John Deere oil

[Harry in Ky]

I expect this has been covered before, but the truth is I have never mastered the search feature on this site no matter how many times I tried.

For the last fifty years I've been told John Deere tractors MUST have John Deere oil. Or else! This happens, that happens, brakes fail, clutch packs fail, transmissions fail, you name it. I still have to wonder what is it about John Deere oil that's so different from any other brand out there? Does Deere own and operate refineries and do they have a patented "secret recipe" that no other oil company can produce?

My question really is just this. Has anyone seen or heard of any actual oil sample analyses that compared John Deere Hy Gard to trans/hydraulic fluids from Kubota, New Holland, Caterpillar, or any of the name brand oil suppliers out there?

I understand the differences between oils for wet brakes and clutches and all that. I also know that oil suppliers like Chevron, Mobil, Shell and others want to sell products to as much of the market as possible, and Deere is a large part of that market. So why can't their products be just as good even if they have to charge the same price? I'm not talking about "bargain basement" brands where who knows what goes into the bucket, but the top name stuff with the higher price tags.

 

[MTGreen]

Looks like a number of manufacturers make it to JD specs. Try what used to be jdmsds.com and now is 3Eco (PROD) - Sign In
And search for Hy-gard:
Shows a number of different manufacturers. As Shell makes a number of the products, I'm inclined to think the Shell Rotella fluid which says meets JD specs might be the same formulation as I wouldn't think they would tool up differently for two different tractor fluids. But who knows I'm just speculating here

 

[strantor]

Sounds like you've talking to folks who bleed green.

 

[nisaacs]

I think what is important here, is, with using oil recommended by the manufacturer it will be the right stuff for the uninformed. As long as you know what aftermarket is a match, you should be good. Keep in mind, there are a multitude of weights, quality and additive packages that buckets can come with.

As an example, the early JD970's with gear drive called for HY Gard 10w/30 and a 33 micron filter. The hydrostatic drive called for Low Viscosity Hy Gard 10w/20 and an 11 micron filter. Now JD just calls for Low Viscosity for all of them and discontinued the 33 micron filter.

 

[oosik]

Short story. So for six years - I gave up my '98 Harley and rode BMW. While waiting for the dealer to do an oil/filter change - I noticed that BMW branded motor oil was $16.95 per quart. My BMW R1200 GSA took six quarts. I asked the service tech if they used the BMW oil. "Hell no, that's way to expensive". They used a type of synthetic Pennzoil.

Life is a funny old dog..............

 

[Harry in Ky]

The reason this rant came to mind again was because of one particular tractor. A 6200 power quad. It's on a local horse farm, purchased used about five years ago. Does nothing but empty one spreader load of manure every day. The tractor has had a bad brake on side for some time, and recently developed another issue so it ended up at a Deere dealership for repair. Not necessarily for the brake issue. Once they discovered the brake problem suddenly the repair estimate went to $10,000 +.

Their reasoning was that he wasn't using JD oil. They insisted that his use of oil from TSC was the cause of the failure. This isn't the cheaper grade oil, it's supposedly rated to Deere specs (according to the label) and has been used in two other Deere and one New Holland wet brake tractors on that farm for years. No brake issues yet with any of them. This is getting to be an older tractor now, granted, but it's not the oldest one on the farm, and the two spreader tractors do the least actual work of any of them.

I've used that same oil myself in other people's tractors and have no knowledge that it caused a premature failure in any one of them. I suspect Deere dealers are encouraged (maybe even more than that) by Mother Deere to promote their fluids any way possible. I believe in using the right type and weight oil for the equipment and the conditions makes good sense, and for warranty purposes, the factory label/grade fluid should be used. On the other hand, I'm not ready to accept that you simply CAN'T pour oil into your tractor unless there's a leaping deere on the bucket.

 

[Harry in Ky]

Looks like a number of manufacturers make it to JD specs. Try what used to be jdmsds.com and now is 3Eco (PROD) - Sign In
And search for Hy-gard:
Shows a number of different manufacturers. As Shell makes a number of the products, I'm inclined to think the Shell Rotella fluid which says meets JD specs might be the same formulation as I wouldn't think they would tool up differently for two different tractor fluids. But who knows I'm just speculating here

Thanks but that looks like PIA to get into.

 

[oosik]

I have a Kubota tractor and JD riding mower. Both dealers say I do not have to use their branded oil to maintain the warrantee. The oils must meet their specs. Both Owners manuals list the specs the oils must meet. If there was some horrendous malfunction that could be caused by not using the branded oils - best it be highlighted in the Owners manual. Somebody is blowing a cloud of BS & smoke on you Harry.

Look in the OM. Does the oil you are using meet the manufacturers specs. Then....that is what the manufacturer recommends and it should not be the cause of the problem.

 

[Harry in Ky]

It's second hand smoke in this case. The tractor's owner is catching the flak. I just can't help getting pissed off when I hear that stuff.

 

[tom3]

Years ago my father in law had a couple JD riding mowers and I got the 'honor' of servicing them. He was pretty much a fanatic on maintenance but we looked at some brands and it turned out that the JD Hygard oil was only a dollar or two over a name brand that met specs anyway so we just used the OE oil. Things might be different today though? Sure had some high dollar filters though.