D
Thank you. I will change the hydraulic fluid, for the reasons that you articulated and which I would not have thought of.
So no need to use Kubota fluid? I have looked at a few other brands several weeks ago and found the ratings and descriptions a mite confusing. The Kubota seemed expensive. Can you recommend a rating that would work?
Dale
You're welcome Dale, always glad to share data on here !
Your post reminded me of what I went through just a few years back, once I
owned a tractor, as opposed to just hours spent driving tractors on friend's farms. Present day, I'm pretty maintenance aware, when it comes to cars and light trucks.
Even so, the "Geez, that's a lot of hydraulic fluid, do I have to change all that right away ?" reaction is pretty natural. :confused3:
I will tell you the thinking I used when selecting fluid for my 3930, but as I don't know Kubotas at all, I'll start with these suggestions:
Gathering Data requirements:
1) Get a hold of the
original Operating and/or basic Service manuals, if you don't have them already. You need to know the
original Kubota Hydraulic spec required for your specific model. Don't just call a dealer and ask "What do I use in Model _______". I'll get back to this point.
2) Start a thread in the
Oil Fuel Lubricants section on here titled something like "Kubota L3130 - looking for recommendations on Hydraulic fluid". Briefly summarize your tractor (bought used, 8xx hours, looks original in terms of fluid/filter, a bit confused about specs.....), and ask for recommendations.
How I approached my 3930:
1) Manufacturer's will start with a spec for fluid. Let's call it
xyz-A. As time moves on, that spec will get updated, for various reasons. (Progresses through -B, -C, -D........). I'm just making up a generic example here, but you get the idea..... (Typically retroactive, so a "-D" can be used for an older "-B" application, but not the other way around).
An Ag dealer will only stock the latest spec fluid, again, for a few reasons. Should be good fluid, but spendy. When you will call a dealer, they will typically say "use xyz-
D". If your older tractor was originally spec'd for -
B fluid, then IMO, any fluid that is rated to at least the -B level is worth considering.
2) The Certification Game - Kubota factory fluid will be certified to meet their OEM Hydraulic fluid spec. That certification process costs money, so for any after-market supplier of fluid to say
"Meets or Exceeds UDT requirements", that will cost Exxon or whoever quite a bit, to put it on their label.
(To be totally clear, I have no idea if UDT is what you need, pls verify).
I don't discount the certification process involved - I know it's value in another technical world. The challenge for all of us is making the right value decision, when paying for fluid.
If I bought a brand new $200,000 tractor, I'd probably buy the OEM's Certified fluid - I'd have the cash flow to make that decision (otherwise I wouldn't be buying the tractor), and would want to ensure warranty compliance.
3)
Certified vs. Recommended Fluids:
OK, so how to sort out value in the fluid aftermarket...... Well, first of all, I won't look at
Joe Schmos HD Highdrawlic discount fluid, so will stick with the majors.
There are respectable Universal (meaning covers more than one manufacturer's application) Hydraulic Ag fluids out there. After doing a pile of reading on here and elsewhere, I settled on Chevron 1000 THF. Looking at the datasheet I pulled at the time, it says:
Chevron 1000 THF is recommended for use:
as a multifunctional fluid in all types of farm tractors
and equipment.
in any application which calls for the following OEM
lubricant specifications:
.
.
.
.
Kubota UDT
.
.
Again, I don't know if UDT capable is what you need -
pls verify. My emphasis on "recommended".
I wanted to save myself some money on fluid, but didn't want to buy garbage. If you think about it, liability wise, "Recommended for...." is a whole lot different than "Meets or Exceeds spec XYZ". Anybody can say "Recommended for" on a product, w/o really guaranteeing any mimimum level of performance.
So, my selection process boiled down to.....
1) Do I want to pay for the
Certified Ford NH spec fluid from the dealer -
No.
2) Can I live with the "Sootable fer Ford NuHawland applictions" claim on
Joe Schmos HD Highdrawlic discount fluid
- No.
3) Can I (and my wallet) live with "Recommended for Ford NH ______ applications" statement on a Chevron product that I've searched around the net for problem reports on and found none
- Sure, works for me.
I'm not saying that
all aftermarket off-brand Hyd fluid suppliers are junk, just that the elimination process I went through above was what I could justify to myself and my wallet.
View attachment Chevron_1000THF.pdf
I pulled that datasheet in 2011, you might want to spend the time digging through the Chevron site to see if there is an update to that. There is another file I have that is worth a quick read, I'll PM that next.
Hope this helps you select an appropriate fluid - let us know what you settle on, and what the fluid you dump looked like - that feedback will help a future Kubota owner !
Rgds, D.