I'm with Merk on being used to the clutch for decades. It's what I had used on about every tractor my Dad had when I was a kid, and I'm really just more comfortable with picking a gear and using the throttle if I need to slow down a little.
My yard is such that I think I can pretty much mow in a continuous circle in 2nd gear, without having to back up for lots of obstacles. The only attachment I expect to use at this point is a snow blade, and from what I'm hearing from you guys, with proper tires/chains, I think a manual shift 10 or 12 HP will be more than sufficient.
One of the only hydros I used as a kid was my neighbor's Bolens, which had a foot pedal. It seemed impossible to hold steady pressure on the foot pedal when hitting any sort of irregular terrain, and the tractor would constantly be lurching when going over bumps. Not sure if that's still in use, but we all seemed to dislike that setup at the time.
Josh
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