Cub cadet ultima zt1 50 hydro oil recommendations

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Mar 25, 2022
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I want to change the hydro oil . Manual said use a quality 20w50 motor oil. I have been looking at Royal purple 20w50 and Amsoil 20w50 hydro transmission fluid. Was wondering what others recommended or use. Thanks
 
I want to change the hydro oil . Manual said use a quality 20w50 motor oil. I have been looking at Royal purple 20w50 and Amsoil 20w50 hydro transmission fluid. Was wondering what others recommended or use. Thanks

Use either oil, what is most important is blowing the whole mower off after each use. Meaning your trans is probably cooled by a fan and debris buildup will eventually lead to problems.
 
Use either oil, what is most important is blowing the whole mower off after each use. Meaning your trans is probably cooled by a fan and debris buildup will eventually lead to problems.
That sir I do. I use a blower then spray with waterhose to clean after every use.
 
My Wright stander mower has divorced Hydrogear pumps and Parker motors, it calls for M1 15w50 by name.
My Ferris ZTR has Hydrogear ZT3400s and calls for 20-50, but it gets the same M1 15w50
 
Did you come up with the engine oil requirement too?
No, but I have talked to the team who did, and know why.

Seriously, use whatever you want, but the OP asked the question, and I answered it. If the machine were mine, I would use hydraulic fluid. I have worked for this company as an application engineer (applying our products), advanced systems engineer (R&D application of our products), and now R&D engineering manager (16+years total)...I know hydraulics and how to apply them, and I have worked closely with the engineers who designed that product and specifically asked this question (I think I even posted the answer years back on why it was chosen). Simple, it is easy to find, most homeowners have access to it, and feel comfortable where to find it.
 
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No, but I have talked to the team who did, and know why.

Seriously, use whatever you want, but the OP asked the question, and I answered it. If the machine were mine, I would use hydraulic fluid. I have worked for this company as an application engineer (applying our products), advanced systems engineer (R&D application of our products), and now R&D engineering manager (16+years total)...I know hydraulics and how to apply them, and I have worked closely with the engineers who designed that product and specifically asked this question (I think I even posted the answer years back on why it was chosen). Simple, it is easy to find, most homeowners have access to it, and feel comfortable where to find it.
You have failed us by knowingly letting a sub part fluid requirement making it into the owners manual.
My original comment about the warranty dispute still stands.

Easy to find is a terrible excuse IMO. Have you ever heard of Amazon?
 
You have failed us by knowingly letting a sub part fluid requirement making it into the owners manual.
My original comment about the warranty dispute still stands.

Easy to find is a terrible excuse IMO. Have you ever heard of Amazon?

I'm not really sure what you are trying to say...

Your warranty is most likely through the OEM who sold you the machine anyways, and not the company who made the actual transmission, and is most likely a year at most and only covers defects of materials and workmanship. So if you are more than 365 days from date of purchase, my guess is you have nothing to worry about anyways.
 
I'm not really sure what you are trying to say...

Your warranty is most likely through the OEM who sold you the machine anyways, and not the company who made the actual transmission, and is most likely a year at most and only covers defects of materials and workmanship. So if you are more than 365 days from date of purchase, my guess is you have nothing to worry about anyways.
I would hope the warranty is more than a year.

My point is that the manual says one thing while an engineer who works there (more or less) says to use something else. Seems fishy to me.

The gain is a little strange to me too. Was $.02 per unit saved by using engine oil as the factory fill? A little accountant vs engineer action?
 
I would hope the warranty is more than a year.

My point is that the manual says one thing while an engineer who works there (more or less) says to use something else. Seems fishy to me.

The gain is a little strange to me too. Was $.02 per unit saved by using engine oil as the factory fill? A little accountant vs engineer action?

It would be interesting to know if the powertrain engineers at a major car OEM run 0w-20 in their personal cars as well ;-)

If you don't understand that any component selection is a balancing act of price, marketing, customer convenience and acceptance, performance, and technical specification, then I don't know what else to tell you.

If you think every lubricant chosen in a vehicle system is THE BEST performer without compromise as chosen by the engineering team, then I have some land to sell you in the Keys.

If it were my mower I would run hydraulic fluid, just like I run 0W-40 in my IC engines, I add TCW3 to my gas...that is the purpose of this forum, right?
 
It would be interesting to know if the powertrain engineers at a major car OEM run 0w-20 in their personal cars as well ;-)

If you don't understand that any component selection is a balancing act of price, marketing, customer convenience and acceptance, performance, and technical specification, then I don't know what else to tell you.

If you think every lubricant chosen in a vehicle system is THE BEST performer without compromise as chosen by the engineering team, then I have some land to sell you in the Keys.

If it were my mower I would run hydraulic fluid, just like I run 0W-40 in my IC engines, I add TCW3 to my gas...that is the purpose of this forum, right?
Your 0w20 comment is irrelevant as it’s an apples to apples comparison. If I designed an engine ~10 years ago that was designed to use a 5w30, but got downgraded to a 0w20 overtime, I’d stick with the 5w30. If it was designed to run on 0w20, I’d use that. Also, your 0w40 comparison is once again apples to apples. It’s an engine oil going in an engine and it has a lower cst than some 5w30s.

If anything, you guys could have filled it with engine oil from the factory, but threw in an early and complete fluid and filter change at 50-100 hrs or so requiring a hst fluid and thus putting the cost burden on the customer. I don’t expect the best as everything is from the lowest bidder, but I expect correct fluids for the correct application.

The fact that you’re failing to understand my main points is disturbing. (The manual says engine oil, an engineer who works there says hst fluid.) Also, if under warranty and it failed for whatever reason with a hst fluid, the OP would be up a creek.
 
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