Hydraulic Fluid vs Transmission Fluid

Digityman · Mar 16, 2022

I own a T474. I'm going to ask a really dumb question, is the hydraulic fluid the same as transmission fluid. In the manual the names are used interchangeably.

The reason I ask is I punctured a line and lost some fluid. I bought hydraulic fluid at Napa and started looking for the fill location, started reading the manual and then got confused.

Root Cause · Mar 16, 2022

I don't know about your tractor but it is very common to have the same fluid for tranny and hydraulics.
Below is a commonly used oil but again, do your own research to verify what is correct. It does matter.

See if this oil meets your manual's requirements.
Google your tractor and this oil, see if it leads you a site where you can verify that it is ok for your tractor as a last resort.

A few tips:

Get familiar with your manual, it will save time and money. I left mine at home (115 miles away) when I started and learned the hard way.

Use the search button at the top, right corner. You may find the answer faster than starting a new thread.

Facebook probably has a TYM group. Join it. I found that it is sometimes the fastest way to get an answer in the middle of the day when many here are outside.

People typically are more quick to respond when you made some attempt on your own to find the answer first.

Good luck.

LouNY · Mar 16, 2022

Most tractors for the last several decades use hydraulic/transmission fluid, a multi-purpose fluid.
The fluid pictured above is only a hydraulic fluid it is not a mulipurpose fluid.
The proper fluid for most tractors will state that it is good for wet brakes and clutches.
Such as IH Hy-trane, JD Hy-Guard, Kubota UDT and multiply similar fluids, Shell, Castrol, Valoline, Cen-Pe-Co
all have good multi purpose tractor fluids.

RjCorazza · Mar 16, 2022

The manual I found online calls for :

Tractor Hydraulic Fluids - API GL-4 Grade
- Below -4°F(-0°C)
ISO VG 32
- Above -4°F(-0°C)
ISO VG 46

The hydraulic oil photo above has this to say:
"This product is not recommended for transmission, differentials, wet brakes or final drive gears"

On edit: I do not intend to sound critical of Root Cause's posting of the picture, the post was very clear about the need for finding the manufacturer's requirements, and using the correct oil.

Digityman · Mar 16, 2022

I contacted the dealer and they're going to come out and do the 50 hour service. I'm going to watch over them to see what they use and I'll report back

Root Cause · Mar 16, 2022

RjCorazza said:
The manual I found online calls for :

Tractor Hydraulic Fluids - API GL-4 Grade
- Below -4°F(-0°C)
ISO VG 32
- Above -4°F(-0°C)
ISO VG 46

The hydraulic oil photo above has this to say:
"This product is not recommended for transmission, differentials, wet brakes or final drive gears"

On edit: I do not intend to sound critical of Root Cause's posting of the picture, the post was very clear about the need for finding the manufacturer's requirements, and using the correct oil.

Thanks for correcting this. I went to tractor supply and typed in premium oil and didn't see that this was even available. I corrected the picture and sorry for the distraction.

3gunr · Mar 16, 2022

tractor supply carries traveler brand , Get the premium trans hydraulic fluid it will work fine,

jigs_n_fixtures · Mar 24, 2022

Any good Universal Tractor Hydraulic fluid will work. The two TYM dealers I called, because I couldn’t figure it out from my manual, both said to use the same thing: Universal Tractor Hydraulic Fluid. They both emphasized that it had to be the Tractor version, not just Universal Hydraulic Fluid. The local tractor repair place, (the dealers are both over three hours away), so anything I can’t do gets done by the local shop, which isn’t associated with any of the brands, also said the Universal Tractor Hydraulic Fluid.

Digityman · Mar 25, 2022

Thanks @jigs_n_fixtures. That's exactly what my guy said. I took a picture of what he recommended and attached it here.
He also recommended the following:
Gear Oil (for front axle): 80w-90. It's about 2-2.5gal for both sides
Oil - 15w-40. He likes the Rotella by Shell --- No matter what the manual says this should be changed every 50 hours
Hydraulic Fluid below. Has to be Universal Tractor Hydraulic Fluid - it's about 10gal for the whole system but about 7-7.5 on the change.
He also recommending greasing every 8-10 hours depending on what you are doing. If your are going hard, every time might be needed.

If anyone needs to know, the T474 has a sight glass for the hydraulic level which is down next to the PTO. There's a red dot in the middle and the level should be about there.