Oil & Fuel Front axle/ 30 W oil ?

[Frankm]

in my book on my 204 Notrac it shows 30 W Motor Oil , What do you guys use , is it ok to use 30W oil in there , Thanks !PS Been Working the tractor here near Erie Pa , Way over 60 Inch a snow so far this year , tractor running Great , knock on wood.

 

[Diamondpilot]

30W is what they say because that is all that is available in most parts of the world. A better choice and what most of us use on this site is a 80W90 GL4 or GL5 gear oil.

There is a lot of talk about yellow metals and GL5 not being good for them. If you do your research most GL5 oils are now yellow metal safe. I would just get a good 80W90 in a 5 gallon pale. Get a pump to put it in with. I got one from Harbor Freight for $20 or so and goes right on top of the pale once the lid is removed.

I would use 80W90 in your front axle and tranny. Make sure you locate all the drain plugs. The front axle has 3 and the tranny has 4.

Chris.

 

[Reg]

in my book on my 204 Notrac it shows 30 W Motor Oil , What do you guys use , is it ok to use 30W oil in there , Thanks !PS Been Working the tractor here near Erie Pa , Way over 60 Inch a snow so far this year , tractor running Great , knock on wood.

If that is what the manufacturer recommends.... Well, does it need to be spelled out ?
Adequate lube is just that, additives and extended visc range do little/no good in a low speed oil bath application.
Don't confuse low viscosity numbers with low(er) film strength, they don't always correlate.

 

[Diamondpilot]

If you look on a oil chart a 30W motor oil and a 80W90 gear oil is about the same viscosity. The difference is in the additives. GO with the gear oil!!!

http://www.hrpworld.com/client_images/ecommerce/client_39/cat_header/890_3.pdf

Chris

 

[IH3444]

You definely need the extreme pressure additive which is in 90w gear oil. I personally would go one better and use a high quality 90w synthetic gear oil such as Amsoil 3000 series gear oil, Mobil 1 90w gear oil, etc. 3RRL did an extensive documentation of replacing the entire front axle beveled gears sets on both sides of his KAMA 55, at around 500 hours of use. Big job, but 3RRL is a big man, so no sweat for him. Just another thing to be done. I would want to protect the front sets of my gears as well as possible. I have Amsoil 3000 series 75-90w in mine. It's a NH TC48DA.

 

[greg_g]

I strongly advise against the use of synthetics and synthetic blends in Chinese tractors, for at least the first 300 hours anyway. This includes engine/gear boxes/hydraulics. These are 1950-1960 technology machines, not engineered with the most exacting of tolerances. To be as untechnical as possible, synthetics are actually too slippery. You'll never complete a proper break-in.

Northern basically just re-wrote the Chinese manuals into what they thought was a little more understandable English. Even at that, it still raises a lot of questions. The original Chinese manual by the way, actually specifies "30 weight diesel oil". That's cuz engine oil doesn't have the EP additives that have been reported as harmful to yellow metals. 80W90 gear oil has an average viscosity equivalency of 30W engine oil. As mentioned, many manufacturers are beginning to modify their GL3/4/5 oils to be MT1 compatible. Coastal is one, I just bought 10 gallons of their GL5/MT1.

That's my strongest recommendation; a proper gear oil that's includes an API rating of MT1 (or is clearly marked as "safe for yellow metals"). 80W90 is the most common weight, typical in cool to moderate climates. Folks in warm to hot climates often opt to move up to the thicker 85W140. I personally found 80W90 too thin for the heat of July and August in this part of Kentucky, so that 10 gallons I just bought was 85W140

//greg//

 

[IH3444]

Just don't wait until 500 hours.......I wouldn't be concerned with the "break in" of heavy meshing front axle gears. But you'll have to decide on that. Mybe 3RRL will chime in on the gear oil he was using before replacing the front gears, and bearing on his KAMA. Frankly I'm not worried at all about the front gears on my TC48DA. With today's modern machinig equipment, and techniques, the gears, cylinder bores, etc are machined near perfect, if not perfect. I have read that modern engine piston rings are seated now within the first 20 minutes of running. Of course the chinese tractors may have slightly different metal alloys, heat treatment, tolerances, quality inspections.....but I doubt it. I'm almost sure they are all about the same now.

 

[ray66v]

We just went through this on the MF forum.

Our manual says 30w hyd. oil. or 80w gear lube.

MF reps. confirmed it was ok to use the EP gear lube, this was also recommended by an engineer I know, who specializes in failure analysis.

 

[3RRL]

I'd recommend either 80w/90 or 85/140 gear oil, which is what I use in the front end.
Like IH3444 said, I've had my entire front end apart (shees 2 times now) because the first time a year ago I stripped the small bevel gears on both front drives and just the other day I broke a casting on the left front drive and had to take that one apart again to fix it. Anyway, I don't think synthetic gear oil would hurt a bit in there even right off the bat. My guess is it would be better that dino gear oil because of it's supposedly better lubing qualities. Only thing it's quite expensive so I got a pail of 85w/140 Sta Lube at Napa for that and the transmission. Since I've had the entire front drives apart, I can tell you there are no yellow metals in there at all ... at least on my Kama 554. When I had the transmission open and looked around in it, I couldn't find any yellow metals in it either. All the components on mine were steel bushings and ball bearings and needle bearings in the front end and trans. Maybe on your Nortrac there are yellow metals though? Anybody know for sure on your tractor or about the Nortrac? If so, please tell me what component is yellow metal in there.

 

[IH3444]

Modern CNC machines are machining parts repeatably within 0.0004" now. And these are the standard production machines. There are CNC machining centers which can now repeatably machine down to millionth of an inch. Just besure to use a 75-90w or 75/80-140w gear oil with the extreme pressure additive.