Heating Hydraulic Oil

1715 · Feb 15, 2008

Anybody ever try one of these magnetic heaters for heating hydraulic fluid in really cold temps?

Tractor Supply Company - Magnetic Engine Heater, 20 sq in

I'm having the same issue as some, as to where the FEL hydraulics work slow in cold temps, but once the hyd fluid warms up a bit everything works fine. I recently changed fluid as I thought maybe there was water in the system and it hasn't seemed to help the problem, so I thought maybe trying to keep a heater on it for a little while before plowing might help the issue.

Thanks for any help!

Edit: I guess it would help to mention that I have a Ford/NewHolland 1715 4x4 Diesel tractor.

brandoro · Feb 15, 2008

I have used one of those and it helps a little but only a little. The real solution is to work the tractor enough to warm it up. If I run the snowblower for a while it warms up the transmission enough to be able to use the fel.
I switched to synthetic trans/hydraulic fluid, that improved the cold weather operation quite a bit. Personally I think that is a better solution in the long run.

diyDave · Feb 16, 2008

I was watching the history channel's program on the ALCAN highway, and they said they learned in cold weather, to run all machines 24/7, that way the machines lasted longer, as there were no cold starts. What I would recommend would be to use the cooling system of the engine to warm the hyd fluid, if you are serious about a quick warm up. What I mean is a radiator/hydraulic system interface, like my Asv Rc30 has. Basically what this does is to use the radiator to transfer the heat from the motor to the oil in the hyd system, thereby allowing a quicker warmup than with 2 separate systems. It works pretty good for me, all I do is to run a block heater on the engine, and as soon as the antifreeze starts flowing due to the thermosiphon effect (picture a coffee pot), it is also heating the hyd fluid.

ray66v · Feb 16, 2008

I have a 75 watt glue on heating pad aprox. 3"x4" that seems to keep the Hydro. trans. axle in my tractor from getting cold. It holds about 3.5 gal. (J.C. Whitney $50)

SpringHollow · Feb 17, 2008

My tractor is totally hydraulic. I use 2 300W magnetic heaters on the 20 gallon reservoir and it keeps the oil at about 50 - 60 ｰ when it is 10 - 20ｰ out.

Ken

ihookem · Feb 17, 2008

1715, what kind of synthetic oil did you use? I just started a post about my tractor squeeling and was wondering if anyone used Amsoil. Amsoil tractor hydraulic /transmission fluid 5w30 should be good. Later ,ihookem.

1715 · Feb 18, 2008

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, and I'll consider all the advice given. As for synthetic fluid, I actually just changed it over with standard Hyd fluid, so I can't help on the synthetic question....however I'm going to read up on that a bit too, and might be changing over soon. The only synthetic I run is in the engine and that's 15w40 Royal Purple.

Thanks again!

ray66v · Feb 18, 2008

I have been running Amsoil hydraulic fluid for years, I also use the oil and grease.

bjcsc · Feb 18, 2008

If you have an open remote you can make a short jumper hose and run it until it warms up.

Northland · Feb 20, 2008

I have a 200 watt Katz magnetic heater that I bought on amazon.com for $28 including shipping.

I use it in conjunction with my Kubota's block heater and the combo is terrific when it is cold (-10C/0 F) and it's cold here all the time in the winter. I put the block heater on and the magnetic heater under the hydro fluid reservoir for 1 to 2 hours and even at -20 C the tractor is good to go right away.

Without the magnetic heater I had to wait way too long (15+ minutes) to use the FEL and PTO effectively. The block heater alone helped the engine run smooth right away but that didn't do me any good when I needed to plough/blow snow.