winter weight hydraulic fluid

[Arborsharp]

yesterday my dump truck got stuck in the up position. mechanic said it blew a 200 amp relay and needs a fluid change. another friend thought it could have been the low temperatures, but I think the truck has performed reasonably well around the 10° F range that it was.

do any of you swap to winter weight hydraulic fluid? here in Iowa, it is -8, hoping my dump trailer will raise up for one small job this afternoon

I generally don't work below 0°, depending on sun and wind, So may not be worth changing effort just to have equipment able to function a few more days in a year, when us operators would rather be wimping out inside anyways

 

[oldfortyfive]

Check with the manufacturer of the hydraulic system. They usually have cold weather recommendations.

 

[JRM]

Multi weight hydraulic oils are perfect for these applications and can be used year round.
Only you can justify whether or not it's worth it to change over, but I would definitely go that route over switching back and forth every season. That would get expensive not to mention wasteful....

 

[mg1944]

glacial blue made by Kendall
that's what my bucket system takes and a lot of guys use it for snow plow lifts
if it will run a bucket-boom system it will work for a dump cly
personally, I have a JD 110 TLB and save the oil from the hydraulic system when I change it to use for the hoist in my triaxle

 

[JimmyT]

I ran Tri-Axle Dumps 74,000 lbs. gross for years in all weather conditions go with Shell Rotella HD 20 Weight non foaming hydraulic oil. Tractor Supply probably has the best price on 5 gallon pails. Also Shell Rotella HD 20 makes Case Backhoes Hy-Tran Oil