MH 50 Trans/ Diff oil

Burly Spiker

New User
My owners book call for 8 gal. of 90 Wt. above 50 deg.F and 80 wt. below. The manual is as old as the tractor and I'm wondering if there's consensus on anything that might be better. Thanks in advance.
 
You are probably going to get a few different answers on this (one of those "can of worms" type questions). Those tractors originally used 90wt or 80wt mineral oil which is available from places like Tractor Supply. Some people have changed that oil out with conventional Universal Tractor Trans/Hydraulic Fluid. Some people will say the Universal Tractor Fluid is good, and won't hurt it, and will say to use the mineral oil.
 
I have a 1957 TO35, I changed the hyd, differential fluid about two years ago,

I ordered GL-1 90 weight non detergent mineral oil from NAPA,

Got the oil in the transmission as warm as possible plowing, then came straight to the house and drained it out,

The mineral oil works fine in the warmer months, but in the winter it takes a few minutes for the lift to raise, once it raises up it works ok.

My understanding is that the mineral oil was originally used to protect the bronze transmission bearings, as most modern detergent oils have
harsh cleaning chemicals that will deteriate the bronze bearings,

Also non detergent oil lets the dirt particles fall to the bottom of the sump and be carried out when you change the oil, detergent oil keeps the
dirt particles suspended in the oil so it can be cleaned as it passes through the oil filter, we do not have a hyd oil filter on these older tractors,

If I had it to do over, I would just use 10w40 motor oil or 15w40 diesel oil and be done with it
JMHO

Note to file: over in England they can buy non detergent 10w30 oil, I was never able to find it on this side of the pond, so I when with the GL-1
90 weight mineral oil

At this stage in the life of these old tractors I think new oil is better than dirty old oil no matter what weight it is,

Do not get confused: GL-1 90 weight mineral is not the same thing as 90 weight gear oil you might use in a bush hog gear box,
 
In reading around in the archives I gather I would prefer to use 10W40 low detergent oil like you said, but with 2 kids in collage I'm on a low budget. I can't find anything less expensive than the Traveller 90w Ford trans oil at Tractor Supply, $72 for 8 gallons.
 
I buy the 90 wt Mineral at Tractor Supply that has for older Ford transmission on jug.
Never had any problem with any of my tractors. Some show and some I use around the
farm. I'm in Texas so you may have colder weather.
 

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