to35 hydraulic oil

russ1

Member
Thanks for your help in the past on my newly acquired TO 35. The manual calls for mineral oil in the hydraulic system. I would like any recommendations from you.

Thanks,
Russ
 
The modern designation for mineral oil is GL-1. You can get it at NAPA and at Tractor Supply and at Agri Supply. That's what I use. However, a lot of folks, particularly those in cold climates, like to use motor oil instead, as it's thinner and I'm told it works fine. Someone will chime in with the specifics on that. If you do the math, the price is not much different either way you go. Your 35 takes eight (8) gallons, but never fill it all the way when you change it as it takes a while to settle in through the baffles.
 
I bought GL-1 90 weight mineral oil at NAPA, it's pretty thick in the winter months for an old worn hydraulic pump,
If they do not have it in stock they can order it

Some use 15w40 diesel motor rather than Mineral oil

If I changed it again I might just use the 15w40???????

The reason I did not, the mineral oil is non detergent, so the dirt particles fall to the bottom of the sump, so they can be taken out when you change the oil,
15w40 diesel motor oil is detergent oil and keeps the dirt suspended in the oil, so the dirt travels through the pump and valves, since you do not have a oil filter on this system

It's your call, also the bronze bearings in the transmission do not like detergent oils, was told it can attack the bearings, who knows
 
(quoted from post at 13:52:43 08/04/17) Thanks for your help in the past on my newly acquired TO 35. The manual calls for mineral oil in the hydraulic system. I would like any recommendations from you.

Thanks,
Russ
I used 15w40. However I just replaced brakes and inner oil seals on rear axle because I had one brake drum that was oil soaked. I don't know if the cause was the oil, just an old seal that wore out or maybe I overfilled with hydraulic oil. I have read some say to not fill it to the full mark on dipstick. This was on a TO30
 
Yeah. GL-1 is glue with cooler temps. 15/40 diesel is great for the engine as it has zinc in it and does not drain off as energy conserving oil does. 15/40 leaves a film behind and reduces flat tappet wear. However with the hyd system, 15/40 will not allow the gunk to settle to the bottom and keeps all of it in suspension and flowing back thorough the pump which is not a good thing. Now you wanna have some fun? The Ford 9N and TO-20 came first, then the 2N and the TO-30. They all share the same hyd pump components. Now go visit the Ford 9N/2N board and see what they have for oil recommendations form the hyd system. Ford New Holland M2C134-D, M2C53-A, M2C41 shows up under the universal 303 fluid in most cases. Are you confused yet? A lot of people here run GL-1 and park the machine in the winter. Universal 303 with Ford spec is still out there. . .
 
one other thing to think about,
if your hydraulic lift system is working fine.

some folks, when they drain the hydraulic, transmission oil, they pour in a few gallons of cleaner fluid,
example kerosene, etc and run it through the system to help loosen and clean out the gunk that has accumulated in the bottom of the sump.

again if everything is working right, I would just drain the oil and add back the correct oil, (no cleaners) add the oil back slowly as it has to flow to three different areas of the sump,
do not over fill the sump

that is just my opinion.
 
If you have a Tractor Supply store they carry the mineral oil. Same as original. It is in 2 gallon jug and has for Ford transmission- Hyd on jug. I have it in all my tractors.
 
Another thing to make this even more confusing,
Over in England they use 10w40 oil in the sumps,
Then I found out why and how!

Over there they can buy 10w40 oil multiple viscosity non detergent, I never found it over here at any oil supply dealer,
At one time Home Depot had a 10w40 oil in qts, non detergent for their lawn mowers, but all of a sudden it was no longer available, I am thinking it really was not non detergent, so they had to pull it off the shelf,

In cold weather, I just start the tractor, let the motor warm up a few minutes, by then the lift will start working,
Not a problem, just be patient with it, or use a magnetic heater attached to the sump, but do not know if it would ever heat it up enough to make a difference,

Maybe back when the pumps were new it pumped right up cold or not,
 
Oh yeah. The capacity is 6 gallons. Most people pull the bottom bolt on the PTO side cover and fill until it comes out the bolt hole to keep from seeping past the axle seal into the brakes. Not a problem if you have "Sure Seals" installed. Those require short fiber wheel bearing grease as is found on drum brake wheel bearings and a 3' piece of ABS (3"?, 4"?) for ease of installation. ABS slides down over the axle onto the seal to aid installation.
 
Thanks for the info. I do have a problem. The lift immediately drops when the engine is shut down. I will flush it before I add new fluid.
 
(quoted from post at 18:42:39 08/05/17) No. the capacity of the 35 is 8 gallons!

That's what the manual says. Remove one of the lower bolts on a side cover, add oil until it starts running the bolt hole. You will find it's not 8 gallons.
 
Why not use ATF???? As in Automatic trans fluid. It was used in late 60's thru early 80's Dodge MANUAL shift transmissions that i know of i think Ford use in 5 speed manual shift trans.

ATF is very light and thin. ATF is about a 5-wt or 10-WT oil at the max. Does well in cold weather in automatic trans. So why not use it in the trans/axlle/lift hydraulics of the ferguson too????
 
Here in Canada we can't get GL1 oil even with the American NAPA part number. Doesn't show in their system. I had to research it because you want zinc but not sulpher. Also the original oil was non detergent so the system was designed to let dirt settle out. Detergent oil will carry dirt through the hydraulics over and over.

I went to a local Esso dealer and they booted the question to the district office. Their reccomendation was Mobil Hydraul 56.
 
We switched our TO-30 over to 15w40 motor oil probably 3 years ago. It definitely gets the lift working faster/better during the winter. If you live in a place where it gets cold during the winter, I would highly suggest the swap.

I would let the tractor drain over night for sure, it will take a while for the old stuff to drain out.
 
At some point we have to determine what is WEIGHT specification of
the original or recommended mineral oil that was or is supposed to be
used in the TO,TE 20,30,35 etc tractors.

Let me put it another way. IF we are to run say 10w-40 engine oil in
place of the oem mineral oil then how do we know that maybe the 10w-
40 is actualy too heavy or maaybe too light or maybe just right. Maybe
10w30 instead???? Maybe 5w-20??? Maybe 20w-50???

Bottom line: we need to determine the 'weight' specification of the
original mineral oil before we can determine the common engine oil of
best fit for the tractors. No??? Rather than just guessing or using
what happens to be under our bench at the time.
 

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