Hydraulic Fluid type?

[nike]

I have a Belaruse 250 AS tractor. The manual instructs you to use Diesel in the hydraulic system as fluid.
1989 Tractor. Desiged for extreme climates. I was thinking that a different fluid should be used.
Does anyone have a suggestion?

 

[varmint]

Un-informed response... why not just use regular hydraulic oil? I'd guess better lubrication, less foaming, and probably other advantages I don't know about??

 

[RNeumann]

I have a Belaruse 250 AS tractor. The manual instructs you to use Diesel in the hydraulic system as fluid.
1989 Tractor. Desiged for extreme climates. I was thinking that a different fluid should be used.
Does anyone have a suggestion?

"Diesel" is Russian for 30wt non detergent motor oil- or so I'm told

 

[bigdeano]

Automatic transmission fluid works fine as hydraulic oil. It's thin, so works fine in the cold. Has a lot more lubrication than diesel fuel I would think. I use Dexron 3 in my tractor.

Seems like any low viscosity hydraulic oil would be a good replacement for you.

 

[nike]

Thanks I will try Dexron 3. I am replacing the pump and flushing the system.

 

[Leejohn]

What came out of it?

 

[RNeumann]

My comment wasn't a joke- everything I read online said the machine takes 30wt

 

[MossRoad]

My comment wasn't a joke- everything I read online said the machine takes 30wt

My tractor uses 40W motor oil for hydraulic fluid. Its an entirely hydraulic machine. Just a motor turning 3 hydraulic pumps (one variable volume pump for directional control, one for the hydraulic PTO and one for the FEL/Steering circuits), all fed out of one common 10 gallon reservoir filled with 40W. I've been adding 5W40 Mobile 1 at every 50 hr filter change for 16 years, so it's partly that as well, now. Works fine.

 

[nike]

I have not been able to get out and work on it, thank Goodness the snow has held off. I need the hydraulics working for the snow blower.
I will use dextron . 30 wt sounds great for the summer time but with the cold i think dextron would be better.

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[Fallon]

My tractor uses 40W motor oil for hydraulic fluid. Its an entirely hydraulic machine. Just a motor turning 3 hydraulic pumps (one variable volume pump for directional control, one for the hydraulic PTO and one for the FEL/Steering circuits), all fed out of one common 10 gallon reservoir filled with 40W. I've been adding 5W40 Mobile 1 at every 50 hr filter change for 16 years, so it's partly that as well, now. Works fine.

Normal motor oil has detergents in it to pick up crap & keep it suspended in the oil. Great when you change the oil once or twice a year. Not so good for long change times & systems that should be cleaner. Non detergent oils let crap fall out of suspension into the bottom of the sump. I wouldn't use motor oil on my non motor equipment. I do use non-detergent motor oil in my compressor though & would use it in a splitter or dump trailer hydraulic system.

 

[RNeumann]

Normal motor oil has detergents in it to pick up crap & keep it suspended in the oil. Great when you change the oil once or twice a year. Not so good for long change times & systems that should be cleaner. Non detergent oils let crap fall out of suspension into the bottom of the sump. I wouldn't use motor oil on my non motor equipment. I do use non-detergent motor oil in my compressor though & would use it in a splitter or dump trailer hydraulic system.

Great point! Non detergent is the recommendation in this application and others (Komatsu etc) that use straight weight oil.

It will be interesting to see how ATF works in this application. It's the general consensus the tolerances are greater in these machines which is one of the reasons for straight weight oil. Maybe OP is a place colder than Russia which would require the low weight ATF.

 

[nike]

I have finished installing the new hydraulic pump and have filled the system with Dextron3.
The hydraulics work great even with an outside temperature of -23c . That -9.4 F.
Thanks for all the help.

 

[bigdeano]

Glad it worked out for you. Happy tractoring.

 

[Clay45]

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