oil recommendations

I changed the T.A. clutch and drive clutch in my 340 utility and was wondering what you fellas recommend for hydraulic oil replacement. I have been using Walmart brand, 10 gallons each time. I change it yearly with new filters and it gets limited use yet it always looks like chocolate milk. Should I be using something different? Thanks for any advice.

As a rule of thumb, I wouldn't put anything into any of my vehicles that are sold at Walmart... For IH machines, I just use HY-TRAN.

Nothing wrong with your oil choice.....you need to find out where the water is getting into it, as that is why it looks like chocolate milk. Do you park your tractor in the open/outside? Water usually gets in around shifter boots.

Once you stop the contamination, you can quit changing the fluid.

Just out of curiosity why would you choose to not use any oil products from there? Is there something I should know? I would appreciate any advice as I am not even close to an expert in this field.

I know that what I buy at IH will be consistent to what my TA requires for proper lube, and for it to last. Oil purchased from Walmart can come from just about anywhere, including China and other not so friendly nations, and can have just about anything in it. With the age of free markets, nobody checks anything. So, I as a rule of thumb, continue to buy from my local IH dealer.

You do need to take care of that water problem though. If your tractor stays outside in the rain, try silicone around the heads of those bolts on the trans cover.. alot of water may be entering there.

It ain't the brand of oil that's causing your chocolate milk problems.

It's leaving the tractor out in the rain all the time that causes the bulk of it.

Some people will tell you that it's condensation. The normal heating and cooling cycles of the day cause the inside of the transmission to "sweat" like a toilet tank, and the water collects inside.

Condensation will account for a little of the water, but not all that much. There just isn't enough air exchange from the inside of the transmission to the outside world to generate that much moisture... Most of what gets in gets in due to rain.

If you can get your tractor under some sort of cover, that would help a lot with the water infiltration. A shed, a lean-to, a carport, even a tarp... ANYTHING to protect the tractor from the elements somewhat. Your tractor will be cleaner, and more reliable too.

This tractor never sits out in the rain.

You have dry brakes and dry TA any fluid that meets IH specs will do fine.

The TA clutch is dry but the planetary gear sets and roller clutch in the TA assembly itself are lubed by the trans oil. I only would use HY-TRAN in the transmission. With the Wally world stuff who knows what if any standards they adhere to especially moisture dispersant.

Read this from a while back:

http://ytforums.ytmag.com/viewtopic.php?p=2648104&highlight=#2648104

It may shed some light on your oil choice. Some of the generic stuff may be OK, but I will never take that for granted again without tests.

wallmart oil is made by Warren Distribution or sopus which is the combined Shell,penszoil and quaker state companies. You can ask to read the MSD sheets to find who makes their oil.

Yeah, you can get the MSDS, but it doesn't tell you much about what's in it. Try to get a product data sheet... you will find that much harder to do. I finally found out what was in the TSC brand THF by having it analyzed... and it wasn't much. It would serve in a short change interval, low stress situation.

The thing to remember is that these "made under contract" lubricants can be the "regular good stuff" made by a particular blender (like Sopus, who makes Shell, Pennzoil, and other well known products) or it can be a low-rent, minimum spec lubricant built for a price point. You aren't gonna know which from the MSDS! I can't speak to the particular Wal Mart THF product. Some of their "Super Tech" engine oils are decent for the money according to tests I have seen but they recently had to pay out some big bucks in fines for out-of-spec gear oils that were sold out west.

All that said, the generic "house brands" are probably as good or better lubricants than were made back in "the day" when some of our old tractors were built, so they may serve perfectly well. Even the new low-rent additives and base oils are as good or better than the poorly refined stuff of 50+ years ago. The newer the tractor, the less I trust the generics in a stressful situation, unless I have detail on what's in them, because the lubricant requirements for the newer tractors are so much more stringent.

Sorry that this doesn't answer the OP's question about water. Not an intentional hijack here!

Lubricants are usually "you got what you pay for" type product. For engine oils, I use 15W40 in my equipment and usually it is either Castrol Tection or Mobil Delo 400. My THF and hydraulic oils are usually generic oils that are packaged localy within a 150 mile radius, Gold Band comes to mind. If I had new equipment I would probably use dealer oil or Mobil. My vehicles I run synthetic tip to stern; including engine, transmission (auto), and differentials. It is your equipment use what you want.

CT