hydraulic oil

[canucklehead]

Our local costco has "Red hydraulic oil ISO 32". It's made by a big oil company like quaker state (just can't remember mfr). Is ISO 32 the viscosity?

All my JD manual says is to use JD oils and lubricants, but they don't specify characteristics like viscosity, etc.. And there's no way I'm gonna spend the kind of $$ the dealers want for lubricants. I never bought my PSD motor oil from Ford and amazingly, the truck is still running! so can I use this for transmission oil?

 

[Doc_Bob]

I never bought my PSD motor oil from Ford and amazingly, the truck is still running! so can I use this for transmission oil?

How much is a new tranny?
Bob

PS I asked for the MSDS sheet and then contacted the manufacturer, and they sent me the specs. Took a few days, but I ended up with a tranny oil that worked in my tractor.
Bob

 

[john_bud]

Our local costco has "Red hydraulic oil ISO 32". It's made by a big oil company like quaker state (just can't remember mfr). Is ISO 32 the viscosity?

All my JD manual says is to use JD oils and lubricants, but they don't specify characteristics like viscosity, etc.. And there's no way I'm gonna spend the kind of $$ the dealers want for lubricants. I never bought my PSD motor oil from Ford and amazingly, the truck is still running! so can I use this for transmission oil?

Are you using it for a pure hydraulic only application or for use in the transmission AND hydraulic system? Straight hydraulic fluid is a big no-no in a transmission. Especially if it is a hydro or powershift. I also don't think that pure hydraulic fluid would lube the differential very well either.

Buy trans-hydraulic fluid that meets the JD spec. It's about $6 a gallon when bought in 5 gal buckets.

jb

 

[Fredex]

Hydraulic oils seem to all have an ISO #. I suspect, but don't know for certain, that the ISO describes several characteristics including viscosity. Looking at the viscosity ratings of hydraulic oils from several mfgr's shows that ISO 32 is approximately the same viscosity as 10W engine oil. Doesn't mean they are interchangeable. Also, as others have stated, straight ISO hydraulic oils are not acceptable in a system in which transmissions or differentials and hydraulics share a single oil supply.
Fred

 

[canucklehead]

yes, it is a shared transmission & hydraulic system. So I take it then, I have to purchase the JDM J20 Hygard? OR, is there a "trans/hydraulic" fluid made by others?

it's a standard/clutch drive type tranny.

 

[Opti-Mist]

There are aftermarket oils for which their labels indicate that they meet the specs for various tractor manufacturers. Depends on how well you trust the aftermarketer and who packages their house branded oil.

 

[CurlyDave]

My JD manual says to use JD oil and then gives the spec, JDM J20C.

I have always understood this to mean that any oil which meets the JDM J20C spec will be OK.

Unless it lists that spec on the label, I would not put another brand of oil in my tractor. Fortunately, Wally World near me carrys a "Universal Tractor Oil" , which claims to meet that spec, at a very reasonable price.

Now a lot of people think that only super-premium oil is good enough for their tractors, and more power to them. I would rather change mine at about half the recommended intervals and use an oil I don't have to drive 60 miles round trip to get.

 

[canucklehead]

I consider myself pragmatic on this kind of thing. JD doesn't own the refinery where the oil is made. it's refined from crude oil with some additives. there must be private labelled products with the EXACT same properties, rolling off the exact same assembly line. that's why I made the smart-***** comment about my PSD has run well and I'm not using Ford brand motor oil at $5/quart from the stealership. At 14 quarts/change, that gets awfully expensive. And the dealer puts in bulk oil from whoever gave them the best deal on their oil & dispensing equipment.

Thanks Curly Dave, I'll check our local Walmarts. I was able to buy oil filters for our quads from the US Walmarts (at 1/2 dealer price), but not in Canada. Hope the same isn't true on the oil!! When dealer pricing gets realistic on these types of items, I'll support them. I just feel like they never stop bending us over.

 

[slowrev]

I think TSC's universal hydro oil is about $34 for a 5 gasl bucket right now.
Just check whatever you get to make sure it meets the specs your tractor needs.

 

[3RRL]

Dave, I was going to say the same, Unless it lists that spec on the label, I would not put another brand of oil in my tractor. Fortunately, Wally World near me carrys a "Universal Tractor Oil" , which claims to meet that spec, at a very reasonable price.
I believe it lists some tractors as using it like JD? or CAT or something like that....don't remember exactly. IMO, if it meets the specs, I don't see why you couldn't use it. I understand that the Universal Tractor oil has more lubricity than straight AW32 hydraulic fluid, but it is slightly thicker then AW32. You can use it in a hydraulic system too, but straight hydraulic fluid can't (shouldn't) be used in a tractor that has the trans and hydraulics shared together.

 

[Soundguy]

Dave, I was going to say the same, Unless it lists that spec on the label, I would not put another brand of oil in my tractor. Fortunately, Wally World near me carrys a "Universal Tractor Oil" , which claims to meet that spec, at a very reasonable price.
I believe it lists some tractors as using it like JD? or CAT or something like that....don't remember exactly. IMO, if it meets the specs, I don't see why you couldn't use it. I understand that the Universal Tractor oil has more lubricity than straight AW32 hydraulic fluid, but it is slightly thicker then AW32. You can use it in a hydraulic system too, but straight hydraulic fluid can't (shouldn't) be used in a tractor that has the trans and hydraulics shared together.

Yep... I got walmart UTF fluid in my ford 5000 and Nh 7610s. Had it in there since I had them. When i had my NH 1920.. it used tractor supply UTF. Never had a hyd oil related faileure.

I agree with the others.. get an oil that meets the specs of your oem's oil.

Soundguy

 

[canucklehead]

I found some tranny/hydraulic/gear oil at our equivalent to Harbor Freight (Princess Auto). It's kind of expensive; about $50 US/ 5 gallons. I'll check next time I'm in Washington, for a better price/place.

How do I find out what JDs "equivalent"; is? The big buckets usually just say something like, " Meets most major tractor mfr specifications".... but it doesn't specify " JD-220c". And JD doesn't specify their JD-220c spec.

 

[john_bud]

My JD manual says to use JD oil and then gives the spec, JDM J20C.

I have always understood this to mean that any oil which meets the JDM J20C spec will be OK.

Unless it lists that spec on the label, I would not put another brand of oil in my tractor. Fortunately, Wally World near me carrys a "Universal Tractor Oil" , which claims to meet that spec, at a very reasonable price.

Now a lot of people think that only super-premium oil is good enough for their tractors, and more power to them. I would rather change mine at about half the recommended intervals and use an oil I don't have to drive 60 miles round trip to get.

Curly,

I too use Wally fluids as well as the ones from Farm&Fleet. BUT and it's a surprising BUT, when you read the back of the bucket where the specs are, with your lawyer glasses on, you will find they say it is recommended for tractors calling for the following specs. It does NOT state that it meets those specs. At least the one I was looking at. For a straight gear tractor, I just dump it in. For hydraulic systems, it's ok too. A power shift or HST it gets a bit iffy. I use SUDT or Amsoil in the HST.

 

[CurlyDave]

I too use Wally fluids as well as the ones from Farm&Fleet. BUT and it's a surprising BUT, when you read the back of the bucket where the specs are, with your lawyer glasses on, you will find they say it is recommended for tractors calling for the following specs. It does NOT state that it meets those specs.... A power shift or HST it gets a bit iffy. I use SUDT or Amsoil in the HST.

That is an interesting bit of writing. There are two possibilities I can think of, one is the interpretation you put forward -- they are trying to be clever. The other is that the guy who wrote it was trying to say it did meet those specs and he was such a doofus he couldn't say it right.

Anyway, I don't have enough hours on my tractor to need a complete fluid change yet, but every time I put a new implement on I have to fill the implement. So far I have added about 2 gallons of the Wally World fluid to the sump and there are no problems.

 

[Soundguy]

That is an interesting bit of writing. There are two possibilities I can think of, one is the interpretation you put forward -- they are trying to be clever. The other is that the guy who wrote it was trying to say it did meet those specs and he was such a doofus he couldn't say it right.

Anyway, I don't have enough hours on my tractor to need a complete fluid change yet, but every time I put a new implement on I have to fill the implement. So far I have added about 2 gallons of the Wally World fluid to the sump and there are no problems.

Close inspection of my latest wally world UTF fluid purchase shows that my can says it meets or exceeds* the specs of the OEM fluids.. later the * says that the viscosity may be slightly different.

Soundguy

 

[john_bud]

Close inspection of my latest wally world UTF fluid purchase shows that my can says it meets or exceeds* the specs of the OEM fluids.. later the * says that the viscosity may be slightly different.

Soundguy

Meets the spec, but is different.....riiiight...

On the bright side, the cheapest oil available today is probably head and sholders above the best oil available 15-20 years ago.

I'll have to look again at the jugs I have out in the shop and see what they say now....

jb

 

[Soundguy]

Meets the spec, but is different.....riiiight...

jb

Though they worded it ambigously.. i take it to mean that their oil meets the lubrication portion of the oem specs.. I.e. the most important part.. etc. ( though.. I guess viscosity could be an issue on an application that needed exact viscosity.. course most of those 'critical' oil applications are already using something other than plain UTF.. etc.. like super udt, HT ultra.. or synthetic UTF.. etc..

Soundguy