TYM 353HST - mini review The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

fla45fan

Member
I just wanted to let everybody know how well this new TYM 353HST was doing for me. If you have been following my adventures of a newbie buying a beach tractor in the tractor selection forums you will have found me completely green and confused. After making my selection of the larger of the two TYM's and a great dealer (Rammelt's in Westfield NY) this is what I have found in the last couple of weeks.

The Good
The TYM 353HST is a 35hp, 4wd tractor with the hydrostatic tranny that weighs in close to 3100lbs. With it's 4 cylinder Mitsubishi engine it's well coupled to the 1241 lbs of lift with the FEL (breakout force of 2875). My 3 point lift capability is 2646 and out 24" 1764 lbs. I picked out this tractor vs a New Holland T1520 and a Cub Cadet EX3200 because of similar (if not better specs), 4 cyl vs 3 cyl, better pricing by $3-5K, and a much better warranty (3 year full, 5 year engine and transmission).

Now I put the red devil from Korea to work by removing several 10-15 foot logs and a huge stump that had washed up and refused to burn this past Fourth of July. What didn't fit in the bucket were easily lifted with chains and hauled away. Left over ashes and burn debris were easily managed with a little bit of bucket work.

Ergonomics were very good to me, especially the dual left/right fwd/rev foot pedals (not the heel and toe type) and the capability of brake steering. Couple this with a comfy seat with plenty of fore and aft adjustment as well as suspension travel and I'm a happy camper! Now being new to these animals there were a couple of surprises - like cruise control and a tilt steering wheel. C'mon, cruise control? Why that's rediculous, who would . . . oh, I get it now! I spun the york rake around 180 degrees and dropped it, adjusted the wheel, set my speed and hit the green cruise button, and 45 minutes later had effortlessly groomed the sand to a professional, Cocoa Beach finish, all while smiling and waving at the neighbors. :dancing: This also had HI/Low headlights, turn signals, and a horn button, of all things. I accidently hit that and my wife came out and asked what I wanted. (hmmm, Note to self, horn=beer)

Several days later we had a fairly strong wind 30-40 mph with higher gusts that brought minor debris way up the beach. Cleaning with an iron rake, shovel and wheelbarrow would have taken at least an hour. In ten minutes the york rake had it in a pile and the FEL hauled it over to my fill area where I'm building a ramp up a steep embankment.

This tractor has a couple of nice features that are NOT options; a sturdy, fold down grill guard, a real hood, and a rear work light. There is also a covered trailer light harness receptacle. The ROPS looks like there are a couple of brackets for either lights or a hardtop - not sure which yet.

The Bad
OK, it's new and it's hard not to be excited about it but there are a couple of things that aren't perfect. First, the 3 range hydrostatic range selector is sometimes rough. I have found that when switching between low and mid I sometimes have to toggle the fwd/rev pedals so that the lever will engage the selected gear. Second, the latch for the hood sometimes sticks to the point that you have to lean on top of the hood while reaching under the tractor to pull the ring so that it unlatches. Third, the grill guard while it is very heavy duty and it pivots forward so that you can access the engine compartment better, if you don't do that first you WILL scratch the hood.

The Ugly
The 3 point hitch lifts really high. So high that when I was raising the yoke rake to back up part of a hill the top piece bent a bracket that holds the SMV sign and also protects the fuel tank. Hopefully the dealer can fix the bracket and maybe readjust the 3 point so this doesn't happen again.
 

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fla45fan

Member
More Good
The FEL is a quick steer attachment type so changing out the bucket to others is simple and quick. The whole loader is also removable is minutes thanks to the quick detach hose connections and loader arms. (still need to talk to the dealer about this). Small plexiglass windows ahead of the pedals near the floor come pre-attached (so later if you add the optional hardtop you will be buttoned up nice and tight for snow ops. The ROPS has a couple of anti-chatter knobs that you adjust and leave. Dropping the ROPS is a matter of pulling the pins and lowering it in a matter of seconds (the O rings on the pins that keep them from scratching the ROPS are already disintigrating, but not a big deal)


More Bad
There are no places on the dash to add additional switches, like for ROPS mounted lights (a project I am working on)
The fenders are half steel, half Plastic - this will make it difficult to add a toolbox as some of you have. Best bet here will be a small canvas mechanics bag behind the seat - not waterproof and highly removable.
Only one grab bar on the left side only - maybe because entering on the right side one encounters the joystick more often than not
 

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fla45fan

Member
The TYM 353HST now has around 6 hours on it and the dealer has picked it up from demo this afternoon and will be conducting the pre-delivery inspection this week. I'm also having 3 grab and 2 slip hooks welded to the bucket and looking into having some auxillary lighting attached to the ROPS. Can't wait to get her back

The toys - washed and ready to ride.
 

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Big Dog

Super Moderator
SUPER Site Supporter
Great update .......... that look like a really nice machine. The grill guard fold down feature is a real A+. Have fun!
 

Joeyd

Member
Flafan- I have to agree with you about the rough shifting. I have 17 hours on mine and I have found the same difficulty just going back and forth to neutral so I can get off the tractor to adjust chains etc. One "good" you forgot was the indicator rod to let you know when the bucket is level.
 

Erik

Member
you might ask the dealer about the 3 point lifting too high - mine has some adjustment at the lift arms so I can change my leverage for lift and how high the lift will go.
 

Doc

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Good review. Sounds great so far. :thumb:
Good thinking Eric. I bet there is an adjustment for that.

Nice pics of the dash and all. I'm used to my heel toe pedal but the side by side ones do look interesting. They'd be easy to get used to. Brakes on the left and clutch on the right would be harder for me to get used to. Once you've spent a few hours on one I figure you get used to it real fast though.

Sometimes I have a rough time shifting my hydro-stat tranny from lo to med .... I find if I roll the wheels just a little bit it usually slips right into the new gear. So I tend to do the change on a mild slope so simply letting off the brake will move the tractor and I'm slipping the gear lever while it's coasting (with the clutch in of course).
 

fla45fan

Member
I do like the bucket level indicator rod - I just need to mark it to use it better.

Now getting of the machine with HST I just take my foot off the FWD pedal and it comes to a dead STOP fast. The hit the right brake and set the park lever - off I go, no neutral - of course I'm on level ground.

It's currently at the dealer and he is looking into adjusting the 3pt and straightening the bracket/fuel tank guard.

Doc - help me out here. Now I don't have the owner's manual yet (remember that this was dropped off as a demo and I said "leave it" - I still have to pay for it!) but, um, how do I say this, err, clutch? on a Hydrostatic tranny? um, I didn't see any clutch pedals - three brakes, the two on the left for brake steering (have the bar in the back to connect them also) and the one on the right that also connects to the parking brake lever. I didn't hear any grinding and I don't remember the dealer saying anything about a clutch. I used one on the neighbors Ford. What am I missing?
 

Doc

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Boy FF I'm not sure. However, all I can compare it to is mine. On my hydrostat tractor I have a clutch. I have to depress it when I'm starting the tractor, and when I'm going to engage or disengage my rear PTO. I also depress it when I'm changing from H, M or L to another gear. I never put the tractor in neutral when I stop and set the brake. Like you said they stop pretty dang good on there own as soon as you let off the pedal. My two brake pedals are up where the third pedal is on yours. And I saw the double pedal on the left side so I figured that was the brakes and the other was the clutch. I've never heard of one with 3 brake pedals but that doesn't mean they don't exist. :confused:
 

bczoom

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I didn't see any clutch pedals - three brakes, the two on the left for brake steering (have the bar in the back to connect them also) and the one on the right that also connects to the parking brake lever.
I've never sat on a TYM tractor, let along drive one but I did sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

Take a look a little closer at the single pedal. I'm wondering if that's actually a clutch. It's not uncommon to have a lock that holds the pedal to the floor which releases all the clutch functions so they don't seize up. When you push on that pedal, does it stop 1/2 way down or does it go to the floor? There's a sticker between your tilt steering knob and an arm to the right. What's it say?

The double-pedal is definitely your brake. Besides the lever that connects the two pedals, look for another lever that locks the pedals down.
 

fla45fan

Member
Hey I use that line all the time (Holiday inn) - Nope the single pedal is a brake and the lever is the lock that lets you get off the tractor and keep the engine running. If you stand up to look at something and don't hit the brake and then engage the lever lock down, after 3-4 seconds the engine shuts off. If ya get bounced off the seat for a second or two the tractor keeps running but after that the engine shuts off (In case you wern't wearing the seatbelt and ejected yourself off your rig!) If I recall the sticker is something that indicates that. I'll have to look again when it gets back from the dealer from it's pre-delivery, set-up and inspect thing. I must miss the damn thing - I just got back from TSC and I bought it jewelry - 10 feet of 5400 lb test chain and a jack stand for the rake.
 

bczoom

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Damn. Had a nice long post written up and lost it.

In summary.
I stand corrected and I lied about sleeping at a HIE last night :hide:.

You're nice to her buying her all that stuff. Now, get her some earrings.... l'm referring to lynch pins. Instead of keeping one set that you need to keep finding or digging out every time you want to connect an implement, get a pair for each implement and leave them with it. No more looking for a pin.
 

Doc

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Pat's easy change makes it mucho easier to change 3PH implements.

Do you have to depress any pedal to start her up?
 

Joeyd

Member
Since you were nice enough to by her a bracelet (10' chain) you might also want to go for a necklace (20-30'). It has come in very handy pulling logs up to the road so I don't have to go side hill to try and get down to them. If you only use it on the beach though you might never have the need. But there is always winter and cars in ditches.....
 

bczoom

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Since you were nice enough to by her a bracelet (10' chain) you might also want to go for a necklace (20-30'). It has come in very handy pulling logs up to the road so I don't have to go side hill to try and get down to them. If you only use it on the beach though you might never have the need. But there is always winter and cars in ditches.....

I'm getting old. Have enough chains to reach out hundreds of feet but not the energy to carry them. Consider buying the fake diamonds and get some nylon straps. 20-footers with some clevises to connect them is much easier on the body.

I found some 10,000 pounders on e-bay a couple years back. Bought them and never looked back. Small but strong. I bought in bulk and have a few in every vehicle.
 

shvl73

Member
I have an older version with over 1200hrs & love it! Nice review btw.
I have only added 1 light and put the switch in the dash. I need to take a picture. I have already done as you have, lifted my post hole digger too high into the fuel tank. Lesson learned until I do it again!
 

fla45fan

Member
Funny you said that - first thing I got was an extra set of lynch pins (per my neighbor) and dug out the antique jewelry (old 10 footer with a grab hook at one end and a slip hook at the other that we had in the garage) I do like the idea of the nylons for her (heehee) and I'm still thinking about the carry all or forks by spring.

Hey joeyd - you have a 353HST (mine's back at the dealer getting set-up) do we have a clutch?
 

fla45fan

Member
thanx shvl73 - nice ride btw (the HD) - gotta a couple of metrics Shadow up here and a Vulcan down south

ah lessons learned - hoping the dealer will readjust, otherwise I can't go past 3.5 out of 5 on the 3pt.

bczoom - where are you now - you said you grew up here but where'd you move to?
 

bczoom

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bczoom - where are you now - you said you grew up here but where'd you move to?
I'm about 40 miles N of Pittsburgh. I drive through your area relatively frequently as my family lives in W. NY. I used to get off at Silver Creek for gas and smokes but their prices are now about the same I pay every day here in PA. Now, we only stop at that Burger King at that exit. I see you have East Central FL listed in your profile. My wife's family lives in the Melbourne/Palm Bay area. Is that anywhere near you? We're down there a couple times a year as well.
 
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