Looking for inexpensive AW46 - Hydraulic Oil

   / Looking for inexpensive AW46 - Hydraulic Oil #41  
I have played with hoes all my life and one thing I can say is you want to use the right fluids much cheaper than hyd. Pumps!
 

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   / Looking for inexpensive AW46 - Hydraulic Oil #42  
Unl
Happy New Year!

The wife wants to kill me as I made a 'small' purchase at the local auction house.... Just a little excavator. Nothing new to see here!

I tried to hide it, put it behind the garage and all such, but I got caught...View attachment 842175

Now, unfortunately, it needs a hydraulic fluid change - like over 55 gallons worth.

Any recommendations on an inexpensive source of hydraulic fluid with some actual specific approvals?

The cheapest I found is Service Pro (see PDF) in 55gal Drums - about $550/ea. or so. Looking to replace JCB's AW46 oil.

Thanks everyone,
BlakeView attachment 842173

Happy New Year!

The wife wants to kill me as I made a 'small' purchase at the local auction house.... Just a little excavator. Nothing new to see here!

I tried to hide it, put it behind the garage and all such, but I got caught...View attachment 842175

Now, unfortunately, it needs a hydraulic fluid change - like over 55 gallons worth.

Any recommendations on an inexpensive source of hydraulic fluid with some actual specific approvals?

The cheapest I found is Service Pro (see PDF) in 55gal Drums - about $550/ea. or so. Looking to replace JCB's AW46 oil.

Thanks everyone,
BlakeView attachment 842173
Unless it leaks I would not go with cheap fluid Remember what they say you get what you pay for
 
   / Looking for inexpensive AW46 - Hydraulic Oil #44  
Happy New Year!

The wife wants to kill me as I made a 'small' purchase at the local auction house.... Just a little excavator. Nothing new to see here!

I tried to hide it, put it behind the garage and all such, but I got caught...View attachment 842175

Now, unfortunately, it needs a hydraulic fluid change - like over 55 gallons worth.

Any recommendations on an inexpensive source of hydraulic fluid with some actual specific approvals?

The cheapest I found is Service Pro (see PDF) in 55gal Drums - about $550/ea. or so. Looking to replace JCB's AW46 oil.

Thanks everyone,
BlakeView attachment 842173
All I can say is be careful. I bought VP Racing Ultra Plus J20A oil at TSC. When I emptied the jug, there was sludge in the bottom of it. I wrote to the manufacturer, and they did not reply. So even name brands might be dirty.
 
   / Looking for inexpensive AW46 - Hydraulic Oil #45  
I'd put any AW46 I could find in it. You can do the price shopping yourself. It's not rocket science here.

Another reason it doesn't matter is it won't be in the machine long. You will blow hoses and lines, just a fact of running heavy equipment, especially if you are going to get into the woods with it.
 
   / Looking for inexpensive AW46 - Hydraulic Oil #46  
If it was me, whatever I bought, I'd buy from a jobber that will take the drained fluid back on the drums they delivered the new fluid in, brand not inclusive. What I always do. My jobber carries Chevron and I use Chevron All Weather THC in both my tractors and it comes in 55's, delivered to the farm and I had my jobber drop off 2 empty 55's so I can put my drain oil in one and my hydraulic oil in the other. I believe Chevron THC, you'd find it to be a bit above your ideal fluid cost wise, but how I do it. Each of my tractors holds 15 gallons of hydraulic fluid so when I change it, that is 30 gallons plus. Motor oil adds up as well. I used to burn all my used fluids in my Kleen Burn waste oil furnace but it's gotten to be an expensive PITA as of late so I just have my jobber take the used fluids back now. Don't know what or where they go but, they could be getting re-refined and sold to TSC for all I know....:oops:
 
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   / Looking for inexpensive AW46 - Hydraulic Oil #47  
I will need over 100 gallons and only want to pay as much as is necessary, and not one penny more. And to do this, it would be nice if there were better industry standards that were clearly stated and able to be verified.
I did not read it in the post, but found this link. If I read the model number correctly as a JS300Lc, Says 113.6gallons needed.
 
   / Looking for inexpensive AW46 - Hydraulic Oil #48  
For an expensive hoe like that, especially one that gets used more than occasionally, I'd go with some reasonably good hydraulic oil. But for those wanting cheap, here's a couple ideas:

We have well regarded guy here with a shop that services lots of the heavy equipment used by the local loggers and farmers. His advice was to replace the filter regularly, and manually filter the old hydraulic oil if it starts looking dirty due to the filter failing. That does make some sense, as it shouldn't get hot enough to break down like engine oil. You just want to remove any dirt or bits of metal in it.

I have a 1956 Cat 955 Traxcavator I bought for $5k. The 70 year old manual says to use the same SAE30 oil for the hydraulics as the engine (I use modern 15W-40 for the engine). A modern hoe may work the hydraulic oil much harder, so perhaps not a good idea to try that on newer machinery. But if I ever pop a hose, I won't be buying a barrel of top brand hydraulic oil.

I'm curious if anyone has an opinion as to why not just filter old hydraulic oil. And whether irreversible damage might happen if engine oil is used instead on a modern machine.
 
   / Looking for inexpensive AW46 - Hydraulic Oil #49  
Now, unfortunately, it needs a hydraulic fluid change - like over 55 gallons worth.
Any recommendations on an inexpensive source of hydraulic fluid with some actual specific approvals?
The cheapest I found is Service Pro (see PDF) in 55gal Drums - about $550/ea. or so. Looking to replace JCB's AW46 oil.


That's a nice looking hoe. Congratulations.

Hydraulic Oil specs always confuse me. I'm not sure that it is even possible to find the specific approvals that you are looking for in a hydraulic oil. What does JCB use? Their saying "HP46" doesn't tell us much.
SAE and ASTM standards don't seem to cover hydraulic oils well, and AW46 is just another way of saying standard viscosity at 40 degrees is roughly the same as 20 wt engine oil. That is a viscosity standard sure enough, but not very complete. Nothing about what happens at different temperatures, additives, aging, or especially seal compatibility.

The Service Pro spec for their fluid just claims "highly refined base oils"... whatever that is. It might not even be a mineral oil; there are lots of other chemical oils. Glycols, esters, and glycerides are all oils that are used in hydraulic, too. About half that spec is abut viscosity...and sure enough, it is close to 20 weight by the way that engine oils are measured. Unfortunately nothing in there about seal compatibility, aging, or friction and wear standards. To be fair, that lack of reporting any testing or in-house standards seems to be par for the hydraulic oil industry. So it isn't a knock on Service Pro. The whole industry is secretive when it comes to their own hydraulic oils.

No reason not to ask around varioius JCB dealers to see what they run in them. When I asked, I was surprised to find that my Kubota dealer used New Holland multi-G for all his hydraulic work. It's an AMBRA product blended by Petronas. And the JD dealer doesn't use their own hydraulic oil exclusively either. Some of JD's commercial hoes run multiweight engine oil in the hydraulics.

If I couldn't get an answer from JCB, I'd probably lean toward a known brand like Mobil, Chevron, or Shell.
I might use a less well known brand as a flushing oil, but wouldn't leave it in there long term.
Keep us posted as you decide on an oil.

always curious about hydraulics,
rScotty
Very surprised a Kubota dealer would not use their own oil. I think it’s HDT2? I know I tried replacing the hydro oil in my F2560 with a big box store brand. Ran it for a couple weeks and the trans whining was very noticeable and very aggravating. Dumped it and hit the bullet on the Kubota branded synthetic. Problem solved. And this coming from a branded oil and gasoline skeptic who was in the business, and loaded oil by the tanker load at terminals. I loaded Shell, the guy in front of me Cenex, and the guy behind me Phillips. All from the same pipe. It’s mostly about the additive for branding!
 
   / Looking for inexpensive AW46 - Hydraulic Oil #50  
My buddy owns and operates a heavy equipment company with millions of dollars in heavy iron. They run the stuff from NAPA.
 

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