Alternate to Dextron II hydraulic Fluid ??

[Gordon Gould]

My one ton dump has an electric over hydraulic system to extend the telescopeing cylinder. It calls for dextron II hydraulic fluid. When it is cold like yesterday, 10*F, it is very slow. I have to keep the revs up and my eye on the battery voltage then raise the bed in shifts.
Is there a thinner fluid I could use in this system to make winter use easier that would also be OK in the summer.
I have been thinking of trying Fisher E-Z Flow but don't know if would damage anything or be OK in the summer. Maybe there are better choices you guys know of.
I could go with different fluids winter and summer but it would be a bit of a pain because the tank has no drain and I have to syphon to change fluids.
Thanks for your suggestions and advise.

gg

 

[wdchyd]

Gordon you need aircraft hyd oil.....similar to Mobil Aero HFA......it works great for equipment with 12vdc pumps in our cold environment that doesn't run continuously

if you can't find the aircraft stuff use the blue Fisher plow oil sold in auto parts store.....it's pricey ('bout $7 quart) but worth every penny

You'll probably need extra to do a double flush to get rid of extra old oil left in the cyl

 

[Gordon Gould]

Thank you very much. That is very helpful. I will change out the oil this weekend. It was colder today and slower to dump.

gg

 

[Gordon Gould]

Well it only took me almost 3 years before I actually changed out the Dextron II for Fisher EZ-Flow in my one ton dump. I did it last spring. Today was the first cold day we have had since. It was -10F this morning and +2F when I dumped a load of logs at the saw mill. What a huge difference with the EZ-Flow fluid. I dumped that load just like it was summer time. And the voltage gauge didn't drop a bit. So if you have any electric over hydraulic stuff that runs in the cold you might think about doing the same thing if you don't already have a low temp hydraulic fluid. No more Dextron for me.

gg

 

[davesl708]

Good news. glad you found a replacement.

 

[wdchyd]

Good to hear Gordon....lots of mfg'ers of 12vdc hydraulic power units recommend the dextron but they many times are not in the north where we see the worse temps

The -50 low-viscosity oil is very thin, good stuff:thumbsup:

 

[LD1]

That's why alot of guys have issues trying to use atf in plow pumps