Tractor hydraulic/trans fluid

[Oldpath05]

I did a test with JD oil (in archives somewhere) and SUDT in my B7800 and the SUDT made the tractor sound quieter, shift smoother and not "lurch" when you first hit the pedal.

JD oil goes in all my machinery except for the B7800 hydrostat.

Maybe hydrostat. trans. are more sensitive than standard gear tractors, at least I would assume so, ether way, I think if I had a Kubota hydrostat. and SUDT oil made it shift better, I'd stick with that.

 

[sixdogs]

Maybe hydrostat. trans. are more sensitive than standard gear tractors, at least I would assume so, ether way, I think if I had a Kubota hydrostat. and SUDT oil made it shift better, I'd stick with that.

That's what I decided. When I changed at one interval I used the Deere oil and noticed increased gear whine and other issues. It's been a while and I forget but I wasn't happy. I left it in but researched it on the TBN and on the next change went with SUDT. The price really bothered me but there was a noticeable difference in performance.

I figure the SUDT is full or part synthetic and suspect any good synthetic oil would give results similar to SUDT but I haven't gotten that far yet. Synthetic oil of all types does seem to be the wave of the future.

 

[MHarryE]

Hydros are in general much more sensitive to the oil used than gear type transmissions. Not sure about the other brands but my Kubota hydro has a hydraulic filter that filters the transmission oil which is also the hydraulic oil, but before that same oil enters the hydrostatic transmission it is filtered through a finer, much more expensive filter to make sure the oil with bits of gear teeth, clutch pack material, and other stray particles don't get to the piston pumps and motors which demand much cleaner oil. There is an oil film between all of these moving parts and any particle thicker than this film will cause wear. Hotter oil reduces the film thickness so coolers enter the equation. John Deere provides a lower viscosity oil for their hydro tractors and states it is recommended for use in other companies hydros. The information I have states not to use regular JD20 in their hydro tractors. Prior to Super UDT-2 I had a paper published by Kubota showing how their then plain Super UDT was superior to plain UDT. I haven't seen an equivalent on Super UDT2, as I recall the differences were primarily in cold flow and reduced wet brake/clutch chatter. My M135GX is not a hydro but it has a lot of wet clutches and brakes. I am sure Amzoil makes a synthetic that would prove equal too or better than Super UDT2, but how to know for sure? Somebody recently pointed out you can find the specs for Super UDT-2 online. I found them and saw that the viscosity at 100C was lower than previous Super UDT and also below what one of our hydro transmission suppliers recommends as the limit. Problem for me is this hydro supplier told me they provide hydro transmissions for at least some Kubota equipment. Except for its higher than desired low end viscosity, I would use Valvoline UltraMax Drive Train Oil.

 

[Nightforce]

In my Kubota I use these off the shelf items...

Hydraulics - Amsol




Engine - Mobil



Filters - Kubota

Because I find the prices reasonable

 

[Soundguy]

funny enough.. i find CNH filters similarly or better priced than many aftermarkets.

 

[jd870]

I find that john deere filters are often priced lower than aftermarket brands.

 

[sixdogs]

I find that john deere filters are often priced lower than aftermarket brands.

Yes they are and I think they are of excellent quality. I don't know why so many guys search for off brands when they can get the real McCoy for less money.

 

[Oldpath05]

My L3400DT has 702 hrs. so far, and I just changed trans. fluid this past weekend, had 300 hrs. on it since the last change with TSC the fluid. The first couple times I changed fluid, I had a few specs. of metal on the filter magnet, but this time there was none, just a oily film, I was a little nervous after I had the, a lot cheaper TSC Travellers trans. 10w20 fluid in it for the first time. I almost put the same brand back in, but at TSC store they had Rottela trans fluid and its a 10w30. I wanted to see if my tractor would shift a little better with the heavier fluid in it, and if it doesn't, I'll go back to Travellers fluid next time at the 3 or 400 hr. change.

 

[sixdogs]

The thinner fluid of SUDT shifted better in my B7800. I switched back to SUDT after trying Deere fluid. Seems that I read somewhere that SUDT and SUDT II were either partially or fully synthetic.

 

[arrow]

My L3400DT has 702 hrs. so far, and I just changed trans. fluid this past weekend, had 300 hrs. on it since the last change with TSC the fluid. The first couple times I changed fluid, I had a few specs. of metal on the filter magnet, but this time there was none, just a oily film, I was a little nervous after I had the, a lot cheaper TSC Travellers trans. 10w20 fluid in it for the first time. I almost put the same brand back in, but at TSC store they had Rottela trans fluid and its a 10w30. I wanted to see if my tractor would shift a little better with the heavier fluid in it, and if it doesn't, I'll go back to Travellers fluid next time at the 3 or 400 hr. change.

Walmarts around here do not seem to carry the Rotella tranny fluid or at least that is what the Walmart sight is saying. If you don't mind me asking, what do they get for it around your way?

 

[Oldpath05]

Walmarts around here do not seem to carry the Rotella tranny fluid or at least that is what the Walmart sight is saying. If you don't mind me asking, what do they get for it around your way?

At TSC, the Travellers trans fluid is $40.00/5gal.-Rottela trans fluid that I bought at the same store is $60.00/5gal. At the Kubota dealer, UDT is $86.00/5gal.
My L3400DT calls for 7 gal. but when I bought it, I complained that when I put the tractor in gear, I had to hold the clutch petal down for 30 sec.+ before I could put it in gear so it wouldn't grind, Kubota told my dealer to give me 2 more gal. of UDT, now with 9 gal. in the trans. and the clutch petal down, the gears slow down quicker at around 6-8 sec. much better. That's why I'm conducting this big experiment with the Rottela 10/w30 trans fluid, I want to see if my gears will slow down at 4-6 sec., and see if the trans will shift better and not lock in gear when the clutch is push down and the bucket is against the dirt pile.

 

[arrow]

At TSC, the Travellers trans fluid is $40.00/5gal.-Rottela trans fluid that I bought at the same store is $60.00/5gal. At the Kubota dealer, UDT is $86.00/5gal.
My L3400DT calls for 7 gal. but when I bought it, I complained that when I put the tractor in gear, I had to hold the clutch petal down for 30 sec.+ before I could put it in gear so it wouldn't grind, Kubota told my dealer to give me 2 more gal. of UDT, now with 9 gal. in the trans. and the clutch petal down, the gears slow down quicker at around 6-8 sec. much better. That's why I'm conducting this big experiment with the Rottela 10/w30 trans fluid, I want to see if my gears will slow down at 4-6 sec., and see if the trans will shift better and not lock in gear when the clutch is push down and the bucket is against the dirt pile.

Thanks Oldpath. I gave myself a chuckle (and a few other things) when i discovered that my John Deere 750 that had a constant gear grind when shifting into it's ranges and speeds was happening because of a clutch pedal adjustment. I owned this tractor for 28 years and the revelation came only when the dealer I eventually bought my new tractor from came to my house to assess the value of the Deere. He also ground the gears and said "when did it start doing that?" I said "from the first day I've owned it". He said "adjust the clutch pedal play and see if it doesn't go away as sometimes they don't adjust them correctly from the factory". I did and it did. I put up with it for 28 years until the point I was about to get rid of the tractor and all I had to do was get under the tractor for 1 minute and take up the play. Like you, I waited in order to get it into gear for 28 years until that fateful day. It made me want to own the tractor for another 28 years to make up for it.

 

[Oldpath05]

My L3400DT manual says 1 inch +or- of free play on the clutch petal, I have mine just under a inch. But this past summer my tractor started locking in gear when its under stain, didn't do that when it was new. I went to the Kubota dealer a couple weeks ago to get some filters and mention the problem, one guy said could be bent shifting fork, the other guy said might be because I have new tires, they all said try it in 2 wheel drive, I still haven't tried that yet, been to busy cutting up firewood, but a few days later they sent someone up to take a look while I wasn't there, just my son. The guy said the clutch is suppose to have more petal free play, so he adjusted it a good 2 inches, when I got home I tried it, I couldn't engage the PTO, so I adjusted it back to what the manual says. I never heard of any thing having 2 inches of clutch petal free play, my Fathers 1948 case didn't even have that much.

 

[arrow]

My L3400DT manual says 1 inch +or- of free play on the clutch petal, I have mine just under a inch. But this past summer my tractor started locking in gear when its under stain, didn't do that when it was new. I went to the Kubota dealer a couple weeks ago to get some filters and mention the problem, one guy said could be bent shifting fork, the other guy said might be because I have new tires, they all said try it in 2 wheel drive, I still haven't tried that yet, been to busy cutting up firewood, but a few days later they sent someone up to take a look while I wasn't there, just my son. The guy said the clutch is suppose to have more petal free play, so he adjusted it a good 2 inches, when I got home I tried it, I couldn't engage the PTO, so I adjusted it back to what the manual says. I never heard of any thing having 2 inches of clutch petal free play, my Fathers 1948 case didn't even have that much.

A person told you new tires? If the vehicle is standing still when shifting, how are the tires involved? I'd be compelled to take up more free play say like 1/2" and see what happens. If you are grinding gears, then something is not allowing the clutch to fully disengage. It could be a bent fork or weak pressure plate as a result of spring fatigue or even a broken one. It could also be something as simple as a worn clutch that needs less free play than stated. If you are anything like me, I found it quite irritating.