3020 powershift or synchro ?

[Dean Lydey]

I'm looking for a 3020 and want to know your opinion on the choice in transmissions. The powerhsift looks to be more valuable. A couple of questions.....1) Is the powershift that more user friendly to operate? 2) Is either transmission more durable? My intended use is very light mowing and dragging logs from the woods. I could see a loader to be added as I reload the mad money. I envision 10-20 hours a year of use.

 

[buickanddeere]

Is the forest level or hilly? A 3020 rowcrop has a fairly high center of gravity. A Dubuque or Mannheim utility tractor maybe worth consideration?
Some folk have hydraulic troubles but we never have with the 2020,2120,1840,2355, 3130 or the 1640.
Then again we are real fussy on clean oil, clean filters and wiping all dirt from the hydraulic connectors.
No shuddering,"water hammering" or cavitating hydraulics due to using high flow loads on the scv's. Oil is returned via the ported filter cover.
Some of these split and blown transmission lines are due to trans relief and divert valves hammering. Due to plugged filters, water in oil or chunks of dirt.

 

[Dean Lydey]

Pretty flat....nw ohio. I know the right tractor for what I describe isn't the 3020. I just have that in my mind's eye as the classic John Deere

PS or Synchro?

 

[Roger in Iowa]

For only 10 to 20 hours I would consider a 3020 gas and synchro, but with console hydraulics!

I use one for about a 100 hours a year. Later console levers ( on the right side of seat) is more important than trans I feel.

 

[Gundoctor New Haven, VT]

Go with the PS. I had both in 3020 and 4020's . The power shift is the best for me.

David Pidgeon
New Haven, Vermont
Untitled URL Link

 

[[email protected]]

for me it would be a Powershift only. I grew up with two 3020 PS and they did all the field work for 320 acres and 35 cows, from the day they were new until I brought home a 5020 about 15 years ago. The PS is the only way to go if you do any work where you would need to change speed or direction frequently. The ONLY advantage a syncro range tractor has is it can be pull started. Its a no brainer for what my next tractor purchase will have.

 

[tim s]

If your set on a 3020 try to get a diesel, the power shift is nice to run, the park is a bit of a problem on them but not bad, test drive a couple and see how they feel, if you want to take a drive come on down and I'll let you test drive a couple.

 

[thurlow]

Can you drive both as Tim suggested? Personally, I MUCH prefer the syncro, but some folks who post on here whose opinion I value feel just as strongly about the powershift. They are 4020s instead of 3020s, but........I've got 2 with frontend loaders (used to load silage from a trench and load/unload/move/feed 1500# bales) and one with a Waldron blade which have between 15,000 and 20,000 hours each; there is ABSOLUTELY no telling how many times they've been shifted between 3rd and 3rdR/5th and 5thR. Clutches have not been a problem, though they are a wear item and will eventually have to be replaced. At your level of usage, I doubt you'd get more than 500 years out of one. I also prefer the dash-mounted controls...........just because I've spent so many tens of thousand of hours running one (have one console model).

 

[Mike M]

For only 10-20 hrs a year I would not pass on a gas model just because it is gas. Find the best one for the least money and buy it. Condition means more then either engine type or tranny style.

I do not like the power shift for 2 reasons. In the cold for short trips it boggs too much from the cold oil. And I have some hills and park on them and climb on and off alot. The park on a power shift does not lock in as good as a syncro range. Or release as good if it does get locked in. One way on a hill the force jambs it in tighter-good !until you try to get it out. the other way it trys to force it out-bad ! especially if it takes off down the hill on you.

 

[jeremy in NE]

We have had both PS and syncro and they are both equally good. I might recommend the power shift for dragging the logs. I would recommend a diesel over a gas for fuel efficiency and with only running it 20 hours a year you will probably have carb issues with old gas. Just my .02

 

[Anonymous-0]

There is not a right answer , but I would like a sycro range because it use a lot less power from the engine than a power shift model . We had sycro model 3020 and neighbor had power shift model there was no question witch one had the most power .The 4 cylinder diesel is taxed heavy with the loads of ps.

 

[Tx Jim]

IMHO for frt end loader work a powershift is way ahead of a Syncro-range trans. It's very similar to a hyd shuttle as no clutch pedal needs to be depressed while changing from forward to reverse.

Park pawl problems I've seen on powershifts was caused by trying to put in park before fully stopping or a rusty/binding shift cable.

 

[JDemaris]

They are both very rugged. We sold many log skidders with both, and they tend to get more abuse then farm tractors.

In this day and age, unless you've got a lot of money to burn, I think you'd be nuts buying a used 8 speed Powershift. Deere has discontinued most of the major repair parts. Those that are still available are extremely expensive.

When we used to rebuild them, we could often save a little by buying new sub-assemblies. No more.

Last summer, my neighbor's Powershift trashed a planetary in his 3020. When that happens, you get metal all through the system. We tore it apart, checked on parts, and then . . . sold his 3020 for scrap. More then half the parts are no longer available from Deere. What do they still have?
One new dry clutch disk that drives the Powershift is $605. That is JUST the disk, not the pressure-plate.
And, the Powershift pump? Older serial # tractors need a $3,030 kit to replace.
At this point, close to $4000 in parts and we hadn't even gotten inside the transmission yet.
Deere no longer sells planetary assemblies or the parts inside. We got a price from one scrapyard of $2000 for a used planetary, condition unknown.
At that point, the tractor got sold to a tractor salvage yard for $1500.

Now, if you find one that you're 100% sure is in perfect shape. The Powershift robs engine power, so a Powershift tractor is somewhat less efficient then one with SyncrhoRange. It Takes 7-10 horsepower just to run the Powershift pump and clutches.

The thing is - IF something fails. If a Powershift fails, and results in a tear-down, it's going to cost MANY thousands to repair. That is, unless you do it yourself, and reuse worn parts that have some life left in them. Few professional shops will do that.

If a SynchroRange fails, it's usually just in a few specific gears, related to gear-collar locking and synchronizer clutches. A fix is often much cheaper and specific. I have never had to redo all the internals in a SyncrhoRange trans.

I prefer to use a Powershift, but to own a tractor - I'd take a SynchroRange anytime - unless the Powershift trans had low hours on it and had been done by a professional. When I lasted worked for Deere . . . Deere Co. didn't even want us tearing them apart and fixing, piece by piece. Deere was pushing Powershift repair "modules" the basically replaced all the wear components. And, that's back in the 80s when parts were still available and much cheaper.

 

[ncpapaul]

I do the same work as you describe with a 3020 LP syncro and it serves well, especially sitting up between use, the LP stores well and it cranks right up on not much of a battery. I really like the PowerShift models in the woods and with a loader but the deals I found were syncro so that is what I use. Be careful on hilly ground, I scare myself sometimes with the row crop height and keep an eye out constantly for a utility size tractor but the row crops are easier to find here and usually less money. Paul in Mississippi

 

[JDBert]

I'd pass on a 3020 gas in a powershift- a tad gutless- I'd stick to a syncro there. A diesel-go eitherway your going to find diesels are higher priced- powershifts are more yet and side consoles are just rediculous on price.

 

[TD]

The powershift trans is the way to go, especially for light jobs such as mowing and logging in a bush. It works much nicer with a loader on it. If you go with a syncro and put a loader on it, as soon as you push in the clutch the topshaft stops and the tranny pump runs off the top shaft, then you run out of oil for your loader, on a powershift this does not happen because everything runs in oil and its continuos.
I have worked on many powershift tractors with hrs ranging from 3000 to 12000 hrs, they are the most trouble free transmission, if they are looked after they will cost you much less $ than what a syncro can cost. On the syncro"s if the shift linkage gets loose and the operator does not adjust it it will wear the topshaft, just in parts along the topshaft will run you $2000 with out any labour, and then you have a dry clutch and with a loader on it you will eventually have to put a clutch in it. Just my 2 cents worth.