Front axle Oil

chuck172 · Mar 19, 2015

My 50 hour service is coming up, is there a preference between sae 80w-90 gear oil, or mobilfluid 424 in the front axle?
I plan on using the mobilfluid in the transmission.

VictorW · Mar 19, 2015

Which oil in the front diff has been debated in prior posts. Kioti list either as acceptable and installs hydro fluid from the factory. The members each have their own ideas. I don't think a front diff has gone bad because of either oil. If hydro fluid is good for the rear diff then it should be fine for the front. You already have hydro fluid for the service so just use it in the front. I don't think there has been a diffinitive answer or conclusion. Personally, I use 80w-90.

murphy1244 · Mar 19, 2015

Use whatever is darker so you can see it thru that site glass.

chuck172 · Mar 19, 2015

sight glass?

murphy1244 · Mar 19, 2015

Front axle has a site glass on the left rear of the axle.

chuck172 · Mar 20, 2015

Thanks Murph, I never knew about the sightglass.

k0ua · Mar 20, 2015

I used the MobilFluid 424 in mine, mainly because I had it. Check the sight glass, after filling, run it a while and check again.

kantuckid · Mar 20, 2015

murphy1244 said:
Front axle has a site glass on the left rear of the axle.

My DK 40 has two sight glasses, in front of axle on one side, behind on other.

CalG · Mar 20, 2015

I recently "Tripped over" a John Deere Tech. Service Bulletin on this topic while searching for some other information.

According to the bulletin, The use of UTTO (Universal Tractor Transmission Oil) IMPROVES the life of the seals substantially, and the bearings as well.

All without troubles with the gears.

Win Win!
And if it's from J-D, You Know it's good ;-)

kantuckid · Mar 20, 2015

CalG said:
I recently "Tripped over" a John Deere Tech. Service Bulletin on this topic while searching for some other information.

According to the bulletin, The use of UTTO (Universal Tractor Transmission Oil) IMPROVES the life of the seals substantially, and the bearings as well.

All without troubles with the gears.

Win Win!
And if it's from J-D, You Know it's good ;-)

Not to make an argument (lets call it a discussion please) here but as a matter of fact: Given that any number of machines have gear oil as the lubricant for one or more of the gears, bearings and/or seals and knowing that some of those machines operate @ hwy speeds, vs. off road, I'm not so certain that there is a one fits all truism r.e. tractor UTTO?
I do plan to use it in my Kioti front axle.

Amvcane · Mar 20, 2015

I used 80w-90 gear oil in my front axle. My dealer did my hydraulic fluids and filters change so I didn't have a couple of gallons of UTF left over otherwise I would have used the UTF in the axle.
On a side note, I have a 1968 Ariens walk behind snow blower which they require a special ( I think it's called ) Ariens L type gear oil for the auger gearbox because regular gear oil will deteriorate the seals over time. Since I got the machine they leaked. They have been leaking for the past 17 years and 3 years ago I got tired filling the gearbox three times a season and storing the machine over a soup can. I drilled and tapped the gearbox added a zerk fitting and now use John Deere corn head grease. No more soup can.
My dealer said he would have used the UTF also. I cannot find anything in all the manuals that say other than SAE 90 gear oil. Next time its getting UTF.

Mercer1 · Jan 27, 2022

I checked my Front differential oil today just after a few hours from the dealer and there was nothing on the dipstick. added just a little over two litres of hydrostatic transmission fluid (same as in transmission the dealer recommended). A buddy of mine bought the same tractor and had the same issue. Just a reminder to us people who buy these tractors and expecting all fluid levels to be topped up properly from dealer as they all charge for PDI and we think that we should not have to check these fluids for at least the first 10-15 hours.

Billrog · Jan 27, 2022

I agree Mercer my fluids were down a bit as well.
I used gear oil for many yrs. and replaced a few seals and bearings. Since using trans hydraulic in the front dif for 6 or 7 yrs never had a problem.

RalphVa · Jan 27, 2022

The B specs either GL4 or 5 type stuff or UDT, same as in HST. I'd go with the UDT.

Had a 1965 Valiant once with 3M. It speced either GL4 type stuff (wasn't called that then) or ATF. Put GL4 and could hardly shift it. Dumped and put ATF in it.

Of course, no shift problem on the MFWD but since Kubota says the UDT is okay, I'd go with it unless you're operating in Death Valley or Sahara.

Boss 302 · Jan 27, 2022

80-90w in my RX, just changed it this winter

uglydukwling · Apr 3, 2022

Do all Kioti tractors have the same lubricant specifications? I have a dk 55c, bought new in 2011, so it's 11 or 12 years old. The manual calls for gear oil, either sae 80 or sae 90 in the front axle. It doesn't mention any other lubricant for the front axle. For the transmission, it specifies "multi-grade transmission oil", the stuff that everybody including TSC and Walmart sells under some variation of "transmission-hydraulic fluid". The Mobil example they give is 350. I'm wondering if the specs have been changed at some point, and if this discussion only applies to tractors newer (or older) than mine.

Unless there's something special about my tractor, I'd be inclined to switch to transmission oil. The point about it being good enough for the rear axle seems valid unless the front axle has a different type of gears, that need the extreme-pressure additives in gear lube. The fact that they don't specify GL5, just "gear oil", seems to indicate that isn't so. Otherwise, the lube specs are downright stone age. They specify "above CC" for engine oil. I don't think CC oil has been made since the '70s.

Should my tractor have a sight glass? the manual doesn't mention one, and I've never noticed one while working on the tractor. I guess I'll have to go out and look for it.

Billrog · Apr 3, 2022

I've been using trans oil in the front axle for six yrs. now since the dealer told me it was fine. Since using it I've never had to replace a front seal or bearing which I had been doing every few yrs. when using gear oil. For one thing you'll certainly get better lubrication in the winter time .

Bavarian · Apr 5, 2022

uglydukwling said:
Do all Kioti tractors have the same lubricant specifications? I have a dk 55c, bought new in 2011, so it's 11 or 12 years old. The manual calls for gear oil, either sae 80 or sae 90 in the front axle. It doesn't mention any other lubricant for the front axle. For the transmission, it specifies "multi-grade transmission oil", the stuff that everybody including TSC and Walmart sells under some variation of "transmission-hydraulic fluid". The Mobil example they give is 350. I'm wondering if the specs have been changed at some point, and if this discussion only applies to tractors newer (or older) than mine.

Unless there's something special about my tractor, I'd be inclined to switch to transmission oil. The point about it being good enough for the rear axle seems valid unless the front axle has a different type of gears, that need the extreme-pressure additives in gear lube. The fact that they don't specify GL5, just "gear oil", seems to indicate that isn't so. Otherwise, the lube specs are downright stone age. They specify "above CC" for engine oil. I don't think CC oil has been made since the '70s.

Should my tractor have a sight glass? the manual doesn't mention one, and I've never noticed one while working on the tractor. I guess I'll have to go out and look for it.

You might want a combination of transmission and hydraulic fluid. If your tractor has a wet clutch or wet brakes, the oil needs to be specified for that as well.
Not every gear oil is capable of of hydraulics or wet brakes.

Buggs67 · Apr 6, 2022

My 2 cents. Seems the front axle is just that. Mine has no brakes or hydrulics so seems what I use in the rear axle of a truck or car would be OK.

LS Tractor Owner · Apr 6, 2022

Ok, I may as well derail this threat and start another "discussion"....

When I changed the front axle oil, I used the 80w140 full synthetic. I discussed this with both the dealership owner and his lead mechanic. The 80w 'exceeds' the minimum requirements and provides higher sheer at higher temps.

I had the idea of using the higher rating gear oil in the tractor based upon my years of experience in the off-road world, and building many off road axles. We used nothing but the 80w140 in our axles. I use it now in our daily drivers.

Just tossing another idea out there!