Rotella T in front axle?

[Jay4200]

Is there any reason not to run Rotella T 15/40 in the front axle of my L4200? Rotella sits right in the middle of the required viscosity range, and IS a severe-use formulation. Anybody see any issues with a low-temp meshing-gear application such as a front axle?

JayC

 

[thatguy]

Dont most mfg's recommend a GL-5 rating gear oil? Is the Rotella T rated GL-5?

brian

 

[Jay4200]

Is there any reason not to run Rotella T 15/40 in the front axle of my L4200? Rotella sits right in the middle of the required viscosity range, and IS a severe-use formulation. Anybody see any issues with a low-temp meshing-gear application such as a front axle?

I should add that I only use my tractor as a lightweight (towable w/ p-up truck) backhoe. I don't use 3pt hitch mounted attachments, so don't do any 4x4 heavy load applications such as running tilling equipment. I do some loader work occasionally, but mostly my tractor acts as a transport mechanism for my backhoe. I do use my bucket often for grading and/or backdragging, but most of those times the front wheels are off the ground, so there is no load.

The axle spec is for either UDT or gear oil - obviously gear oil is what should go in there, but hydraulic fluid seems like the worst thing you could put in. It just seems that a good diesel motor oil would have to be better than hydraulic fluid.

JayC

 

[DieselPower]

DO NOT USE ENGINE OIL! It is not designed as a gear lubricant. UTF oils and gear oil are designed with the proper additive package for use as a gear lubricant. UTF is not just a hydraulic oil, it is a multipurpose lubricant that has a lot more additives than plain hydraulic oil. It is designed to be not only a hydraulic oil but also a gear oil and transmission fluid. Engine oil or plain hydraulic oil would be the worst things you could use.

 

[greenmule]

Yeah,several good reasons you shouldn't,not what manual says to use,not a gear oil,and several more I'm not taking the time to think of.

Why would you want to add motor oil to your front axil,[seeing that you can find what book calls for all over the country.]

 

[Jay4200]

DO NOT USE ENGINE OIL! It is not designed as a gear lubricant. UTF oils and gear oil are designed with the proper additive package for use as a gear lubricant. UTF is not just a hydraulic oil, it is a multipurpose lubricant that has a lot more additives than plain hydraulic oil. It is designed to be not only a hydraulic oil but also a gear oil and transmission fluid. Engine oil or plain hydraulic oil would be the worst things you could use.

Actually, I did put 80W90 gear oil in (one of this mornings' projects) - I was just wondering for future reference more than anything. I run Rotella T 15W40 in just about everything I own - tractor, lawnmower, ATV & bunch of dirtbikes (both sides on my CRF250), etc. Being that Rotella T is well known to be a good oil for race bike engine and transmissions (which is about as brutal a lubrication environment as there is) I figured it would be good for a tractor axle.

JayC

 

[rdsaustintx]

Is there any reason not to run Rotella T 15/40 in the front axle of my L4200? Rotella sits right in the middle of the required viscosity range

How the heck is 15W-40 engine oil in the middle of the range for 80W-90 gear oil???

 

[Jay4200]

How the heck is 15W-40 engine oil in the middle of the range for 80W-90 gear oil???

It just is. They're roughly the same viscosity.

JayC

 

[Skyco]

Gear oil and motor oil don't use the same viscosity scale.

 

[DieselPower]

There are several different viscosity scales. SAE J300 Viscosity Grades for Engine Oils, AGMA Lubricant Numbers, SAE J306 Automotive Gear Viscosity Classification, MIL-PRF-2105E Specification and ISO Viscosity Grade just to name a few used in the USA. Notice in the following chart how the SAE engine oil and SAE gear oil viscosity's overlap.