Mini excavator hydraulic oil

[bc1]

Hello guys. Have a new FF-13 Chinese mini excavator. Been doing some trench digging and learning how it works. It calls for ISO 46 hydraulic oil. Bot a couple gallons of AW46 to change it for the first time. Not sure how much it takes.

Been reading a lot about guys adding an oil cooler. Too early to do that yet but I want to ask what about going to an ISO 68 oil particularly with the summer coming on? Or a 32-46-68 multi viscosity oil?

The oil in it is amber color and it has a combination level and temperature guage which is hard to see the red line sometimes. So I use a laser thermometer. The 1.75 gallon gas tank gives me about 1.5 hours of digging till I let it all cool down before adding gas since the tank sits on top of the Briggs and Stratton 13.5 hp engine.

My temperature checks show around 120 degrees but at the end the sight glass shows the oil level is an inch or so higher and it may be getting up to 140. Also have noticed that getting close to the end that it becomes easier to stall out the engine when digging which tells me the oil is getting hot and time to quit.

Thanks.

 

[WranglerX]

You escape from here.... Facebook login required....

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

www.facebook.com

 

[oldnslo]

ISO 68 should work just fine unless you are operating in below zero temperatures.

 

[bc1]

ISO 68 should work just fine unless you are operating in below zero temperatures.

Thanks. When it is below zero I will be in the house. If that 2 gallons of iso 46 isn't enough then I will top it off with iso 68. O'Reillys sells the multi vis stuff if I ever go that route.

I hope the iso 68 will dissipate more heat so I don't need a cooler particularly since I can take my time digging.

 

[oldnslo]

ISO 68 will not dissipate heat quicker than 46 but it will not this as much when hot so in theory may not have as much internal leakage on components so may heat up a little slower. Not sure if will be a noticeable difference though.

 

[nyone]

140* really isnt that hot.

My 1990 kubota kh41 tank would get so hot you cant touch it when digging for hours on a 90*f day. Never thought twice about it, it's got iso46 with 800hrs on it. Still a amber hue. It's just tractor supply oil

 

[RandyT]

References I have seen in the past talked about 100*F plus air temperature. So on a 90*F day oil could reach 190*F. I have measured the hydraulic oil temp on my Kioti at 146*F on a normal summer day while using the tractor.