Changing The Hydraulic Fluid

[MikePA]

With winter almost here, I just ordered enough Amsoil Synthetic Tractor Hydraulic/Transmission Oil to change over to synthetic. I got tired of hearing the whining of the hydraulic system last winter. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

For those who have completed this job, what have you devised to contain the 8.8 gallons of oil that needs to be drained out?

P.S. I also plan on replacing both of the hyd filters at the same time.

 

[hazmat]

Mike,

I haven't done it yet, & am dreading the day when it is due (at 200 hours right now). If I get to 300 before my 2 year warranty runs out, I'll probably take it to the dealer to do. Then they can give the machine a once over for any warranty claims before it expires.

I have used a topsider oil change pump to change the oil on my dad's sailboat (24 HP Yanmar diesel /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif). It worked very well. Maybe you could get the level down enough so that a catch pan would hold the rest.

Somebody here once mentioned lining 5 gallon buckets with kitchen trash bags for holding the "waste" oil to make for easier cleanup.

 

[MikeIIA]

You are scaring me MikePA....What was the issue?
/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
I defective tractor paint color perhaps? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
After market fixes are not covered by dealer warranties /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
My poor attempt at humour aside...
What is this fixing and why did you chose Amsoil to fix it?
You have gotten my attension.
Mike

 

[MikePA]

I am going to change the hyd fluid to Amsoil in an effort to quiet the hydraulic 'moaning'. Initially, this only happened in the winter, but I've noticed it over this summer.

 

[MikeIIA]

I understand...
During the winter months here in Iowa I have used a 110 volt plug in transmission heater for the hydro fluid transmission for our JD4400. The dealer said it was a "kind" thing to do for the hydro since it is hard to get the fluid initially up to operating temps in cold weather.Have you also tried this?
Mike

 

[MikePA]

I have a block heater, but that doesn't significantly help heat up the hyd fluid.

 

[MikeIIA]

Is the noise a high pitched whining sound? Most of the hydros I have owned inherantly make this sound. I thought it was the nature of the hydro. Does the Amsoil claim to help this?
Mike

 

[jinman]

Well, Mike, Hazmat metioned my "5-gallon bucket" method and I think it's a good one. Of course, my Class III Boomer probably has a lot more ground clearance than your tractor, so you might have to use a smaller container which is not quite as tall. I also have two drain plugs, so half of the oil seems to drain out of each one and neither of the 5-gallon buckets overflowed. What I did with the large kitchen trashcan liners was to double-line the buckets to ensure no leakage and then drain the oil into them. After filling the reservoir with new oil, I had the containers left over and I used a funnel to pour the oil from the buckets back into the containers. I removed the oily trash bags and discarded them in my normal trash (no more oil than cooking oil on paper towels). I was left with two clean 5-gal buckets and several containers of old oil, but no mess. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[MikePA]

Hi Mike, it's more of a groaning, which isn't a very descriptive term. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Amsoil doesn't make any claims about helping this. I vaguely recall someone else having this problem and believing it's caused, at least in winter, by the hyd fluid being thick, resulting in the harmonics through the steel lines, then going away after it has a chance to warm up. The synthetic hyd oil wouldn't have this problem, at least not to the same degree.

 

[MikeIIA]

I have had the same effect with our JD4400.
Even though we plugged in both the engine coolant heater and the transmission heater last winter our tractor seemed to make the same "groaning" sound you described. After we had run the tractor out in the cold the sound went away.(posssibly a normal warming up procedure)?
I'd be curious how your tractor reacts after doing the aftermarket fix you chose.
What scares me most is doing something that could void my warranty. I am kinda scared about doing aftermarket fixes to any of my equipment but this seems like a relatively safe fix.
Have you chatted with your dealer about doing this?
Mike