Hi all. My wife of 50 years passed away may 3rd and I sold everything in San Diego ca and moved to comanche Texas.
I bought a house on 2 1/2 acres and bought a yanmar ym165 tractor to maintain the drive way the drive way and it has a large brush cutting deck powered by the pto. It has been a great little tractor but I just lost the hydraulic pump and am waiting for it to arrive. Could anybody recommend what hydraulic oil to use in it. Thanks in advance for any info you can give me.
Sorry about your loss. Welcome to the TBN community and hope you can enjoy life there in Texas. I used to live there; nice people.
My wife and I have had our YM165D since it was new. Never a problem with it. I had loaned it to a neighbor when a flood happened and tumbled it down the river for half a mile - now rebuilding it.
As for the hydraulic oil, that oil is used for the gear box and the hydrualics both. There are Operator's Manuals that come up for sale on Ebay all the time. I'd get one because there are tricks in it that you need to know... For example, there is a washable wire transmission oil filter than fits down low below your right foot and you need to take that out and clean it at least once every ten years or maybe when you change that oil. If you do that carefully, you can use that filter forever. Same is pretty much true of the air filter with the sediment bowl.
For hydro/transmission oil I always just used JD303 back in the day...but that oil isn't made anymore because some of the ingrediants - like whale oil - aren't available today...which is good.
In fact, be a little careful because the out of date lubrication standard that JD303 used to make their oil is quoted by a lot of cheap aftermarket oil makers simply because the name is recognizable and the standard for making the oil no longer exists.
So what I do is buy a name brand dual purpose transmission/hydraulic oil. The Yanmar 165 doesn't require all the specialized additives because it is so basic. What I'm using right now is New Holland AMBRA Multi G 134. Might as well get name brand oil - it is cheap enough and will last for a decade.
What is most important is the coolant. It should be no more than 50% ethylene glycol. Your YM165 DOES NOT have a waterpump. It is a thermosiphon type of cooling system like an old 2 cylinder JD. So the mix of water and glycol is important. Too much antifreeze and it won't cool well. And be sure to keep the radiator clean. In fact, check that there is some stuffing around the fan shroud so that the fan pulls air through the radiator instead of between the heavy plastic fan shroud and the side of the radiator.
If you keep the cooling up to snuff that tractor should last another 40 years.
Here are some old YM165D brochures for your enjoyment. Ask any specific YM165D questions....I ought to know the answers by now.
luck, rScotty
