Hydro Gear T2 transaxle fluid change

[Carbon12]

I have the transaxle removed from my Husqvarna YTH20K46 lawn tractor to repair broken mount that axle bolts to. It is equipped with the hydro gear T2 transaxle. Thought I might drain and refill the fluid at this point with almost 400 hours on the unit. I managed to find a service manual that says I need just over 2qts of 20w50 motor oil.

It seems to be a straightforward procedure. Anybody on here ever done this before? Is it worth messing with or is this one of those things better left alone?

If I decide to do it, I was considering maybe some NAPA 15w50 or M1 15w50. Would one be better off using 20w50 Dino or perhaps a motorcycle oil?

 

[gman2304]

I don't know about your Hydrogear, but I used Mobil1 15w50 in my 19 year old JD Tufftorq about 8 years ago. Runs quiet and I don't plan on changing it again.

 

[NH73]

I have Mobil 1 15w50 in mine and its running great with it. Advance Auto has a 5 qt. Mobil 1 with filter deal going on now for $29.99. Thats what I done when I changed my zero turn Hydro gear ZT-2800. More than 2 qt. each side makes just about less than 1/2 qt. left over. Good for topping off.

 

[George Bynum]

There was a thread mid-last year in the hydraulic fluids section; an engineer with Danfoss who own the ex-Sauer, ex-Sundstrand, and Hydro Gear where he documented that current recommendations are "premium hydraulic fluid. Quoting from that thread, "I was able to touch base with a Hydro-Gear engineer this morning on why they specify engine oil. The summary to his response is that it is good enough, cheap, and readily available.

If you are using Danfoss Power Solutions components, I can say without a doubt we prefer you run them in premium hydraulic fluid! We use and test with only hydraulic fluid in our labs.

Here is the latest cut from our fluids manual that can be found here:
http://files.danfoss.com/documents/Hydraulic%20Fluids%20and%20Lubricants,%20Technical%20Information/520L0463.pdf"

Enjoy your freshly lubed transmission!

 

[JTK]

I have not seen a unitized hydrostatic drive transaxle spec anything other than 30,40 or 50wt motor oils in over 20yrs. The old school Saur/Sundstrand/Danfoss units did indeed spec hydraulic oils, ATF or even SAE20 motor oil, but those machines (most, not all) had separate differential housings that held their own gear oil. The hydro drive had it's own sump.

I have had an email conversation with HydroGear some years back in regards to "Cub Cadet Drive System Fluid Plus" that was recommended for the 6qt sump on my 2005 model year Cub 2544 garden tractor. That gentleman suggested Shell Rotella-T 15w40 as an excellent alternative. The Cub sauce was made by Shell at the time.

For the tiny oil holding capacity of that T2 drive, I'd use 15w40 or 20w50 engine oil.

 

[NH73]

Originally Posted By: JTK
I have not seen a unitized hydrostatic drive transaxle spec anything other than 30,40 or 50wt motor oils in over 20yrs. The old school Saur/Sundstrand/Danfoss units did indeed spec hydraulic oils, ATF or even SAE20 motor oil, but those machines (most, not all) had separate differential housings that held their own gear oil. The hydro drive had it's own sump.

I have had an email conversation with HydroGear some years back in regards to "Cub Cadet Drive System Fluid Plus" that was recommended for the 6qt sump on my 2005 model year Cub 2544 garden tractor. That gentleman suggested Shell Rotella-T 15w40 as an excellent alternative. The Cub sauce was made by Shell at the time.

For the tiny oil holding capacity of that T2 drive, I'd use 15w40 or 20w50 engine oil.


Forget what anyone tells you on the phone. Look at the service manual. The first the service manual says, "Typically, an engine oil with a minimum rating of 9.0 cSt (55 SUS) at 230° F (110° C) and an API classication of SL is recommended." In other words, any 40 or 50 weight oil will meet that. Don't worry about the API classification, any API classified oil is backwards compatible. My suggestion is go full synthetic, since it takes extra work to change fluid. And doing that, the most commonly available full synthetic is 0w40, 5w40, or 15w50. Maybe 5w50. In next part, it does say, "A 20W50 engine oil has been selected for use by the factory and is recommended for normal operating procedures." If you don't like to deviate from the second recommendation, well a 15w50 full synthetic is better than a 20w50 conventional.

 

[gman2304]

https://www.tufftorqservices.com/instanc...0Lubricants.pdf

From tufftorq, not hydrogear but might apply, don't know. Notice how almost all models came with mineral oil but tufftorq now recommends synthetic oil.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: NH73
Originally Posted By: JTK
I have not seen a unitized hydrostatic drive transaxle spec anything other than 30,40 or 50wt motor oils in over 20yrs. The old school Saur/Sundstrand/Danfoss units did indeed spec hydraulic oils, ATF or even SAE20 motor oil, but those machines (most, not all) had separate differential housings that held their own gear oil. The hydro drive had it's own sump.

I have had an email conversation with HydroGear some years back in regards to "Cub Cadet Drive System Fluid Plus" that was recommended for the 6qt sump on my 2005 model year Cub 2544 garden tractor. That gentleman suggested Shell Rotella-T 15w40 as an excellent alternative. The Cub sauce was made by Shell at the time.

For the tiny oil holding capacity of that T2 drive, I'd use 15w40 or 20w50 engine oil.


Forget what anyone tells you on the phone............


?? I didn't talk to anyone on the phone, nor did I say a word about API classifications?

 

[NH73]

Originally Posted By: JTK
Originally Posted By: NH73
Originally Posted By: JTK
I have not seen a unitized hydrostatic drive transaxle spec anything other than 30,40 or 50wt motor oils in over 20yrs. The old school Saur/Sundstrand/Danfoss units did indeed spec hydraulic oils, ATF or even SAE20 motor oil, but those machines (most, not all) had separate differential housings that held their own gear oil. The hydro drive had it's own sump.

I have had an email conversation with HydroGear some years back in regards to "Cub Cadet Drive System Fluid Plus" that was recommended for the 6qt sump on my 2005 model year Cub 2544 garden tractor. That gentleman suggested Shell Rotella-T 15w40 as an excellent alternative. The Cub sauce was made by Shell at the time.

For the tiny oil holding capacity of that T2 drive, I'd use 15w40 or 20w50 engine oil.


Forget what anyone tells you on the phone............


?? I didn't talk to anyone on the phone, nor did I say a word about API classifications?

Sorry, I forgot you said you e-mailed. I would of changed it, but I was too late. Nevertheless, e-mailed, phoned, or courier service, the point is read the service manual. The API reference is what Hydro-gear said in there service manual about using API SL.

 

[Carbon12]

Update:

I didn't make it to NAPA before they closed, so no 15w50 syn. I bought some Havoline 20w50 and used that instead. It is way ahead of the nasty goo that came out of the thing after about 400 hrs usage which includes towing a SERIOUS yard roller every spring. It's operating smoothly and I think even runs a little faster ground speed.

If it wasn't for the repairs needed for the mounting points on the frame this wouldn't have been too bad a job. If I do it again and only have to drop the axle it probably can be done in an hour or two.

 

[JTK]

You did good with the 20w50. Like said, given the small oil holding capacity and the pain it is to dump/fill them, synthetic is best, but anything is better than not changing it. Getting 400hrs out of that T2 on the original oil was pretty good. It probably would not have lived much longer had you not changed the oil in it.

 

[bchannell]

HydroGear lists several recommendations for their transaxle, one of the best is M1 15w50, and it's number one on their list IIRC.

 

[NH73]

Originally Posted By: Carbon12
Update:

I didn't make it to NAPA before they closed, so no 15w50 syn. I bought some Havoline 20w50 and used that instead. It is way ahead of the nasty goo that came out of the thing after about 400 hrs usage which includes towing a SERIOUS yard roller every spring. It's operating smoothly and I think even runs a little faster ground speed.

If it wasn't for the repairs needed for the mounting points on the frame this wouldn't have been too bad a job. If I do it again and only have to drop the axle it probably can be done in an hour or two.


It sounds like 20w50 conventional oil is not up the task of 400 hours for you. I would change it earlier than 400 hours.

 

[Carbon12]

Yes, 400 was way too long. The oil looked really nasty considering it had never been exposed to combustion byproducts or high temps associated with an engine. Now that I have changed it once it won't be too big a deal to do it again with syn.