Oil & Fuel L48 Hydraulic Fluid

[consultantfool]

I am going to to the 600 hour service on my L48 this weekend. What hydraulic fluid can use other then the Kubota branded fluid?

Thanks

 

[mike69440]

I HAVE NOT CHANGED THE HYDRAULIC FLUID IN MY L39 IN OVER 1400 HOURS.

AT AROUND 400 HOURS I USED ROYAL PURPLE HYDRAULIC FLUID AND ITS BEEN THERE FOR ABOUT 8 YEARS.

DUE FOR A CHANGE & I'm USING IT AGAIN

I DO CHANGE FILTERS EVERY 400 HOURS OR SO.

I SNOW PLOW A LOT MORE THAN I LIKE TO.

STUFF IS GOOD IN COLD.

 

[gwdixon]

Are you looking for a cheaper alternative to Kubota fluid? If not, just use Kubota stuff, although any major tractor brand oil will do (Deere, Case, New Holland, that sort of thing).

Don't go too cheap or you'll regret it. Sam's Club and Tractor Supply sell some hydraulic oil that doesn't work nearly as well in my experience. I've had to change a couple of tractors out within 5 hours. That is not at all economical. The old saying, "The cheapest consumer ends up paying the most." comes to mind.

In the past, I've successfully used New Holland Ambra and Case Hy-Tran. But there is not a big difference in price between them and Kubota oil.

New Holland-Ambra MASTERTRAN? ULTRACTION HYDRAULIC / TRANSMISSION OIL

I use Amsoil in the L48 but it is very expensive in the 10w-30 formula. And you'll need 15 gallons of the stuff.

 

[art]

Are you looking for a cheaper alternative to Kubota fluid? If not, just use Kubota stuff, although any major tractor brand oil will do (Deere, Case, New Holland, that sort of thing).

Don't go too cheap or you'll regret it. Sam's Club and Tractor Supply sell some hydraulic oil that doesn't work nearly as well in my experience. I've had to change a couple of tractors out within 5 hours. That is not at all economical. The old saying, "The cheapest consumer ends up paying the most." comes to mind.

In the past, I've successfully used New Holland Ambra and Case Hy-Tran. But there is not a big difference in price between them and Kubota oil.

New Holland-Ambra MASTERTRAN? ULTRACTION HYDRAULIC / TRANSMISSION OIL

I use Amsoil in the L48 but it is very expensive in the 10w-30 formula. And you'll need 15 gallons of the stuff.

Being a Case-IH dealer going back to the old design style hydro's used by IH we have worked with many. The Ultra hytran or the one mentioned that is marketed through New Holland I have always liked. We do experiment a bit and we did find that even the Case/New holland hydro's prefer the Kubota ultra. The differences that we have found is less noise, and smoother response to the petals for motion. We have changed out many different brands of oil to bring tractors back to life after changes of oil that were not up to par. Good oil is cheaper then repairs!

 

[mike69440]

Re: L39 Hydraulic Fluid drain

I HAVE NOT CHANGED THE HYDRAULIC FLUID IN MY L39 IN OVER 1400 HOURS.

AT AROUND 400 HOURS I USED ROYAL PURPLE HYDRAULIC FLUID AND ITS BEEN THERE FOR ABOUT 8 YEARS.

DUE FOR A CHANGE & I'm USING IT AGAIN

I DO CHANGE FILTERS EVERY 400 HOURS OR SO.

I SNOW PLOW A LOT MORE THAN I LIKE TO.

STUFF IS GOOD IN COLD.

I drained the Hydraulic oil and repalced the filters when I got home from my day job.
The oil was dirty for hydraulic oil, all 11 gallons of it.
Near 1500 hours is pushing it on Hydraulic oil, because some dirt gets past the seals over the years.
The good news is that the large magnets in the filters had oily a smear of metal/oil paste, no large metallic specks.

On a GST Machine, good oil and regular filter changes should get you 800-1000 hours, on a HST, maybe change the oil like the manual suggests or extend it just a bit.

I'm not nice to my tractor, see post #11 of http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/345269-kubota-l48-2.html