Hydro trans oil

[Eric_Phillips]

I know this is not for a four wheel tractor but it does pertain to a hydrostatic drive. I bought a used three wheel Farris mower with a hydrostatic drive. I think the only thing the hydraulics drive are the wheels. The manual says to change the hydraulic oil at 500 hours. The mower currently has about 560hrs. When I talked with the dealer he said they have never changed the hydro oil only change the filter. The fluid is standard 10W30 motor oil. Does this sound OK or should I also change the fluid? We are talking 10gal. so it is not a trivial thing to do. The mower is about 5 years old and was used commercially. I will be using it for private use. If it helps it is a 25hp Kholer motor with a 72" deck.

Thanks,
Eric

[Soundguy]

If the manual says cahge the oil.. then change it.. if the manual says use 10w30.. use it. It's not uncommon to see some machines using engine oil in gearboxes... Big cat equipment specs 30w and 40w oil in trannies on some units. I've also seen 50w oil specced for some gearboxes on some machines.. etc.

Soundguy