hydro fluid? - not SUDT vs UDT!

[donn12]

How much of your hydro fluid do you actually change on a tractor with a loader and backhoe? I would imagine there is a lot of fluid in those implements. Given this can you really change the type of fluid (and does it matter)?

with all the debate about SUDT vs UDT I would not be a bit surprised to find out may dealers use neither. When I tried to buy SUDT for my BX last year from Gaithersburg Kubota I was told they did not carry any Kubota hydro fluid - just new Holland. I would think many tractor dealers buy in bulk based on who their supplier is and what the best deal is. Just because you take your Ford F150 in for an oil change does not mean you are getting Ford oil. I work for a Lexus dealership and although we do stock toyota fluid we do not use it in our shop. Even if we have a warranty repair and the manufacturer pays for the fluid we use Pennzoil which is a a huge drum outside and fed to all of the bays via over head reels. As far as the type other than being dictated by oil weight and weather as long as the fluid is changed regularly it probably does not matter at all. Motors blow but to find one with all maintenance done that just had a fluid failure - I don't know about that. As a matter of fact I most of this fluid is not manufactured by any equipment companies but made by oil companies and put into a ford etc package. Even though I know this I was disappointed that they did not carry the Kubota fluid and drove to another store to buy SUDT! I like SUDT vs UDT and I will use this fluid as long as I have the tractor.If I was a tractor dealer I would probably just pump what ever hydro fluid into it that we had - maybe with a thought about weather but depending on my location I would probably only have one available in bulk. One thing that occurs to me is the casual users may be more picky about this than the pros. If a landscape company uses a Skid steer for business in really tough conditions are they sticking to only John Deere hydro fluid? Probably not.
These things come shipped in a crate with no fluid. If I had bought my BX from GB it would have had NH fluid. With all the debate about SUDT vs UDT I wonder how many brand new Kubotas have neither?

 

[bp fick]

Really hard to know. Those dealerships with multiple "colors" may indeed favor the fluid of one color and use it in most cases.

My gut says that the majority Kubota dealers are Kubota fluid oriented. Even those in this area who do sell multiple colors, have a huge K fluid section on display and use it.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

with all the debate about SUDT vs UDT I would not be a bit surprised to find out may dealers use neither. When I tried to buy SUDT for my BX last year from Gaithersburg Kubota I was told they did not carry any Kubota hydro fluid - just new Holland. I would think many tractor dealers buy in bulk based on who their supplier is and what the best deal is. Just because you take your Ford F150 in for an oil change does not mean you are getting Ford oil. I work for a Lexus dealership and although we do stock toyota fluid we do not use it in our shop. Even if we have a warranty repair and the manufacturer pays for the fluid we use Pennzoil which is a a huge drum outside and fed to all of the bays via over head reels. As far as the type other than being dictated by oil weight and weather as long as the fluid is changed regularly it probably does not matter at all. Motors blow but to find one with all maintenance done that just had a fluid failure - I don't know about that. As a matter of fact I most of this fluid is not manufactured by any equipment companies but made by oil companies and put into a ford etc package. Even though I know this I was disappointed that they did not carry the Kubota fluid and drove to another store to buy SUDT! I like SUDT vs UDT and I will use this fluid as long as I have the tractor.If I was a tractor dealer I would probably just pump what ever hydro fluid into it that we had - maybe with a thought about weather but depending on my location I would probably only have one available in bulk.

UDT is not a hydraulic fluid, it is a transmission fluid. It has a bunch of high impact additives that protect the gears. SUDT is a synthetic base, and flows better in cold conditions. Trying to pump goo through a HST is hard on it. My operator's manual says not to use high range until the UDT is up to operating temperature.

For anyone who is interested, a few weeks ago I was topping off the transmission fluid in my dad's AC 175 with Chevron 1000 THF transmission fluid, and it says on the label that it is a substitute for Kubota UDT.

 

[TripleR]

I went to a Kubota dealer with my first Kubota that only sold New Holland lubricants so that is what I used.

 

[bp fick]

UDT is not a hydraulic fluid, it is a transmission fluid. It has a bunch of high impact additives that protect the gears. SUDT is a synthetic base, and flows better in cold conditions. Trying to pump goo through a HST is hard on it. My operator's manual says not to use high range until the UDT is up to operating temperature.

For anyone who is interested, a few weeks ago I was topping off the transmission fluid in my dad's AC 175 with Chevron 1000 THF transmission fluid, and it says on the label that it is a substitute for Kubota UDT.

Chevron is synthetic and it states it meets sudt specs.

However, Kubota SUDT is not a synthetic. Kubota has stated many times that SUDT is not a synthetic. It is high quality, low viscosity universal tractor fluid, made by Ashland in the US and PetroCanada??? in the True North, but is merely called Premium. One viscosity only in Canada. No debates in Maple Leaf Land.

 

[DiezNutz]

Nicely put, BP. No matter how many times it's been explained, the "SUDT is synthetic" myth just keeps circling the drain.

I also beg to differ that both UDT & SUDT indeed ARE hydraulic fluids, as effectively are all automatic transmission fluids...

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

Not 100% sure on this but I believe it's true. If you buy a new Kubota it will have SUDT from the factory.
They do not come to the dealer topped off as some of us have found out. The dealer that does the final assembly of the new tractor should top off all fluids. If the final assembling dealer doesn't have SUDT then what do they top it off with? Right, probably whatever they have.
I know we have a few dealer on this forum. If what I say isn't true, then step forth and say it is or isn't right.
Some on here have went with UDT instead of SUDT when they did their service and some of them have said the UDT created the transmission to be noisier or less responsive and some have said no difference. If I were to change to UDT and it did not perform as well, I would be a very unhappy camper due to the trouble and expense of dumping the UDT and adding SUDT. Mine have all worked fine with the SUDT that came from the factory so why would I change? Save a few bucks if it worked the same? Lose a few bucks if it didn't?
No one seems to dispute there is a difference between SUDT and UDT. Is the difference of any value seems to be the question.
If there is no value in the difference, why does the factory buy and install the more expensive fluid? How much more money does Kubota spend each year on the total number of tractors manufactured by using SUDT vs UDT?

 

[yooper jim]

Guy who delivered my BX2660 topped the fluids off with New Holland and said to use any kind. So much for running pure Kubota SUDT or UDT.

 

[BotaBigot]

..When I tried to buy SUDT for my BX last year from Gaithersburg Kubota I was told they did not carry any Kubota hydro fluid - just new Holland...

FYI...they do now, at least UDT. Picked up some about a month ago...

 

[KennyV]

Not 100% sure on this but I believe it's true.



If there is no value in the difference, why does the factory buy and install the more expensive fluid?

This is quite a leap
going from not being sure to stating that the factory installs the most expensive....
don't you think...?

The SUDT being synthetic has been around since they first introduced it priced like a synthetic...
And I do not believe they ship SUDT to Japan to put into new tractors... Most all dealers use what works in the tractors they sell... I am sure some only stock SUDT there fore when they top off a delivered new tractor they use it... MANY others use what they stock and it works fine... just like what might be in the machine from the manufacturing plant. They use what works and you can replace with whatever works for you that might even include a real synthetic ... or not. KennyV