Which Amsoil severe gear for tractor?

[Cup of Joe]

I bought a new 4 wheel drive tractor that is coming up on its 1st scheduled maintenance. Part of the maintenance is to replace the front axle fluid. Since this will be low speed but high load which Amsoil severe gear oil should I use?

I have to have the tractor in 4x4 when I am using the loader and especially if I have a bucket load of dirt on the very soft/wet land behind my home site. My primary "yard" sits higher then the rest of the land so there is a very large soft area I have been working on installing culverts, which means a lot of loaded slow speed work. This kind of use is not likely to change even after this bit of work is done.

I'm only interested in Amsoil severe gear. The owners manual recommends either tractor hydraulic

or 80w-90.

 

[tom slick]

I'd use the highest viscosity they make.

 

[Thingfish]

Severe Gear SAE250 maybe?

Quote from amsoil regarding the SAE 250 application,

"Other severe duty applications include heavy duty trucks and equipment where increased lubricant film is necessary."

 

[Pablo]

That is a mighty viscous fluid. I was going to recommend 75W-110 because that is close to the factory recommendation. I wouldn't worry too much about pushing that to 75W-140. But SAE 250, wow.....I will say this, pouring the Severe Gear 250, it pours better than a conventional 140. Maybe split the difference and use the SAE 190.

 

[Johnny]

Originally Posted By: TaterandNoodles
I bought a new 4 wheel drive tractor that is coming up on its 1st scheduled maintenance. Part of the maintenance is to replace the front axle fluid. Since this will be low speed but high load which Amsoil severe gear oil should I use?

I have to have the tractor in 4x4 when I am using the loader and especially if I have a bucket load of dirt on the very soft/wet land behind my home site. My primary "yard" sits higher then the rest of the land so there is a very large soft area I have been working on installing culverts, which means a lot of loaded slow speed work. This kind of use is not likely to change even after this bit of work is done.

I'm only interested in Amsoil severe gear. The owners manual recommends either tractor hydraulic

or 80w-90.


Exactly what kind of tractor is this. There is a big difference between tractor hydraulic and gear oil.

 

[Cup of Joe]

Originally Posted By: Johnny

Exactly what kind of tractor is this. There is a big difference between tractor hydraulic and gear oil.


Its the other orange tractor, a Kioti CK25.

I know there is a big difference between tractor hydra and gear thats why its such a weird recommendation. "Some" owners manuals say hydra or gear and "some" just say gear. Gear is the only thing that makes sense for normal use.

 

[Cup of Joe]

I was thinking the 75w-110 or 140, a straight 250 is overkill in my opinion. I won't be shocking the gears but constant low speed heavy pressure.

 

[Johnny]

That front axle is not hooked up to any of the hydraulic system, is it? You do have a separate hydraulic reservoir for the transmission and the hydraulics like the front bucket. Right?

Is that you on that tractor?

 

[Johnny]

If that front axle is a sealed unit, I would use the 75W-140 in it.

 

[duaneb9729]

we used to fill a 55 gal drum with rocks and use the three point hitch to lift it, chained it up some how,, its been years, to give the tractor traction.

we used an old IH 340? dang my memory is getting rusty, sorry to hijack the thread.

 

[Cup of Joe]

Originally Posted By: duaneb9729
we used to fill a 55 gal drum with rocks and use the three point hitch to lift it, chained it up some how,, its been years, to give the tractor traction.

we used an old IH 340? dang my memory is getting rusty, sorry to hijack the thread.


I use a box blade as a counter weight especially when using the loader.

 

[Cup of Joe]

Originally Posted By: Johnny
That front axle is not hooked up to any of the hydraulic system, is it? You do have a separate hydraulic reservoir for the transmission and the hydraulics like the front bucket. Right?


The transmission is Hydrostatic and also runs the hydraulics front and rear but with a seperate hydraulic filter for the front. The system holds 7.5 gallons of tractor hydraulic in 1 big sump in the transmission. The front axle is sealed and seperate from the rest which is why it uses gear.

Quote:
Is that you on that tractor?


I'm not nearly that good looking and my tractor hasn't been that clean since the day I bought it. Think "larry the cable guy" driving a new'r tractor.

Get'r done is usually what I'm saying when I've gotten it stuck. Turns out saying it doesn't get it done when it comes to Carolina mud.

 

[doitmyself]

There's a current thread over at Tractorbynet addressing this question: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kioti-owning-operating/139030-front-axle-oil.html


Everyone there is recommending 80w90 gear oil and laughing at how bad the owners manual translation is.

At what point is going too thick detrimental? And why?

 

[Pablo]

If the gear earl can't flow there won't be a whole lota lube-bree-katen goin' on. If it's really cold, some conventional 140's barely pour. Not good. This IS and area where synthetic lubricants strut their stuff. TaterandNoodles could use synthetic SAE 250 and get away with it, but really it probably won't protect much better than the SAE 190.

I still say 75W-140.

TaterandNoodles looks a lot like that guy on TV.

 

[Cup of Joe]

Originally Posted By: doitmyself
There's a current thread over at Tractorbynet addressing this question: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kioti-owning-operating/139030-front-axle-oil.html


Everyone there is recommending 80w90 gear oil and laughing at how bad the owners manual translation is.


But unlike some on TBN I will not be using Walmart or TSC universal tractor hyrdaulic. Its more of a which weight and why for me.

Quote:
At what point is going too thick detrimental? And why?


Now that's the real question considering the kind of use any compact tractor see's, slow speed/high load. Unlike a truck its back and forth when loaded over sort distances so heat will stay low. I wouldn't load the bucket and drive 300 yards just to dump 1 bucket load at a time. Most would load a trailer and make the job quicker.

 

[Thingfish]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
That is a mighty viscous fluid. I was going to recommend 75W-110 because that is close to the factory recommendation. I wouldn't worry too much about pushing that to 75W-140. But SAE 250, wow.....I will say this, pouring the Severe Gear 250, it pours better than a conventional 140. Maybe split the difference and use the SAE 190.



I agree 250 is incredibly viscous, I was just commenting on the post above mine that SAE 250 is Amsoils heaviest gear fluid. And added a quote from the 190/250 webpage for giggles.
I would put in Severe Gear in the viscosity called for in the manual. Having Amsoil in there is already an advantage, without needing any Tom Foolery verging on grease...

 

[onion]

Odd fluid recommendations are pretty common among tractors and assorted heavy equipment. I've worked on lots of machines that specify several different viscosities of hydraulic oils OR one or two viscosities of motor oil (in the hydraulic system) depending on temperature range and customer preference.

Several John Deere tractors switched back and forth between specifying hydraulic oil and 80w90 in the mechanical front axle depending on the year it was made.

I even recall working on the Case 580/590 backhoes where the lighter 580's specified hydraulic oil in the front planetaries, but the heavier 590's with exactly the same planetaries called for gear oil. IMO, it's largely a matter of preference.

I'll also remind you that thicker does not necessarily equal better. Personally, in your situation, I'd just fill it up with a quality 80w90 and forget about it.

 

[Johnny]

Originally Posted By: TaterandNoodles
I was thinking the 75w-110 or 140, a straight 250 is overkill in my opinion. I won't be shocking the gears but constant low speed heavy pressure.


My cousin in Oklahoma has one of these tractors so I call his dealer this morning to see what they use. They use 80W-90 gear oil in the front axle of your tractor.

 

[Pablo]

The closest Amsoil Severe Gear choice to the 80W-90 is the 75W-110 as I stated earlier. That's my recommendation.

 

[onion]

I've heard enough horror stories about synthetic gear oils that I personally wouldn't run them. But you'll get a different opinion when somebody's trying to sell you some.