Hydraulic Oil for Scag Cheetah
- Thread starter Rutwad01
- Start date
It's fine to use that synthetic blend super tech 20w-50, likely the same or maybe better than the 20w-50 it came with. There's no combustion cycle in a hydrostat which makes the oil get really hot and put combustion byproducts in it making it degrade quick. I guess you could use m1 15w-50 which they also sell. There's also motorcycle 20w-50 from both st and m1 which I can't see why can't be used. Really just any thick oil to make the little pump generate pressure. With thinner oils the hydrostat feels weaker.
Personally, unless the oil is contaminated or you're at the recommended maintenance interval, I'd just leave it. My 30 plus year old Ransoms calls for 10w--30 and when I changed it several years ago, the fluid looked brand new even though it hadn't been changed in at least a couple of decades.
Initial 100 hour change
I was wondering about that. I think that's what my 2015 Hustler calls for if I remember correctly. But I noticed Hustler sells a 20w50 hydraulic oil.
Either one would work in this application.
This is straight from hydro gear, I emailed them back in the spring asking about oils for the zt5400 in the cheetah's. We recommend 20W50 standard engine oil. Any reputable brand(Pennzoil, Valvoline, Mobil etc) will work. Synthetic can be used but it really doesn’t provide much of a benefit over the conventional oil. The service manual says api SL but they did not mention anything about it when I emailed them. Be careful if you remove the vent plugs or drain plugs, they will strip the trans housing out if you over tighten them. Torque spec is 32–42-inch pounds on them. They hold around 5 quarts each of oil.
Thanks!
