Hot Hydraulic Oil ?

[GeorgeW]

It's hot here in Texas. Mid to upper 90's. Have been doing some mowing, a couple of hours at a time. Nothing real heavy. When I got finished, I was brushing some grass off the transaxle and noticed it was extremely hot.

My son put the BH on yesterday to dig a trench and the oil got extremely hot again. You can't put your hand on the axle or FEL lever head, etc. for more than a second or two.

Is this normal. I didn't notice that it got this hot when I was doing some tilling, but it was a lot cooler then.

Also, this recent work has been after the 50 hour service. I bought the oil(Promax brand, dealer recommendation) and filters from my dealer. The tractor is a DK45 with 70 hrs.

Uh-Oh, got a honey-do call. check back later /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[KiotiJohn]

It's not unusual for the oil to get very hot especially in hot weather. Just make sure the level is correct. Temps above 180 degs. can cause damage to components. Check out this article, maybe it'll give you some interesting info.
Preventing hydralic failure
John

 

[GeorgeW]

Thanks, John. I will check the article out. Makes me wish that there was a hydraulic temp gauge and/or oil cooler on the tractor. The various valves "sing" a little louder when the oil gets hot.

George

 

[wallace]

Also make sure the grill and the prescreen in front of the raidator is keep clean.
Blow the raidator out with compressed air from the engine side forward.
Also if you are run in that hot of conditions I would also remove the side panels for better air circulation

 

[JerryG]

What Wallace said will have a very large effect on the system temperature. The amount of heat to the touch varies greatly from person to person. If you have access to an inferred temperature gauge, use it to determine what the temperature is.

 

[Bird]

George, everything I've read and heard, as well as my own experience, is that it's quite normal for your hydraulic oil to reach a temperature of 100 degrees above the ambient temperature. So even in cool weather, everything will get too hot to hold your hand on it.

 

[GeorgeW]

Thanks for all the responses. Being new to all this hydraulic stuff is a learning curve. This is a great place to get educated. I don't think there is a problem from your responses. I don't have an infrared temp gauge, but I will ask around.

Have had no problem with engine temp. The only time I have seen it rise a little above normal is when I am tilling. That has put more load on the engine than anything else I have done.

George

 

[TractorLegend]

Because I cant leave anything alone I will likely examine my NEW CK 30HST /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif for a way to add a cooler. There would have to be a pressure tap source and a way to return cooled fluid or possibly a remote filter adapter type setup- which would likely void my warranty and take 200 hours work to complete /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif We know heat destroys trannies in vehicles and maybe a guage would be a good starting point for those on a Need To Know basis to see where its at. Anything can be worked/ overloaded to the point of smoke.

 

[KiotiJohn]

I'm not looking at one right now, but I believe the CK30, as does my CK20, comes with an oil cooler that sits in front of the radiator. Blowing out the radiator from the engine side, as Wallace posted, will also clean out most of the oil cooler, but sometimes I have to pay a little more attention to getting everything out of the oil cooler.
Always be careful not to use too high PSI on the compressed air as this can bend the fragile fins of the radiator. Also, be careful that the tip of the blower doesn't hit the fins.
The biggest problem with too-high heat is that the viscosity of the fluid can go down. The 180 degrees I mentioned is a generalization of problems above that, as problems can occur below that, or may not happen above that depending on that viscosity.
John

 

[depratt_equip]

You are correct the CK30HST do have the Hyd oil cooler, as do the new DK65s tractors.