Basic Viscosity 101 Question

[mfeining]

Last year when I bought my new Woods 10'6" full-lift rotary cutter, I put it together with my father-in-law. The gearboxes were not filled from the factory, so we went to buy gear lube. He is a lifelong successful farmer so I just pulled out the plastic when he picked what I needed. He bought 85-140. Upon reading my manual to change the lube at 100 hours, it says to use 80 or 90W gear oil. When I went to buy gear oil, there was 80-90w and the same jug of 85-140 that he chose the year before. Why do they just say the first number in the manual and not the full viscosity rating?

Thanks in advance,

Mitch

 

[KennyV]

85-140 is a multi vis lube... use it instead of a single wt. like 80 or 90 wt.


It will work great in a mower and summer heat. KennyV
PS.. your manual calls for an adequate single wt, a multi vis will cost slightly more but is a much better lube, especially as it heats up.

 

[Soundguy]

ditto whatthe oters said.. an 85-140 is what I prefer inmower gear boxes. they take alot of abuse and have little inthe way of heat disipation surfaces.

fyi.. you can get straight 90w oil from napa.. but that 85-140 is likely the ticket.

I use 85-140i some bull gear /final drives and drop boxes as oposed to 80w90 a well.

soundguy

 

[FlaDon]

Multi-weight lubes are very common today, and there are many of them. So it's not really practical to list all the numbers. A viscosity vs. temperature chart is nice, but many folks don't understand them. So if you were to list something like 90 weight, it should be enough to differentiate between engine oil and hypoid axle & transmission lube. It's not the best system, but it works.

FYI - 75W-90, 80W-90, 85W-90, are typically used in northern climates. The multi-lubes that go to 140 are typically for southern climates or desert regions. An 85W-140 will cover both regions and is fine to use.

Except that if you check some older equipment built up north, you'll find 140wt was speced for it. It was due to heat buildup in the summer. Winter was 90wt.

And I do agree, the 85w-140 is fine unless you have brass gears. Then you need to make sure the oil is sulpher free.

 

[Soundguy]

in mnay places you can get gl4/5 lubes that are yellow metal safe. ford N rear ends need this as well due to the yellow metal in the hyd pump.

soundguy

 

[cowpie1]

When I got a recent Woods mower, the manual stated using 80w90 or synthetic 75w90. Same was true for the Landpride reverse tiller I got last year.

That being said, most, if not all, commercial truck fleets use a synthetic 75w90 in the differentials of the trucks. I am apt to believe that yanking 80,000 lb up and down mountain passes all day long in high ambient temperatures (with no oil cooler) is a little more brutal than what most of us here would put on a piece of equipment on a 3 point hitch. I have an '06 International semi that has had nothing but 75w90 in the rears, per Eaton, and it has almost 550,000 miles on it with no problems. And it regularly pulls almost 80,000 lb up and down hills year round. I guess that is why I am not so concerned with putting a good 75w90 in a gear box on my tiller or mower.

 

[ModMech]

I don't know of a single supplier that has 75W-90/75W-140 in traditional gear oil, they are ALL synthetic in those weights. That alone is a big reason to use them and why no coolers are required.

Add to that, the fact that the differential and ring & pinion in any modern vehicle are cut to a much tighter tolerance than was possible even 15 years ago and you have yet another reason why the "heavy" lubes and coolers are not needed.

Therefore, this does not transition well to older off-road equipment but I believe in most cases 75W-90 is more than adequate in terms of lubrication.

 

[Soundguy]

our 06 int dump at work uses 75w90 syn in it's rears.

soundguy

 

[Skyco]

I don't know of a single supplier that has 75W-90/75W-140 in traditional gear oil, they are ALL synthetic in those weights. .

Warren/Coastal makes a 75w-90 non synthetic....
personally I wouldn't use it though

 

[FlaDon]

Warren/Coastal makes a 75w-90 non synthetic....
personally I wouldn't use it though

Valvoline also sells a 75W-90 non.