50 hour service

unclesalty · Jun 24, 2009

Hey, Ive been lurking in the Kioti forum and they all change their hydro fluid during the 50 hr service. The manual for my 225 just says replace the filters.
I'm waiting on a call from my dealer. Whats everyone think? On my old deere it was a 500 hr interval. I changed it every 2 years as I wasn't putting that many hours on it and the weather in florida is very hot and humid. I'm leaning toward a change out since Ive already got the fluid.

billiardbrawler · Jun 24, 2009

Personally, I would change it and your engine oil/filter out at 50 hours. Especially the first time. Hydrostatic pumps/motors have a break in period just as a engine does. There is debri ( albeit very minute) that is a by product of the parts meshing and rings seating.

50 hrs on your new bobcat is about 3,000 miles on a car or truck. Incidentally, a lot of guys favor synthetic oils. Please don't flame me on this as there exist more opinions on oil then kellogs has cornflakes....but a good rule of thumb is not to convert to synthetic until you have a couple/three hundred hours on your engine.

It is extremely important to use only the hydrostatic fluid recommended in your owners manual.....trust me....don't stray on that one. You can fry your hydros quicker then paris hilton on a date!

demoman357 · Jun 25, 2009

I second that about the correct fluid. I had a Bobcat T300 skid steer. When I priced the Bobcat brand combination transmission/hydraulic fluid I about had a heart attack. I used a discount brand that met the specification as stated on the bucket, but the performance was degraded. Used it for a while but got tired of the machine not having as much capacity after the fluid got really hot from hard work. Changed is back to the Bobcat brand and all was well again. Bottom line was: I spent more money in lost time and downgraded performance than I would have spent on the more expensive fluid.

The worst thing about a maintenance schedule being perfomed too often is waisted time and a little more money. Not often enough is broken machine or a dramaticly shortened life that may cost some serious money to repair.

Good luck - I am going out now and look at the book for my new CT335.