Gear Oil Cross Reference

[MrGiggles]

I'm going to be changing the fluid in our vertical feed mixer again. The recommended fluids are Shell Morlina S4 B150, Esso SHP 150, and Mobil SHC 629 according to the owners manual, none of which are easy to find locally.

When I changed the fluid three years ago, I used Oreilly 75W-90 syn gear oil, which they said was equivalent. I'm curious if there are any more cost effective alternatives, and would like to confirm that it is a good substitute. The price is not bad when purchased by the pail.

Thanks

 

[zeng]

The recommended fluids are industrial gear oils, not automotive gear oils, of VG ISO 150 gear oil specifications (equivalent to AGMA 4EP gear oils) having a KV @40* C of 136-165 cSt.

75W90 above is close to ISO 100 of KV @40*C of about 100 cSt , and isn't equivalent to factory recommended fluids.

Schaeffers may have the oils the equipment requires, I suppose.

 

[zeng]

Oops, I meant to say Lubrication Engineers LE 1604 industrial gear oils

 

[dlundblad]

Originally Posted by zeng
The recommended fluids are industrial gear oils, not automotive gear oils, of VG ISO 150 gear oil specifications (equivalent to AGMA 4EP gear oils) having a KV @40* C of 136-165 cSt.

75W90 above is close to ISO 100 of KV @40*C of about 100 cSt , and isn't equivalent to factory recommended fluids.

Schaeffers may have the oils the equipment requires, I suppose.


The 75w-90 does seem a bit thin, but could he step it up to a 75w-140 and be done with it? Should be about the right cSt.

I'm going to go off on a limb and say gear oil is gear oil assuming whatever is being lubed has no clutches or anything additive sensitive like an ATF+4 transmission. Lol.

 

[zeng]

Originally Posted by dlundblad
Originally Posted by zeng
The recommended fluids are industrial gear oils, not automotive gear oils, of VG ISO 150 gear oil specifications (equivalent to AGMA 4EP gear oils) having a KV @40* C of 136-165 cSt.

75W90 above is close to ISO 100 of KV @40*C of about 100 cSt , and isn't equivalent to factory recommended fluids.

Schaeffers may have the oils the equipment requires, I suppose.


The 75w-90 does seem a bit thin, but could he step it up to a 75w-140 and be done with it? Should be about the right cSt.

I'm going to go off on a limb and say gear oil is gear oil assuming whatever is being lubed has no clutches or anything additive sensitive like an ATF+4 transmission. Lol.

A 75W140 has a KV @40*C typically of 175 cSt, however it's prone to shear thinning in use.
I would say it's more appropriate than a 75W90 in this application.
OP may consider a shear stable monograde differential oils in SAE 90 GL5, available at packaging of 1 Liter or gallon as industrial gear oils typically comes in drums form.

 

[MrGiggles]

Originally Posted by zeng
Originally Posted by dlundblad
Originally Posted by zeng
The recommended fluids are industrial gear oils, not automotive gear oils, of VG ISO 150 gear oil specifications (equivalent to AGMA 4EP gear oils) having a KV @40* C of 136-165 cSt.

75W90 above is close to ISO 100 of KV @40*C of about 100 cSt , and isn't equivalent to factory recommended fluids.

Schaeffers may have the oils the equipment requires, I suppose.


The 75w-90 does seem a bit thin, but could he step it up to a 75w-140 and be done with it? Should be about the right cSt.

I'm going to go off on a limb and say gear oil is gear oil assuming whatever is being lubed has no clutches or anything additive sensitive like an ATF+4 transmission. Lol.

A 75W140 has a KV @40*C typically of 175 cSt, however it's prone to shear thinning in use.
I would say it's more appropriate than a 75W90 in this application.
OP may consider a shear stable monograde differential oils in SAE 90 GL5, available at packaging of 1 Liter or gallon as industrial gear oils typically comes in drums form.


It may have 75W-140 in it now, I really don't remember for sure,

It is a large planetary type gearbox, but there are no clutches or anything inside that I know of.

So which would be better, the 75W-140 or SAE 90 GL5? I run the machine all winter, Missouri temps are pretty mild but we usually get a few days around 0*F.

 

[zeng]

Originally Posted by MrGiggles
It may have 75W-140 in it now, I really don't remember for sure,

It is a large planetary type gearbox, but there are no clutches or anything inside that I know of.

So which would be better, the 75W-140 or SAE 90 GL5? I run the machine all winter, Missouri temps are pretty mild but we usually get a few days around 0*F.

Planetary gearbox really shears, other than a differential.
A 75W140 in use could be sheared up to 30-35% off , meaning it's virgin KV @40*C of say, 175 cSt could drop to 120 cSt or thereabout.
It's advantage is:it's good for an oil circulation system with oil pumps (which is untypical of 'industrial gearbox' design) AND circulating oil pump starting temperature down to -40*C.
Alternative multigrades you could consider is 80W140 for stronger shear stability and its highr KV @40*C or an 80W90 of adequate KV @40*C.

In the likely event of absence of circulation oil pump within the system, which is likely in your case,I personnally prefer a shear-stable monograde in SAE90 (which is equivalent to ISO 150 gear oils) whose pour point could be around 0F or -18C .

At the end of the day, it's really your call on any one of the above 4 grades ..considering its availability and pricings etc .

 

[MrGiggles]

Originally Posted by zeng
Originally Posted by MrGiggles
It may have 75W-140 in it now, I really don't remember for sure,

It is a large planetary type gearbox, but there are no clutches or anything inside that I know of.

So which would be better, the 75W-140 or SAE 90 GL5? I run the machine all winter, Missouri temps are pretty mild but we usually get a few days around 0*F.

Planetary gearbox really shears, other than a differential.
A 75W140 in use could be sheared up to 30-35% off , meaning it's virgin KV @40*C of say, 175 cSt could drop to 120 cSt or thereabout.
It's advantage is:it's good for an oil circulation system with oil pumps (which is untypical of 'industrial gearbox' design) AND circulating oil pump starting temperature down to -40*C.
Alternative multigrades you could consider is 80W140 for stronger shear stability and its highr KV @40*C or an 80W90 of adequate KV @40*C.

In the likely event of absence of circulation oil pump within the system, which is likely in your case,I personnally prefer a shear-stable monograde in SAE90 (which is equivalent to ISO 150 gear oils) whose pour point could be around 0F or -18C .

At the end of the day, it's really your call on any one of the above 4 grades ..considering its availability and pricings etc .


The manual calls for synthetic oil only, not sure why.

75W140 is the least expensive, 165$ a bucket from O'Reilly's. The other grades are harder to find and expensive.

I'm pretty sure that is what is in it now.

 

[zeng]

It makes perfect sense to always go for the least expensive , easily available but adequate KV @40*C gear oil as we dont live in a perfect world.