Montana 3040 Hydraulic Fluid

Woodsman30350 · Jan 1, 2016

I am making headway in getting everything I need to service my Montana 3040 with shuttleshift transmission. Can anyone tell me the best hydraulic fluid to replace the LS fluid specified in the owners manual?

Thanks

Texasgreen · Jan 1, 2016

I use John Deere Hy Guard in mine. It's for internal wet disc application.

Woodsman30350 · Jan 4, 2016

Texasgreen said:
I use John Deere Hy Guard in mine. It's for internal wet disc application.

Thanks for the info. I obtained a copy of the 3040 Service Manual and the Parts Manual. I have checked those plus my Operators manual and cannot find definitive info on the drain and fill points for the hydraulic system. As I understand the documentation, the front and rear axles get the 80 weight oil and the transmission hydraulics get 23 litres of the Hygard. Can you tell me where the drain and fill points are?

Thanks,

Kent
Comfort, TX

Lgim · Jan 5, 2016

I just changed mine last week.

The front axel / diff takes 80 gear oil (about 7.5 litres) and has 3 drain plugs, 1 on the centre diff and 1 each at the bottom of wheel accessible from the front of the tractor. It has 1 fill plug and 1 level plug on the top of the axel on the right hand side. I lifted the front off the ground and then tilted the axel from side to side to make sure the ends filled and then set it back down level to finish filling until it comes out the level hole.

The transmission /rear diff /final drives have 5 drains on the transmission and 1 on each side for the final drive. There is 1 fill plug at the back of the tractor beside the top link for the transmission (plus the dip stick under the steering wheel) and 2 fill / level plugs on each side of the rear axel/ final drive. I used 32 litres of Trans-Hydraulic Fluid in total.

All of my drain plugs were painted white which made life easier. If you are under the middle of the tractor you see the front trans, plug when you pull it out it should have magnets on it. Towards the back of the trans there are 3 plugs side-by-side about 3 inches apart. The centre has magnets the other two don't and then there is the fifth plug a couple inches in front of the centre plug. I suspect most of the oil would come out of any plug but to get it all they all have to come out.

From the back of the tractor you can see the drain for each rear wheel / final drive, the fill / level plug for each wheel and the fill level in the centre of the rear axel on each side.

I drained everything, changed the filter, put the plugs back finger tight and left it over night, then the next morning pulled the plugs to drain any oil that drained down, cleaned the magnets and then put them back tight and filled everything.

To fill I put about 20 litres in the main Trans fill, then filled 1 final drive, then the axel, then the other side. Then drove it around, ran all the hydraulics, parked it level and then topped up the transmission with the dipstick.

Keep in mind that all the trans plugs have copper gaskets, some stayed on the plug, some stayed on the tractor and some fell in the oil. The other thing is the oil in the loader will get dumped back into the tractor the first time you use it. I don't see that as a problem unless you are changing the type of oil for some reason.

any questions let me know.

Gary

Woodsman30350 · Jan 5, 2016

Lgim said:
I just changed mine last week.

The front axel / diff takes 80 gear oil (about 7.5 litres) and has 3 drain plugs, 1 on the centre diff and 1 each at the bottom of wheel accessible from the front of the tractor. It has 1 fill plug and 1 level plug on the top of the axel on the right hand side. I lifted the front off the ground and then tilted the axel from side to side to make sure the ends filled and then set it back down level to finish filling until it comes out the level hole.

The transmission /rear diff /final drives have 5 drains on the transmission and 1 on each side for the final drive. There is 1 fill plug at the back of the tractor beside the top link for the transmission (plus the dip stick under the steering wheel) and 2 fill / level plugs on each side of the rear axel/ final drive. I used 32 litres of Trans-Hydraulic Fluid in total.

All of my drain plugs were painted white which made life easier. If you are under the middle of the tractor you see the front trans, plug when you pull it out it should have magnets on it. Towards the back of the trans there are 3 plugs side-by-side about 3 inches apart. The centre has magnets the other two don't and then there is the fifth plug a couple inches in front of the centre plug. I suspect most of the oil would come out of any plug but to get it all they all have to come out.

From the back of the tractor you can see the drain for each rear wheel / final drive, the fill / level plug for each wheel and the fill level in the centre of the rear axel on each side.

I drained everything, changed the filter, put the plugs back finger tight and left it over night, then the next morning pulled the plugs to drain any oil that drained down, cleaned the magnets and then put them back tight and filled everything.

To fill I put about 20 litres in the main Trans fill, then filled 1 final drive, then the axel, then the other side. Then drove it around, ran all the hydraulics, parked it level and then topped up the transmission with the dipstick.

Keep in mind that all the trans plugs have copper gaskets, some stayed on the plug, some stayed on the tractor and some fell in the oil. The other thing is the oil in the loader will get dumped back into the tractor the first time you use it. I don't see that as a problem unless you are changing the type of oil for some reason.

any questions let me know.

Gary

Thanks Gary. This is great info. I may have some questions so thanks for the offer.

Kent

micali · Feb 19, 2022

Lgim said:
I just changed mine last week.

The front axel / diff takes 80 gear oil (about 7.5 litres) and has 3 drain plugs, 1 on the centre diff and 1 each at the bottom of wheel accessible from the front of the tractor. It has 1 fill plug and 1 level plug on the top of the axel on the right hand side. I lifted the front off the ground and then tilted the axel from side to side to make sure the ends filled and then set it back down level to finish filling until it comes out the level hole.

The transmission /rear diff /final drives have 5 drains on the transmission and 1 on each side for the final drive. There is 1 fill plug at the back of the tractor beside the top link for the transmission (plus the dip stick under the steering wheel) and 2 fill / level plugs on each side of the rear axel/ final drive. I used 32 litres of Trans-Hydraulic Fluid in total.

All of my drain plugs were painted white which made life easier. If you are under the middle of the tractor you see the front trans, plug when you pull it out it should have magnets on it. Towards the back of the trans there are 3 plugs side-by-side about 3 inches apart. The centre has magnets the other two don't and then there is the fifth plug a couple inches in front of the centre plug. I suspect most of the oil would come out of any plug but to get it all they all have to come out.

From the back of the tractor you can see the drain for each rear wheel / final drive, the fill / level plug for each wheel and the fill level in the centre of the rear axel on each side.

I drained everything, changed the filter, put the plugs back finger tight and left it over night, then the next morning pulled the plugs to drain any oil that drained down, cleaned the magnets and then put them back tight and filled everything.

To fill I put about 20 litres in the main Trans fill, then filled 1 final drive, then the axel, then the other side. Then drove it around, ran all the hydraulics, parked it level and then topped up the transmission with the dipstick.

Keep in mind that all the trans plugs have copper gaskets, some stayed on the plug, some stayed on the tractor and some fell in the oil. The other thing is the oil in the loader will get dumped back into the tractor the first time you use it. I don't see that as a problem unless you are changing the type of oil for some reason.

any questions let me know.

Gary

So does the transmission take a separate fluid? Where is the dipstick for the transmission? I have the ls280dt.