews.

 

[Tseg]

'Don't buy a new one'
That seems to be the upshot sentiment in the reviews.

I'm sure in 2040 when only electric blowers are available to purchase new, batteries are double the price + recycling surcharges and electricity is quadruple the price these forum posters will be going on and on how amazing the 2021 gas powered machines were/are

 

[Rooskie]

When everything is electric many of the concerns you cite will be solved, one can easily imagine.
Check history: The original automobiles were electric. Gas came along later. And to go any further down this road, politics ensues.
But how much has changed in the past 20 years? How much more will change in the next 20?
Anyone here familiar with Moore's Law?
I'm leading you to water, whether you drink or not is on you.

 

[tabora]

The original automobiles were electric.

On January 29, 1886, Carl Benz applied for a patent for his “vehicle powered by a gas engine.” The patent – number 37435 – may be regarded as the birth certificate of the automobile. He first drove it in 1885.
The Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888 was designed by German inventor Andreas Flocken and is regarded as the first real electric car.

 

[Tseg]

On January 29, 1886, Carl Benz applied for a patent for his “vehicle powered by a gas engine.” The patent – number 37435 – may be regarded as the birth certificate of the automobile. He first drove it in 1885.
The Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888 was designed by German inventor Andreas Flocken and is regarded as the first real electric car.

I hate when facts get in the way of a good story.

 

[Toro-8-2-4]

If I recall correctly when I was at the Henry Ford Transportation museum in Dearborn, there was an electric Ford car. I believe it was dated 1915. All of you guys in MI feel free to correct me if I am off.

 

[orangputeh]

donyboy73 has a good video on one particular brand/model to stay away from.

I don't keep it secret that I wouldnt buy anything new in last 5 years or so.

 

[foggysail]

I'm sure in 2040 when only electric blowers are available to purchase new, batteries are double the price + recycling surcharges and electricity is quadruple the price these forum posters will be going on and on how amazing the 2021 gas powered machines were/are

I FULLY AGREE with Tseg's above pertaining to costs.
Maybe electric, just maybe! First the electric grid must be upgraded to power all those electric thingies. Next governments will have to force electrification via taxation or by using other means to prevent carbon fuel use. Nothing is going to recharge batteries at a rate carbon fueled anything can be refueled. And not all electric power comes from wind and sun that have their own pollution problems.

Too much IMHO is being blamed on carbon fuels. I recently read on Google '' just one of the world’s largest container ships can emit about as much pollution as 50 million cars. Further, the 15 largest ships in the world emit as much nitrogen oxide and sulphur oxide as the world’s 760 million cars.'' Should we stop all imports and exports?

Panics are happening over the doubling of CO2 into the atmosphere. 88% of the atmosphere is nitrogen, oxygen has 21% leaving only 1% for all the other gases. CO2 today has 0.04% or 0.0004 parts of the atmosphere. If you have 2 pennies in your pocket and suddenly you find another 2 doubling your riches, are you then wealthy?

 

[Rooskie]

On January 29, 1886, Carl Benz applied for a patent for his “vehicle powered by a gas engine.” The patent – number 37435 – may be regarded as the birth certificate of the automobile. He first drove it in 1885.
The Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888 was designed by German inventor Andreas Flocken and is regarded as the first real electric car.

Seeing as it was before my time, I appreciate the correction.
What was Benz going to power his car with?
Ford originally had hemp oil in mind for his cars.

 

[Rooskie]

I hate when facts get in the way of a good story.

As I said above, oops, I was off by three years. A bit before my time.
I was wrong.
There's a sentence you don't see on this site very often......
Feel better? Glad to help.

 

[ArchAngel72]

On January 29, 1886, Carl Benz applied for a patent for his “vehicle powered by a gas engine.” The patent – number 37435 – may be regarded as the birth certificate of the automobile. He first drove it in 1885.
The Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888 was designed by German inventor Andreas Flocken and is regarded as the first real electric car.

Bah such youngins...

Ferdinand Verbiest, a member of a Jesuit mission in China, built a steam-powered vehicle around 1672 as a toy for the Kangxi Emperor. It was small-scale and could not carry a driver but it was, quite possibly, the first working steam-powered vehicle ('auto-mobile').[1][9]
Steam-powered self-propelled vehicles large enough to transport people and cargo were first devised in the late 18th century. Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot demonstrated his fardier à vapeur ("steam dray"), an experimental steam-driven artillery tractor, in 1770 and 1771. As Cugnot's design proved to be impractical, his invention was not developed in his native France. The center of innovation shifted to Great Britain. By 1784, William Murdoch had built a working model of a steam carriage in Redruth [10]and in 1801 Richard Trevithick was running a full-sized vehicle on the roads in Camborne. The first automobile patent in the United States was granted to Oliver Evans on May 3, 1789.

Steam > gas > electric..

 

[RIT333]

Wow, we really got off topic. Can we steer this back on track ?

 

[JLawrence08648]

So the outcome of this is not to use my Benz to clear snow, neither my train, or my steam engine mobo whatever.

 

[ChrisJ]

Looks like they use the Hydro-Gear that is not a very well built unit. We have had nothing but problems with all Hydro-Gear hydrostatic units in every type of machine they were placed into over the past few years. They just don't hold up and last long at all. They are constantly wearing out and slowing down plus breaking gears inside them.

Isn't the Hydrogear brand also used by Ariens in their top of the line machines?

My grandfather had a 1967 tractor with a Hydrogear transmission that seemed virtually indestructible so the brand has been around a long time.

 

[Tseg]

Isn't the Hydrogear brand also used by Ariens in their top of the line machines?

My grandfather had a 1967 tractor with a Hydrogear transmission that seemed virtually indestructible so the brand has been around a long time.

Hydrogear was formed around 1990 from a couple different component makers of OEM transmissions in the Ag industry. As far as I can tell, they have 2 tiers of hydrostatic transmissions used in snow blowers... the 310 series which may have limited durability and the SST series, which we know is used in Honda blowers. The SST series is double the weight of the other and all the performance specs are multiples of the 310 series. The initial SST design had an oil aeration issue, which was quickly resolved. Ever since corrected, I‘m not aware of a single Honda HHS transmission failure in the past 5 years. The SST was initially designed for large walk-behind commercial mowers that spend hours and hours mowing miles and miles in the hot sun. Not sure how a company can survive and become #1 in transmissions manufacture for farmers if most their product is junk?

 

[ChrisJ]

Hydrogear was formed around 1990 from a couple different component makers of OEM transmissions in the Ag industry. As far as I can tell, they have 2 tiers of hydrostatic transmissions used in snow blowers... the 310 series which may have limited durability and the SST series, which we know is used in Honda blowers. The SST series is double the weight of the other and all the performance specs are multiples of the 310 series. The initial SST design had an oil aeration issue, which was quickly resolved. Ever since corrected, I‘m not aware of a single Honda HHS transmission failure in the past 5 years. The SST was initially designed for large walk-behind commercial mowers that spend hours and hours mowing miles and miles in the hot sun. Not sure how a company can survive and become #1 in transmissions manufacture for farmers if most their product is junk?

Interesting.
So I wonder who made the hydrostatic transmission Jacobsen used in 1967. I assume it was either the brand name which maybe went out of business or maybe it was a model or series name?

I know for a fact it said Hydrogear right on the aluminum transmission. The tractor was a Jacobsen Superchief 1200 with a 12hp Kohler.

 

[ChrisJ]

 

[Tseg]

Interesting. My only 2 thoughts: hydro-gear is a descriptor for a type of hydrostatic transmission that this company turned into a brand... or it became a defunct brand and this company resurrected it around 1990. I’m thinking the former. There are several blog posts about old equipment with hydro-gear transmissions, but does not sound like it is a brand. Like someone takes the name OHV seen on a lot of engine plates and turns it into an engine maker brand.

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