Which one Gear Oil or Hydraulic Oil??

SAE 80-90 EP Gear oil - or -
Ford 134D Hydraulic Oil (recommended)

Since I live at altitude in Colorado I would prefer the use the hydraulic oil. Can anyone tell me how hydraulic oil performs and what the equivalent to Ford 134D?

Also I notice several "big box" auto parts stores as well as WalMart sell large quantities of both Gear and hydraulic oil for tractors. Does anyone have experience with these products (Walmart is TECH 2000 Hydraulic oil for tractors).

Thanks for the excellent advice.

Hydraulics usually run faster with a thinner oil, but not always. If an oil is thin enough to flow through the lines at full speed without cavitation, going thinner gains you nothing, and can cost you due to increased leakage. The thick stuff flows well enough for me. In fact, I've even run 140 weight in it last winter to bandaid a broken pump and get the hydraulics to work at all.

So I'd say judge the condition of your tractor, and pick.

Remember too, this isn't a one shot irrevicable change. You can swap back and forth, and neither will break the bank.

My Personal Opinion Is This (here come the flames)

The fluid to use is the originally recommended 80/90 weight EP gear oil. Reason being that it offers best protection to all the gearing in the transmission and final drive. The price you pay is that the internal hydraulics can get pretty slow, especially in cold weather. However, against that, I have to say that I plow a lot of Michigan snow, and I know a little about what cold weather is, and I run 80/90 weight in my working Ford, and I don't have any trouble. Sure, the hydraulics are a little slow when I start out, but then so am I.

If you choose to use the 134 fluid, your hydraulics will work faster, but they may have a tendency to leak more than they would with the heavier oil.

As to buying in bulk, read the label on the bucket carefully. If it is sold as "universal tractor transmission/hydraulic fluid", chances are that the small print will confirm that it meets the Ford 134D spec, along with a lot of other manufacturer's specs.

JMHO

llater,

llamas

Right On, Llamas!!! It is appropriate that the #1 expert vis-a-vis Ford N-model tractors has spoken in favour of the fluid that these tractors were designed for!!! You will get no flames from my computer....you speak the truth!! That new-fangled 134-stuff may be OK for yuppies who use N's as lawn-mowers, but for those of us who actually work our tractors as they were designed to be worked.....the EP gear oil is the only way to go!!!! Actually, this whole ongoing debate is a real "hoot"....but when the 134 users start searching for replacement differential-gears and stuff, it won't be so funny...for them, anyway, hehehehe... Personally, I've tried both...and my 8-N prefers the real stuff. Nuff Sed....CC

But, just between us, if I lived in a warm climate I'd use high sulfur 80W90.

tOTG

I said it was my opinion - I didn't say it was a rational one!

But seriously, my honorable friend from Colorado has done more of these than I've had hot dinners, and his opinion carries the weight of experience. Many, many working users report that 134D works just fine for them, and if your hydraulics are in good shape, it will work just fine for you too. There's no significant difference in cost, and I'm going to say that in my neck of the woods, 134D-equivalent is freely available where the 80/90 weight oil in bulk can be a little difficult to find.

As regards my driving, every word is true. I drive like an old f--t. The last time my esteemed friend from the Rockies drove with me, the first thing he did when he got out of the truck was check the TV news to see if we had changed administrations on the way back from the bar. The more I drive a semi-truck, the slower I drive my regular vehicle. Pretty soon, I'll be getting tickets for going backwards. They just put up a sign at the end of my lane that says "Slow Children and Animals at Play" and I'm thinking of adding a line that says "and Llamas is Driving Too".

Have a great day!

llater,

llamas

later,dave

llater,

llamas

later,dave