Tractor hydraulic/trans fluid

[GeneSchultz]

I own a Kubota L3400DT gear drive transmission model tractor that is in need of a hydraulic/trans fluid change. After checking with Kubota, I was shocked at their high price for UDT fluid, not to mention $30.00 for a filter that looks just like a $5.00 auto oil filter.

After checking around, I found tractor hydraulic fluid at Wal-Mart and Tractor Supply at about half Kubota's price: Wal-Mart's Super Tech brand at $33.88 / 5 gallon and Tractor Supply's Accel at $27.99 / 5 gallon. Both brands claim to exceed all major tractor brand warranty specs.

Does anyone out there know if there is any worth while difference between these less expensive brands vs. Kubota's pricey UDT fluid? I don't want to damage my tractor with the wrong fluid, but I don't want to get ripped off either.

 

[Wayne County Hose]

Hello Gene, and welcome to TBN. You will get some differing opinions on this and they are all valid. The dealers do tend to overprice their fluids. Kubota doesn't make a fluid, it's made for them and packaged in their containers. I can't see the reasoning behind buying the best made tractor you can find then putting in the cheapest oil you can find. Just try to remember one thing, you get what you pay for.

 

[Soundguy]

TSC and walmart have decent oil.. however.. I'm not sure it meets the super udt spec ( as well as others like HT-U ). Look the container over, and then look at your manual.. if the fluid meets tha manuls spec.. then you are good to go.. if it don't.. I wouldn't even consider using it.

Also.. remember that 30 dollar filter is protecting how much? 3-4-5 thousand dollars of hyds? That's cheap. the 1-gallon paint can sized filter on my CNH tractor is quite a bit more $$ than your filter... and I'm hppy to pay it..

soundguy

 

[WilliamBos]

I agree 100%. confider how much the tractor cost, how much the hydraulic system costs, and then do some research on the oil and filters. Buying the Kubota brand filters and oils, , as well as supporting your local dealer ( which could be the dealer who will be doing repairs if something goes wrong......) and in reality, the filters and oil are a real steal.

JMHO.

 

[canoetrpr]

Lots of universal hydraulic fluid sold at stores is compatible with UDT and matches those specs but you would have to look hard to find ones that match SUDT specs.

In Canada we have our own Premium UDT - whatever that is - with better cold weather properties than UDT. No such thing as SUDT or UDT up here - just premium UDT.

I go with the Premium UDT given our cold weather here. If I was in a climate without the temperature extremes I'd be happy to use universal tractor fluid that matched UDT specs. TSC up here sells a great big 5 gallon pail of Valvoline hyd fluid that is compatible with UDT for a bargain. Your tractor will not self destruct if you use UDT compatible fluid - one way or the other.

A local Kubota dealer up here told me that after the warranty is up they switch tractors to a universal hyd fluid that come in for service to save their customers the cost of the Kubota fluid. They claim performance is equivalent and they have never seen any problems with it at all. I have no clue if this is true or not.... but this is what they do.

 

[flusher]

I own a Kubota L3400DT gear drive transmission model tractor that is in need of a hydraulic/trans fluid change. After checking with Kubota, I was shocked at their high price for UDT fluid, not to mention $30.00 for a filter that looks just like a $5.00 auto oil filter.

After checking around, I found tractor hydraulic fluid at Wal-Mart and Tractor Supply at about half Kubota's price: Wal-Mart's Super Tech brand at $33.88 / 5 gallon and Tractor Supply's Accel at $27.99 / 5 gallon. Both brands claim to exceed all major tractor brand warranty specs.

Does anyone out there know if there is any worth while difference between these less expensive brands vs. Kubota's pricey UDT fluid? I don't want to damage my tractor with the wrong fluid, but I don't want to get ripped off either.

Fluids and filters are cheap compared to parts and labor for repairs. Pay the price for the manufacturer's stuff, keep good maintenance records, keep the sales receipts for the parts/fluids and consider it an insurance fee that's part of the cost of ownership. Sleep easy.

 

[RobJ]

The dealers do tend to overprice their fluids. Kubota doesn't make a fluid, it's made for them and packaged in their containers. I can't see the reasoning behind buying the best made tractor you can find then putting in the cheapest oil you can find. Just try to remember one thing, you get what you pay for.

Wayne, remember we don't know what we are paying for at the dealer. Just an oil jug that has Kubota on it. Same with the Kubota motor oil. that could be the same as the Oreilly brand oil, Walmart, TSC.

Funny thing is you can also find some posts where folks swear by the Kubota oils...then ask for the cheaper Wix filter crossover.

In my grear tractor I use the regular stuff and that's what everyone else uses around me. If you have the money...by all means spend it.

 

[Oldpath05]

Wouldn't it be funny if Kubota got there motor and transmission oil from Shell/Rottela, or the same place where TSC gets theirs.

So does it work like this, I buy a John Deere and the dealer says I have to use John Deere oil, or the tractor will not last, I buy/bought a Kubota tractor, now I have to buy their oil or the tractor will fall apart because their steel gears are different then anybody else's gears. I buy a New Holland, and they say I have to use their oil because their transmission is not the same as Kubota. I buy a Kioti, gotta use their oil, Mahindra, Case, etc......................., and what about ATV's, cars, pickup trucks, big rigs, or my 30 year old lawn mower. I just thought of a brilliant idea, wouldn't it be nice if there was a oil company that could make high quality oil for my transmission no matter what the tractor brand is.

 

[jd870]

I use Kendall Hyken 052 tractor hydraulic/transmission fluid in My Massey ferguson and plan on using it in my john deere next oil change.

 

[puckgrinder85]

Use the oil specification set by the manufacturer. It should be labeled on the pail, if its not on there don't use it. If it is go for it.

 

[Soundguy]

Wouldn't it be funny if Kubota got there motor and transmission oil from Shell/Rottela, or the same place where TSC gets theirs.

So does it work like this, I buy a John Deere and the dealer says I have to use John Deere oil, or the tractor will not last, I buy/bought a Kubota tractor, now I have to buy their oil or the tractor will fall apart because their steel gears are different then anybody else's gears. I buy a New Holland, and they say I have to use their oil because their transmission is not the same as Kubota. I buy a Kioti, gotta use their oil, Mahindra, Case, etc......................., and what about ATV's, cars, pickup trucks, big rigs, or my 30 year old lawn mower. I just thought of a brilliant idea, wouldn't it be nice if there was a oil company that could make high quality oil for my transmission no matter what the tractor brand is.

fortunately manufacturers can't make you use their brand oil unless they provide it. they can specify a oil spec though.

Also note that each tractor co doesn't operate their own oil refinery.. so they are ALL buying it from somewhere else.

 

[MHarryE]

Just because there is a spec does not mean a fluid meeting the spec is equal to the fluid a manufacturer sells.

It's correct the tractor manufacturers don't produce their own oil. They get theirs from a oil supplier. However, that does not necessarily mean it is a generic fluid meeting a general spec. It also depends on the size of the manufacturer and it's resources. I worked for 3 companies during my career and each was large enough to be able to work with a major lube supplier to develop lubricants and other items used on a machine that far exceeded the "meets xyz specification" even though that specification might be our own. There is a requirement in many places that if you specify only your oil be used in an application, you need to supply that oil, at no additional charge, for the life of the product. That requirement then dictates the statement "or commercially available equivalent" in operator manuals. For one application I always had the quandary whether to specify sealed for life vs change oil every 3,000 hours knowing if the owner changed at 3,000 hours and used a low cost commercial equivalent they might get 6,000 hours life while if they used the recommended oil they should easily expect 20,000 hours with no problem. If they didn't change the oil at all they might run into a real harsh condition where they might only get 10,000 hours. In every case the machine is out of warranty but company reputation is at stake.

Consequently we have containers of John Deere, Kubota, and New Holland transmission oils around. I don't know for sure if that is the right thing to do because I've never worked for any of those 3.

 

[Oldpath05]

I guess the over all consensus from tractor owners, about transmission oil is, it has to have the right letters on the pail, but not necessarily in alphabetical order, for the 3 transmissions that I know of, 1 for tractors with no internal hydraulic pump, 1 for hydrostatic transmission, and 1 for standard trans. with internal hydraulic pump.
Since Kubota transmission oil is so expensive, think I'll check out Rottela trans. oil for my L3400DT, see if it has the right letters on it. The day I can say Kubota UTD is the best oil, and a bargain for $90.00/5gal., Ill be able to (easily) afford to buy another tractor, oh boy, cant wait for that day.

 

[puckgrinder85]

Just because there is a spec does not mean a fluid meeting the spec is equal to the fluid a manufacturer sells.

It's correct the tractor manufacturers don't produce their own oil. They get theirs from a oil supplier. However, that does not necessarily mean it is a generic fluid meeting a general spec. It also depends on the size of the manufacturer and it's resources. I worked for 3 companies during my career and each was large enough to be able to work with a major lube supplier to develop lubricants and other items used on a machine that far exceeded the "meets xyz specification" even though that specification might be our own. There is a requirement in many places that if you specify only your oil be used in an application, you need to supply that oil, at no additional charge, for the life of the product. That requirement then dictates the statement "or commercially available equivalent" in operator manuals. For one application I always had the quandary whether to specify sealed for life vs change oil every 3,000 hours knowing if the owner changed at 3,000 hours and used a low cost commercial equivalent they might get 6,000 hours life while if they used the recommended oil they should easily expect 20,000 hours with no problem. If they didn't change the oil at all they might run into a real harsh condition where they might only get 10,000 hours. In every case the machine is out of warranty but company reputation is at stake.

Consequently we have containers of John Deere, Kubota, and New Holland transmission oils around. I don't know for sure if that is the right thing to do because I've never worked for any of those 3.

That kind of pisses me off a bit since I go to the specs to see what the oil is needed in the equipment, not what the minimum requirement is.

 

[Oldpath05]

(quandary) "a state of perplexity or uncertainty over what to do in a difficult situation". Ok, Ill admit it, I never heard of this word before, but after reading through some of these threads about tractor transmission oil, that definition fits me.
Of coarse it doesn't help matters when I buy a Kubota tractor, and the dealer makes it sound like if I don't use their $20.00/gal. transmission oil, the tractor wont last, then I look up Shell Rottela, and they say their oil is the best of the best, and say it meets and or EXCEEDS tractors manufactures specs., and to make things more Quandary for me, there's probably over a dozen (my turn) Plethora, different oil brands out there saying the same thing, so I guess that means everybody is lying, and everybody is telling the truth, now I feel to quandary to go on.

 

[MHarryE]

(quandary) "a state of perplexity or uncertainty over what to do in a difficult situation". Ok, Ill admit it, I never heard of this word before, but after reading through some of these threads about tractor transmission oil, that definition fits me. Of coarse it doesn't help matters when I buy a Kubota tractor, and the dealer makes it sound like if I don't use their $20.00/gal. transmission oil, the tractor wont last, then I look up Shell Rottela, and they say their oil is the best of the best, and say it meets and or EXCEEDS tractors manufactures specs., and to make things more Quandary for me, there's probably over a dozen (my turn) Plethora, different oil brands out there saying the same thing, so I guess that means everybody is lying, and everybody is telling the truth, now I feel to quandary to go on.

Exceeds doesn't really say much, but doesn't Shell sell 6 different Rotellas? If you assume they are correct in saying the lowest cost one meets or exceeds manufacturer's requirements, the steps up the ladder will provide increasing protection of some kind whether it be in the additive package or the base oil itself.

I now have our largest cultivator behind my Kubota. Last season it was always behind our largest Deere. The cultivator has 3 large cylinders so now my Kubota has OMG John Deere oil mixed in with its Kubota oil. Next thing it might be on the disk now attached to the New Holland. Massive exchange of body fluids. I just hope that everyone's premium oil is truly premium.

Several years ago our tour guides got us managers together to say dealers they had been giving tours and complained that they saw barrels of oil in our plant with a supplier name (major, major oil company). The dealers wanted to know why we could factory fill with an oil company oil and they needed to use our brand oil. Gotcha! That oil company oil happened to be the supplier of our company branded oil and the oil in the barrels was really our oil but we understood the dealer's complaint. Solution was what was always in the plan - totes. Still the same path - oil company to the service center in bulk, filter the oil to our cleanliness spec at the service center, then deliver as needed.

 

[sixdogs]

I did a test with JD oil (in archives somewhere) and SUDT in my B7800 and the SUDT made the tractor sound quieter, shift smoother and not "lurch" when you first hit the pedal.

JD oil goes in all my machinery except for the B7800 hydrostat.

 

[Cpjlube]

The auto and equipment transmission oil market has been "fractured" for years. GM has been trying to fracture the oil market with Dexos 1 & 2.

Example: In the auto market, Ford specified Mercon transmission fluid in most of their transfer cases. Then they began selling "Transfer case Fluid". The same transfer case sold last year now required "ford transfer case fluid ". Same gearbox! We called Castrol..... What do we do? The engineers laughed. It's the same fluid it was last year. Just re bottled.

 

[Oldpath05]

Sometimes somebody brings up an interesting point that I never thought of. Someone buys a new Kubota tractor and hooks up a farming implement that operates with hydraulic fluid like a cultivator, that was hooked up to a JD or a NH, or tractor ABCDEFG.....than OMG I have mixed trans. fluid in my Brand new Kubota, if only if only I just had one tractor brand, I wouldn't be in this Quandary condition. I guess the only thing I can do now is buy 100 gals. of Kubota trans oil and change the oil in my tractor and all the my faming accessories, and get rid of my green, blue, and red tractors and replace them with all orange tractors. There, that wasn't so hard to figure out after all.

 

[Oldpath05]

The auto and equipment transmission oil market has been "fractured" for years. GM has been trying to fracture the oil market with Dexos 1 & 2.

Example: In the auto market, Ford specified Mercon transmission fluid in most of their transfer cases. Then they began selling "Transfer case Fluid". The same transfer case sold last year now required "ford transfer case fluid ". Same gearbox! We called Castrol..... What do we do? The engineers laughed. It's the same fluid it was last year. Just re bottled.

I think all the tractor engineers who design tractor transmissions are laughing to, especially if they read threads like this, even I get a chuckle out of them.