Tranny/Hydraulic Fluid Change

[JeffM]

Haven't done my first hydraulic fluid change yet, but I have a question or two that I hope you "experienced" folks can answer. I should tell you up front that I'm fairly meticulous on preventative maintenance ala Chalkley, Bird, and PaulB. I've been a true convert to synthetics in my gas vehicles for over 10 years, so I want to switch over to synthetics in my tractor as soon as prudent. I have a new JD4400 HST with 430 loader and 48 backhoe, but I'm confident all you Kubota owners will still help me out here. (After all, I almost bought a 2710 at one point. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif) First, when should I change the transmission oil over to synthetic? JD manual says change at 500 hrs, but I won't wait that long. The manual says break-in is at 50 hours and I'm inclined to change over then, as well as change filters, clean screens, etc. Second, which synthetic hydraulic oil do you all recommend? I use Mobil1 exclusively in the gas burners, but I'm favoring Amsoil ATH in this case. Finally, what do you do about the hydraulic fluid that is in the loader and backhoe lines & cylinders? Is it enough to be concerned about or am I being too **** here? There is almost a 7 gallon hydraulic fluid capacity on the tractor. Is it ok for the new synthetic fluid to mix with the remaining dino fluid in the implements? Thanks in advance for any help here (or tell me that this subject was covered adequately in the archives). Jeff

 

[MChalkley]

JeffM - we Kubota owners are mostly a pretty tolerant bunch, even when it comes to JD owners. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Actually, pretty much all of us follow a live and let live policy when it comes to tractor brand selection, I think. The only people we don't understand at all are those who don't own a tractor. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

You can change the transmission over at any time you like. I changed mine over at the 50-hour service. I've always used Amsoil ATH. I've never worried about the oil in the lines at all. It's not much. If you want to minimize it as much as possible, without going to too much trouble, just make sure all the cylinders are retracted before you drain it. There's no problem with mixing that little bit of petroleum with the synthetic.

Have fun every chance you get.

Mark

 

[JeffM]

Thanks, Mark, for the reply. Good suggestion: retract the cylinders all the way. Should have thought of that myself, but I didn't. (And you know I'm just kidding about Kubota owners - they're all great toys, er, I mean, tools.)

Jeff