Bobcat t740 hydraulic oil...

[jovol]

I did a bit of searching online to see people's opinions on alternative hydraulic oils for bobcat skid steers. Not too many of the conversations comment on recent machines. Curious if anyone has experience using aw46 hydraulic oil in a more modern model like my t740. I put Mag1 aw46 in my new holland skid steer and other excavators; it's available from lowes for the best price on hydro oil I've seen, about $25/2.5 gal. Bobcat "proven performance" oil goes for about $65/2.5 gal.

Here's the chart from the t740 service manual regarding hydro oil. I live near Asheville NC, relatively mild temps so aw46 should suit me well viscosity wise, however Mag1 specs show their hydro oil has a VI of 105, which is actually the highest I've seen comparing a couple different brands of aw46 (mobil and chevron are about VI of 98). Are their other hydro fluids you know of with a VI that's 150+? Am I overthinking this, should I just run this mag1 aw46 which I already have buckets of, or just play it safe and get Bobcat's magic unicorn tears oil?

Found another product on Mag1's website, "Hydrostatic MV ISO 46" with a VI of 146 (link). Looks like a solid match, and I can buy it for $13/gal on wally world's website.

 

[JavierH19]

Aw46 is aw46 and a vii differential of that is meaningless to the cylinders.

 

[jovol]

I reckon the cylinders will run on any oil, it's more the hydrostatic pumps and motors I want to make sure are good.

 

[Drew7a]

Bobcat specs their "own oil" even for machines not made by them. Generally though many,around here use Delvac Tractor Fluid(Mobil424) or equivalent type fluids in their Bobcat branded equipment. They have some zinc in them.

 

[jovol]

Bobcat specs their "own oil" even for machines not made by them. Generally though many,around here use Delvac Tractor Fluid(Mobil424) or equivalent type fluids in their Bobcat branded equipment. They have some zinc in them.

Cool, that also looks like a good alternative that more or less meets the spec in the manual. On Mobil's website is says it's viscosity grade is 55, viscosity index is 145.

 

[Foxtrot08]

Mobil Excel 46 is bobcat oil.

It’s a High VI AW46. Also, has a better cold flow than most conventional 46s.

But yeah. AW46 will work.

 

[DriveHard]

Any quality AW46 hydraulic oil will work. I would steer away from tractor fluid, it has additives you don't need.