Looking for good hydraulic fluid additive

[softdown]

Bought buckets of average hydraulic fluid when I used basic hydraulic equipment. Now that I do some skid steer mulching and other demanding work, I am looking for a good additive to boost the performance of my hydraulic fluid inventory.

Engine oils must meet stringent criteria to receive certifications. No such criteria exist for hydraulic and transmission fluids. Seems odd but "it is what it is".

Also seems like it would be tricky to test the quality. I have not found a good video on tested hydraulic fluids. There are plenty on engine oils by comparison.

For now I am thinking some Lucas Hydraulic Fluid Booster and Stop Leak. But that is not what I would call a "high performance" additive.

 

[catbuster]

Good hydraulic oils like Hydrau, Hytran, Hygard, Hydo & Mobil DTE won’t need an additive to perform as needed.

Most of the Lucas products are snake oil. Bad oils are just that, bad oils.

 

[Karrl]

If you have 303 hydraulic fluid stocked up, I’d buy something else for your machines. There’s a lot of folks dealing with hydraulic issues from running the cheap 303 oil. Smittys, the largest producer of 303, is getting sued for using garbage base oils leading to hydraulic failures. If you have some other oil I wouldn’t worry as much but 303 is no good.

 

[softdown]

Good hydraulic oils like Hydrau, Hytran, Hygard, Hydo & Mobil DTE won’t need an additive to perform as needed.

Most of the Lucas products are snake oil. Bad oils are just that, bad oils.

Nice. But I'm still looking for a good additive so I can use what I have.

 

[softdown]

This subject gets pretty confusing. It seems the base material of natural motor oils and hydraulic and transmission and compressor and gear oil is - mineral oil Many recommend using motor oil in a skid steers hydraulics, some recommend diesel oil which I would think would be heavier duty than normal motor oil.

The lack of grading and certifications adds to the confusion. Plus thicker oil protects better but flows poorly in cooler temps. Basically it is all a gigantic mess.

Right now I am thinking a weight between 40 and 60 should work. Is 40 weight motor oil the same viscosity as ISO 40 hydraulic oil?

I also suspect a 50 weight transmission fluid made for larger trucks, like Mack and International, should work pretty well. Modern transmission fluids have more additives than basic hydraulic oil. We often pay a lot for the additive package.

 

[ATpro]

Lucas Hydraulic Oil Booster & Stop Leak works for small seal leaks and helps boost hydraulic pressure.
I use it in an older backhoe to boost hydraulic pressure. It does the job and at my age and as little as I use the hoe these days it still does OK compared to the cost of resealing and overhauling the system. I think what the biggest advantage is it boost Viscosity of the oil which helps with wore systems. As for the other stuff they claim I can't say.

 

[catbuster]

Broadly,

SAE 10W=ISO 32
SAE 20W=ISO 46
SAE 30W=ISO 68

Don’t put 40 or 50 weight oil in a hydraulic system unless the manufacturer specifically calls it out. I haven’t, but the heaviest weight oil I have ever seen recommended in a system was Hydrau 68 in John Deere’s 300 series skid steer loaders. I’d bet there’s a reason for it, likely because the seals have to move in piston style pumps.

 

[kevin j]

Hydr oils probably have more standards to meet than engine oils it’s just that they are proprietary stds not SAE stds.
ISO defines the viscosity (ISO 32, 46, 68, etc). Minimum viscosity is defined by pumps and motor pistons, wear, etc. Maximum by cold start and pump inlet cavitation.

Then Case IH, JD, Vickers Eaton, Danfoss etc etc all have their own requirements for a fluid to be labelled as such. So you should see ‘meets company x, standard y’ on the labels. Usually if an oil is good enough to meet company x standards for a certain application, it will also be labelled meeting standards by various other companies for similar applications. Be aware any given company can have various different standards for simple gear pumps or hydrostatic systems, etc. .

Log splitter is about the simplest system possible. Gear pumps are pretty tolerant and there are no motors. Any good quality AW (antiwear) hydr oil of the right viscosity for the temperature operation should be fine.
However, to mix a recipe of additives I suspect will be very difficult as you don’t know the quality of the base oil, what additives are there now, and how they will react with the new add package.

‘Anti leak’ addtives function by chemically mildly reacting with the seal materials, causing them to swell, and reduce leaks. They are not magic to repair damaged seals or rods, but can work. Too much can cause problems by weakening the seals.
If you have a decent oil to start with, the thickener addtives can increase the viscosity.
Personally, if the oil is ‘ok’ quality, I’d run it in any logsplitter, but not in a piston pump or skid steer etc.

 

[softdown]

Responses from a Takeuchi group:

Mine calls for 10w30 “Diesel” Engine oil. And that’s what I use never had a issue

Robert Schell

I use 30weight oil with no issues

Maksim Nikitenko
Takeuchi manual calls for 10w30 Diesel engine oil for hydraulic, on TL models
·


Wesley Hanson
Who says its a really bad idea?
It's literally says use it from the manufacturer

• 
  

Larry Krutules II
Wesley Hanson CASE skids have always used 10w30. I agree it’s good oil and what T wants





Michael King
I run 15w40 in mine.


1







Mike Jones

Book calls for 10w30 or 10w-40


1














Kevin Shuey

My TL230 manual says 10w30 Diesel engine oil. 4500+ hours and going strong. Stick with what the manual says.


1







Brian M Fletcher
What brands are you guys running? Just curious on thou





Dealer told me to use motor oil










Mitch Cushman
The manual calls for 10w30 diesel oil.











Ed Robinson
10w30 in engine and hydro. 5200 hrs still working like a horse

• Mine calls for 10w30 “Diesel” Engine oil. And that’s what I use never had a issue
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Robert Schell
  
  
  
  I use 30weight oil with no issues
  
  
  
  
  Maksim Nikitenko
  Takeuchi manual calls for 10w30 Diesel engine oil for hydraulic, on TL models
  
  
  
  
  Wesley Hanson
  Who says its a really bad idea?
  It's literally says use it from the manufacturer
  
  
  
  
  • 
    
  
  
  
  Larry Krutules II
  Wesley Hanson CASE skids have always used 10w30. I agree it’s good oil and what T wants
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Michael King
  I run 15w40 in mine.
  
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  Mike Jones
  
  
  
  Book calls for 10w30 or 10w-40
  
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      Reply
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  Bill Bruno
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Kevin Shuey
  
  
  
  My TL230 manual says 10w30 Diesel engine oil. 4500+ hours and going strong. Stick with what the manual says.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  John Adams
  Author
  
  I have a disc mulcher, disc mulching is considered severe duty. Based on that perhaps 15W-40 diesel oil would be good.
  Not used much during the winter due to Colorado mountain snow. So a lighter weight oil such as 10W-30 does not presently seem neede…
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  Holly Hill
  Dealer told me to use motor oil
  
  
  
  
  Mitch Cushman
  The manual calls for 10w30 diesel oil.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Ed Robinson
  10w30 in engine and hydro. 5200 hrs still working like a horse

 

[softdown]

What am I doing posting from "somewhere else". Well they didn't move a covid thread to the political/religious board then tell me my password is incorrect after I just used it to sign in.

 

[ElevatorGuy]

We use the additive from catapiler at work when we have sticking valve or tight packing issues. Works great.

 

[sand sock]

dont be using 303 oil. i know i have metal chunks laying in the filter pan of my tractor from that trash. i use hyguard from JD on john deer equiptment. and use just normal hydrolic and transmission oil from tsc.

 

[TheAMMIXman]

I found this chart particularly helpful when deciding which weight synthetic to run in my stump grinder’s hydraulic system.
Figured I’d share.