I have a MF35 with Perkins diesel. When I asked him what hydraulic fluid to use, the retired friend I bought it from who reconditions tractors for fun and profit said he uses Costco fluid in all the tractors he works on. Easy solution and inexpensive!Well, when I got to Costco, they had a pallet of five gallon buckets of three fluids - one a hydraulic fluid, one a gear lube (80W90) and one called Premium Tractor Fluid. My friend lives in another town, so I couldn't get his advice, so thought I'd ask here. My MF manual says SAE90 mineral oil "from your Massey dealer" - naturally, the most expensive solution, plus the nearest Massey dealer is 40 miles away. The MF35 uses the same fluid for transmission, differential and hydraulics, thus causing my confusion on the three fluids at Costco. My question is, does anybody know about the Costco fluids and which would be right? They really don't say much on the label, but the "tractor fluid" does say it's spec'd for John Deere J-20C and A, plus a bunch of other specs including MF Permatran III. Since the manual was written in 1964 (a the latest - that being the year of my tractor), I would guess that there are newer and better fluids to be using, and wondered if Massey Permatran III might not be the modern recommended fluid for all MF tractors. I was also curious about the term "tractor fluid." Is this a common term that tractor folks know? If so, what does it include? I bought the "tractor fluid" but haven't opened it yet, and can return it, but wanted to try to get some information first, hoping that it's the right stuff to be using. Any comments from y'all would sure be appreciated. I'll cross-post this to the Tractor Talk board as well.
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