Oil & Fuel Where to buy Oil and Hydraulic Filters at a discount

[bandit67]

For you users of Amsoil, what ISO are you running:
AMSOIL Synthetic Hydraulic Oil and Lubricants

Near as I can tell, Kubota uses ISO 46 factory installed. For most of us, we don't change hydro fluid often enough to worry about using different ISO #'s for different temperature ranges.
Kubota Service Lubricant Maintenance

Kubota seems to use the ISO oils strictly in the commercial machines with high flow hydraulic systems (Excavator and Compact Track Loader).
The tractors get one of the UDT variations. The Amsoil equivalent to the UDT versions is the Synthetic Tractor Hydraulic/Transmission Oil SAE 5W-30
AMSOIL Synthetic Tractor Hydraulic/Transmission Oil SAE 5W-30

I'll post the info I get, if it's worth anything, after I contact Amsoil.

 

[bandit67]

I just got off the phone with Amsoil tech support.

I'm going to give the Synthetic Tractor Hydraulic/Transmission Oil SAE 5W-30 a shot. They've only tested against the UDT because they did that back when it was first developed, but based on the information I received, I expect it to either match or outperform the SUDT2 because it is a true full synthetic oil, whereas the SUDT2 is 75% synthetic. We can use this oil in any 'compact' diesel tractor, which nowadays go up into the 100 hp range.

I specifically asked how their 5w30 tractor oil does in high heat conditions, because of the performance & odor issues I've encountered when the hyd oil gets good & hot (typically when running the backhoe for extended periods). I was told that there shouldn't be much odor, if at all, and that typical tractor hyd systems run up to a maximum of 220* at their hottest, and their tractor hyd oil is tested to not begin to break down until 260+. Low temp pour point is -58* F

 

[bhh]

A penny saved is a penny earned.

Actually, a penny saved is like 1.5-2 pennies earned because you don't pay tax on saved pennies.

 

[gwdixon]

Either ISO 48 or 64 would likely work very well. ISO 64 would mainly be for hot weather or if your hydraulic fluid gets very hot when working - like if used in a backhoe.

Oops, forgot the link:

http://www.hfifluidpowerproducts.com/Pages/Hydraulic-Fluid.html

Check the charts for applications.

 

[srs]

I just got off the phone with Amsoil tech support.

I'm going to give the Synthetic Tractor Hydraulic/Transmission Oil SAE 5W-30 a shot.

Did you happen to mention to tech support their opinion on the reduction, if any of the hydro whine?

 

[bandit67]

Did you happen to mention to tech support their opinion on the reduction, if any of the hydro whine?

No, but since I saw a difference going from UDT to SUDT2 on my B3030, I suspect I will see the same, at a minimum, with the full synthetic.

I just ordered 17 quarts of the Amsoil Tractor Hyd 5w-30 oil. It cost me less than $20 more than it would have cost me to get 20 qts (5 gallon pail) of SUDT2. Our B3000 (and the B3030) take 16 qts, so I have a spare qt on hand. I never had to add any hydro fluid between changes to the B3030 in 365hrs, though, so the extra fluid from each 5 gallon purchase ended up never getting used, because I changed fluids, stepping up in quality, for each change.

According to info I found on Kubota's website, the engine oil filters are sythetic media, so between that and the reinforcing, I'm sticking with Kubota filters for this change. The hydro filters don't appear to be synthetic media, but I didn't feel like taking the time to attempt to research cross references to find Amsoil syn media filters that might fit the trans. I do have the number for the Amsoil syn media filter that fits the engine, and it is slightly cheaper than the Kubota filter.

For reference, my B3030 came with UDT from what I could tell from the factory (a slight possibility it came with SUDT). I changed to Schaeffer's Semi Synthetic Tractor Hyd Oil at 50 hrs, and it cut down on hydro whine & odor slightly. At 300 hrs, I switched to SUDT2 (75% synthetic), and noticed a slight decrease in hydro whine & a significant decrease in odor when hot. The new B3000 does not come with SUDT2 because it stinks when it gets hot during backhoe use - noticeably stinkier than my B3030 that had SUDT2 when I traded it.

I will have my oil & filters next week, but will attempt to wait to make the change until as close to 50 hrs as possible. We need to start getting some serious snow so I can burn through the next 20 hrs and get those factory fluids out of there.

I have noticed the new B3000 engine when cold is no where near as civilized as the B3030 engine was when I traded at 365hrs, but suspect a big reason is that it is not running syn oil right now. Syn engine oil has made very significant positive improvements in all of my diesels once I was able to make the switch.

 

[srs]

Bandit, thanks for the excellent write up! Stanley

 

[texasjohn]

oriley's has tractor filters, wix, on 70% off sale for a few days..

 

[workinallthetime]

Mr Bandit,
I am curous as why you switched from a b3030 to a b3000, seems like both are close to the same unit.
i am wondering if that 25% of sudt2 is for hotter working conditions, i know on a 100 plus degree day down here you dont want to put your hand any where near the BH cylinders after about an hour.
I may give the amsoil a try after 100 hours or so with this SUDT2, i am worried about contamination after my last failure and 150.00 or so for oil and filters is alot cheaper than new hard parts. Down the road please keep us updated how the amsoil worked out, i am so pleased with the faster acting cylinders and improved hydostatic transmission i can not belives i had not tried this long ago.

 

[bandit67]

Mr Bandit,
I am curous as why you switched from a b3030 to a b3000, seems like both are close to the same unit.

I've been wanting a cab for a couple years mostly because clearing snow has been pretty rough on the open station B3030, especially during our 2-3 day storm events. I researched aftermarket cabs, and decided the only one I liked was the Laurin, but couldn't stomach the $10k price tag.

Aside from the lack of having a cab, I loved the B3030, so when a great deal on a new cabbed B3000 (essentially the same unit) and a great trade-in offer presented itself, I jumped on it. Great thing was that I could keep all of my implements from the B3030.