New Tractor Questions

[GregAndSon]

New to posting. New to tractors. Want to thank all of you for your help. Been reading this for quite a while and learning a lot. Question is what kind of fluid to use in the transmission. The service manual I bought from JD recommends the Low Viscosity but it does not look like it would be the best based on the temperature chart that is in the book. I think the dealer also recommends the same thing. I have been buying a little of 50 hour supplies so it is not such a big hit all at once.

 

[beenthere]

Welcome to the forum.
I put in the Deere recommended fluid, as I don't think it can be improved upon. Just my 2 cents. It's not something I want to gamble with. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[ronjhall]

Unless you have temperatures less than 0 degree F. I would use standard Hy-Guard per the manual.
I have attached a picture of <font color="green"> JD's </font> graph.

 

[dmp437]

Depends on your climate, I'm in Michigan so I use (just used as a matter of fact) Low Vis (Hy-Gard J20D). The service manual makes it pretty emphatic about using regular HyGard at low tempertures; "transmission damage will occur". I'm much more likely to be using the tractor at 0 degrees than I am above 86 degrees.

 

[GregAndSon]

Thank You all for your input up to this point. I agree with the JD fluids. I have heard others say that if you can afford the tractor you can afford the fluids and the filters. I had it wrong when I looked at the book this morning. The service manual recommends the Hy-gard with the note that damage will occur if the Hy-gard is used below 0 degrees. The owners manual and the dealer recommends the low viscosity Hy-gard. I do not plan on using the tractor in extreme cold but I also do not want any damage. At the same time I know the tractor will be used above the 80 or so degrees that is the high end of the low viscosity. I know I am making more of this than needed but I want to start off right. The dealer is a really nice outfit to work with. They are into large farming operations more than these smaller tractors and therefor their experience is limited.

 

[dmp437]

And then to further muddy the waters, if you have the eHydro transmission there's a transmission cooler so the upper limit of Low Vis isn't necessarily a hard limit; you could run it in slightly hotter conditions.
On the other hand if you had the optional transmission oil heater (personally recommended, about $65 or so) you could run regular HyGard at lower temperatures as long as you were "plugged in" to aid cold start-up.