Hydro control on fender

AndySKane

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May 18, 2011
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I was over at Lowes yesterday looking at their mowers. They had some Husqvarnas and the higher priced ones had the Hydro speed and direction control on the right fender rather than foot pedal controlled. The lower priced Huskies and the Deeres all had pedal controls.

It seems like with this setup one would be steering with one hand a lot and turns, particularly three point, would be very difficult. Is there a benefit to having the direction and speed hand controlled rather than foot controlled, or is this strictly a cost saving measure?
 

BKBrown

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Over the years I have operated a number of tractors with hand control speed and direction. Once you are used to it, there is not much, if any difficulty with control and steering. I have found with some tractors it is nice to have a spinner knob attached to the steering wheel. The tractors with hydraulic steering do not require 2 hands to turn the wheel.

I have both hand and foot control for speed and direction on the Ventrac - The foot control is an option. :thumbsup: In most situations I much prefer the hand control.
 

JDgreen

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I was over at Lowes yesterday looking at their mowers. They had some Husqvarnas and the higher priced ones had the Hydro speed and direction control on the right fender rather than foot pedal controlled. The lower priced Huskies and the Deeres all had pedal controls.

It seems like with this setup one would be steering with one hand a lot and turns, particularly three point, would be very difficult. Is there a benefit to having the direction and speed hand controlled rather than foot controlled, or is this strictly a cost saving measure?

My Deere 318 had a hand control (dash mounted) for speed and direction, my Deere 4210 has a foot pedal control. The pedal setup on the bigger tractor is much more convenient when I am using a loader or back blade, but if your machine doesn't use attachments, a pedal setup would be much better if you needed both hands to steer. Both my machines have PS, so I really don't know how much effort is needed to turn a lawn tractor. The design of the footrests and any other controls mounted near them may have a bearing on where the hydro controls are located. I am just guessing here.
 

reddragon

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i had a JD 155 with the forward and reverse and brake all on the right..once i got used to it its fine but..it was a little too cluttered for me
 
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