I recently bought an old New Holland Skid steer, L325. The Hydro tank is marked "use only 10W40 SE oil".
Fair enough, I know some use motor oil as hydro fluid.
My question is, for it's upcoming oil tank drain and change, Can I do better? I'd like to boost the charge pressure up a bit, spec says it should run between 90-150 psi. It starts up cold at 120psi and as it gets hot, it drops to about 110/105 and runs there all day long. No leaks, everything works as strong as an ox.
I've never messed with any hydro system this big and complex before and, as it would cost 10x more than I paid for it to replace (if they can even be found) the pumps I'd like to try to keep it as healthy as possible as long as possible. I know after 40 yrs or so, the innards are a bit worn.... it still lifts and carries a full dump of limestone with no problems.
Would replacing the 10W40 SE (SAE now) with something like 10W50+ be stupid or pointless or a good idea? I've had people tell me cut the 10W40 with lucas oil stabilizer or hydro booster but I'm not real keen on that idea. Since oil tech is so much better now than it was in 1978, I'm curious to know how I can get as much life out of these pumps as possible starting with the next oil change.
Should I just stick with the standard 10W40SAE, boost it up to 10W50 or start using some magic mucus made for old hydros of some kind? Or is there some kind of standard hydro fluid that should replace the motor oil it was designed to used?
I'm still learning as I go here, so I'm trying to err on the side of caution.
Fair enough, I know some use motor oil as hydro fluid.
My question is, for it's upcoming oil tank drain and change, Can I do better? I'd like to boost the charge pressure up a bit, spec says it should run between 90-150 psi. It starts up cold at 120psi and as it gets hot, it drops to about 110/105 and runs there all day long. No leaks, everything works as strong as an ox.
I've never messed with any hydro system this big and complex before and, as it would cost 10x more than I paid for it to replace (if they can even be found) the pumps I'd like to try to keep it as healthy as possible as long as possible. I know after 40 yrs or so, the innards are a bit worn.... it still lifts and carries a full dump of limestone with no problems.
Would replacing the 10W40 SE (SAE now) with something like 10W50+ be stupid or pointless or a good idea? I've had people tell me cut the 10W40 with lucas oil stabilizer or hydro booster but I'm not real keen on that idea. Since oil tech is so much better now than it was in 1978, I'm curious to know how I can get as much life out of these pumps as possible starting with the next oil change.
Should I just stick with the standard 10W40SAE, boost it up to 10W50 or start using some magic mucus made for old hydros of some kind? Or is there some kind of standard hydro fluid that should replace the motor oil it was designed to used?
I'm still learning as I go here, so I'm trying to err on the side of caution.