Help choosing hydraulic fluid

[FF117]

Does anyone have an opinion on Sam's Club Heavy Duty Hydraulic/Transmission oil? I've done a search, but haven't found much. I'm due for 50hr service and the dealer recommended to just get my fluid wherever. Manual says Texaco TDH or Chevron Tractor HYD fluid, but nobody in my area carries these. Walmart has Rotella Tractor Hydraulic fluid, but $57 for 5 gal seems steep. Sam's Club is $33 for 5 gal and has several manufacturers ratings listed (J20C, MS-1209, M1143, ect). I've posted this in the Branson forum also. Thanks

 

[Diamondpilot]

Compare the specs of the Sams Club fluid to the specs of one he recommends. I bet you will find they are a equal match.

Chris

 

[FF117]

Compare the specs of the Sams Club fluid to the specs of one he recommends. I bet you will find they are a equal match.

Chris

Interesting you say that, because the Texaco TDH is specifically formulated to meet J20C and the Sam's Club oil meets J20C. I assume this means that it will work fine, but I have reservations about putting generic oil in a 6 month old tractor that is still under warranty.

 

[Diamondpilot]

If it makes you feel better buy the expensive stuff. I do for some of my applications then on others I just buy what is on sale. I do about 100 oil changes per year along with tranny fluids, diff fluids, ect. Never had a oil failure.

Its more important to keep clean fluid in it than the name brand.

Chris

 

[kjung17]

Interesting you say that, because the Texaco TDH is specifically formulated to meet J20C and the Sam's Club oil meets J20C. I assume this means that it will work fine, but I have reservations about putting generic oil in a 6 month old tractor that is still under warranty.

It's real easy to put some numbers on the side of the bucket. It doesn't, necessarily, mean the oil inside meets those standards. On the other hand, the generic oil could have been packaged in the same facility as your manufacturer recommended oil. There's no way to tell, without a lab test. Your best bet, during the warranty period is the manufacturer recommended oil. No finger pointing in the event of a failure.

 

[Storm56]

If you have any Napa stores by you, the difference can be split. I bought Napa premium UTF for $47 for a 5 gallon pail last fall. Made by Valvoline. Works just fine. Been using it for the last few changes in my tractors with no issues.

 

[Jay4200]

Does anyone have an opinion on Sam's Club Heavy Duty Hydraulic/Transmission oil? I've done a search, but haven't found much. I'm due for 50hr service and the dealer recommended to just get my fluid wherever. Manual says Texaco TDH or Chevron Tractor HYD fluid, but nobody in my area carries these. Walmart has Rotella Tractor Hydraulic fluid, but $57 for 5 gal seems steep. Sam's Club is $33 for 5 gal and has several manufacturers ratings listed (J20C, MS-1209, M1143, ect). I've posted this in the Branson forum also. Thanks

I have a 2600-hour Kubota L4200 w/ Glide-shift transmission. I don't know what was in it when I bought it, but based on the condition of the tractor, it was probably Kubota SUDT. Although the machine was in terrific shape when I got it, I know it was completely unmaintained during the PO's 200 hour tenure, and the transmission level was low due to a seeping site glass. I topped off the transmission with Sam's Club Heavy Duty Hydraulic/Transmission and changed the hydraulic filter. I ran the tractor for about 500 hours over 5 years w/o addressing the fluid or filter, other than topping off the level with more Sam's fluid a couple of times (shameful, I know) and added a total of 3-4 gallons out of the original 5 gallon bucket. Most of my use was primarily hydraulic (backhoe work), so it is probably light usage in terms of the transmission and/or fluid.

I recently did a full 10 gallon transmission fluid and filter change ("Yay", my tractor said) using Sam's Club oil. It looked similar in color and viscosity to the oil that I drained, for what that's worth. Sam's club oil is a UDT equivalent (20W), and my tractor is supposed to use SUDT (10W) - the lighter-weight SUDT is designed for cold-weather operation. That being said, I've been running my tractor all winter for snowblowing, and it definitely DOES pause a second or two between shifts before moving when I first take it out - which is not unexpected. Within 5-10 minutes, however, it warms up and reacts pretty much instantly upon shifting. I'm satisfied, and feel better off saving the $150 - I'm willing to wait the few minutes while the oil heats up.

JayC

 

[FF117]

Thanks for the replies. I never thought I would have this much trouble choosing an oil, but it seems that every auto parts and retail store has their own version of hydraulic fluid. It's probably all the same oil in different buckets, but the distributors aren't willing to share that information. I guess the big question is whether I will be liable if I use the cheap fluid and the transmission fails under warranty.

Anyway, I found a Chevron distributer about 20 miles away who carries the fluid recommended in my manual and I also found a Shell distributor here that carries an exact match to the recommended Texaco TDH oil (Shell Donax TD). Of course, they are both $59/5 gal. I suppose it will be about 3 years before I have to change the oil again, so it will cost me $26/year for peace of mind. Probably just wasting money, but maybe I'll just use the expensive stuff until it's out of warranty.

Does anyone know of a place that will lab test an oil? It would be interesting to know exactly what some of the cheaper oils are. I'd be willing to send off a sample of the Sam's oil if it wasn't too expensive.

 

[kjung17]

That's pretty cheap piece of mind. I'm sure there are other kits out there. This is what I'm familiar with. The kits are about $15.
OILSCAN Home

 

[KennyV]

The idea of using overpriced oil in something, until it is out of warranty, makes no sense at all...

If I were to use some type 'magic' high priced oil... it would be on an old almost worn out machine. With the idea that the 'magic' would keep it going...

What kind of scary verbiage is in the warranty that makes people believe that Kubota requires a particular brand oil?