Which lubricant to use

[Jerry/MT]

I'm a newbie to this forum and owning tractors although I've been browsing this site for about six months since acquiring an old Ford 1700 farm tractor. I'm pretty much a neophyte when it comes to matters of tractor mechanics, hydraulics, and lubrication although I've been trying to educate myself through this forum. That being said, I have a very basic question that seems to me should be very simple but the more I read on this forum and the service manuals the more confused I get. I want to top off the transmission/hydraulic fluid in my tractor - the original owner's pamphlet says to use M2C134A, the Ford service manual for this model says to use SAE 80 - obviously neither are available at your local Walmart. An Internet search of M2C134A produces a lot of technical sites but also an ad from TSC which it sounds like quite a few of those on this forum buy from - they have "Traveller Universal Tractor Transmission/Hydraulic Fluid" on sale but no specifications assuring me that this is really what I want. Also on the Internet is "Lucas Universal Hydraulic Fluid" advertised, "compatible to Ford/New Holland M2C134A", but it sounds more like straight hydraulic fluid by description and they talk of its use with automatic transmissions. Help! Surely it can't be this difficult to top off some fluid! My apologies to the fact that I am sure that this question has been addressed multiple times - I really have been studying the Lubricants and Hydraulics Forums so as not to be so redundant. Thanks for any help.

When someone quotes a SAE 80W oil, you need to get the required API GL number for it. For some old tractors, like the Ford N Series and the Ferguson TO20 and TO-30, a SAE 80W GL-1 oil was speced by the OEM in winter and a 90W GL-1 was recommended for summer use. This was an oil that was used in the transmission, the rear axle, and the hydraulics. This GL-1 is a straight mineral oil and was superceded by MC134 spec oils and I think that oil is up to the D suffix.

I don't know of any tractor that speced to use GL-3, -4 -5 gear oil as a transhydraulic fluid. However I do not claim to know it all. Some of the sulfur additives in straight gear lubes can cause the yellow metal parts to corrode in the older tractors.
So if your owners manual calls for an SAE 80W viscosity oil, find out what API GL spec it requires. I'm sure the Ford MC134 oils are acceptable substitutes for the old GL-1 oils that it was probably designed to use.

 

[California]

Jerry, you're reasoning that this tractor needs a later version of what was spec'ed for early Ford tractors. But I think his small Ford is a rebadged Shibaura. So I think Kubota/Yanmar etc Japanese standards are more likely to be relevant. My early 70's design Yanmar specs JD303, and I think all the Universal Tractor Fluid brands encompass that specification. I'll bet that's what Shibaura had in mind for the transmission. 80 wt gear oil probably is correct for the front axle.

 

[Jerry/MT]

Jerry, you're reasoning that this tractor needs a later version of what was spec'ed for early Ford tractors. But I think his small Ford is a rebadged Shibaura. So I think Kubota/Yanmar etc Japanese standards are more likely to be relevant. My early 70's design Yanmar specs JD303, and I think all the Universal Tractor Fluid brands encompass that specification. I'll bet that's what Shibaura had in mind for the transmission. 80 wt gear oil probably is correct for the front axle.

But in his original post he specfically said..."I want to top off the transmission/hydraulic fluid in my tractor...."
Really, my point was that you need more then the SAE viscosity grade for a lubricant. You also need the API classification for the usage. They are equally important. It's the same with engine oil.

 

[California]

You're right, for any application the API classification should match.

All I'm saying is I think Universal Tractor Fluid, anything from Walmart generic to some premium synthetic, probably meets such a broad range of OEM specs that it likely encompasses his Shibaura/Ford. If better information is available then of course it should be followed. But if his rig has run 20 years so far with unclear trans fluid specifications, then I doubt any provider's UTF would hurt it.

 

[Isoroku]

Thanks for the additional replies. I had been on vacation for a few days so didn't get a chance to review these until this evening. The Ford 1700 was a Ford tractor made by Shibaura of Japan, my particular tractor was bought new in 1981 by my uncle-in-law for his landscaping business and was recently sold to me when he retired for a token price (he offered to give it to me for free, I refused the freebie but we agreed on a low "token price.") I'm a doctor by trade but a "gentleman farmer" at heart so I've been quite thrilled to own this tractor and have put it to good use. I should be able to get some info on recent maintenance from the employee he had that was in charge of its maintenance, however the suggestions to changle the various fluids including Stevem5215's recommendation to check the front axles and hubs since it is a 4WD is well taken and I will probably do a general fluid change to be on the safe side along with some other maintenance. This particular tractor has a common sump for the transmission, hydraulic system and rear axle. The original owner's manual recommended M2C134A for the sump. The SAE 80 recommendation came from a copy of a service manual for the 1700 bought online from Yesterday's Tractors; I don't see a copyright date on the manual so I don't know if it was a pre-1981 manual. Thanks again for the replies - very helpful.

 

[valley]

Greetings, I'd follow the manual or check with a shop that services them. I didn't read every post completely, did you get input form a Shiabaura owner who has already researched the fluids and such? When you find out for sure replacing all fluids would be a good idea. That what most of us have done when we first got our rigs. When you flush a gear box you might be supprised what you find on the botton or suspended in the oil or grease, I was. Richard