1953 Farmall Super H Motor Oil

MWZad · Feb 3, 2011

Hey all,

I am in the process of doing an oil change for the motor and the lift all on my 53 Super H. I asked the previous owner what he had used in the tractor and he said that he used SAE 30 oil and was unsure if it was detergent or non detergent. I do not know much about all the differences between all the motor oil choices but I know that the manual calls for 30 SAE non detergent oil. Will it cause a lot of harm if he used detergent oil and when I change it out I use non detergent 30 SAE? I currently have the filter and a new oil pan gasket. I just wanted to get some of your input before I go ahead and purchase oil.

Thanks,

-Mike

Wayne in MN · Feb 3, 2011

Most likely the previous owner used detergent oil since those oils came out back in the 40's.
If you are removing & cleaning the oil pan anyhow, you will not have any problems with detergent oils.
Enjoy your H; My family has 4 of them (I think, unless another one sneaked in the shop door!).

rustyfarmall · Feb 3, 2011

(quoted from post at 06:36:15 02/03/11) Hey all,

I am in the process of doing an oil change for the motor and the lift all on my 53 Super H. I asked the previous owner what he had used in the tractor and he said that he used SAE 30 oil and was unsure if it was detergent or non detergent. I do not know much about all the differences between all the motor oil choices but I know that the manual calls for 30 SAE non detergent oil. Will it cause a lot of harm if he used detergent oil and when I change it out I use non detergent 30 SAE? I currently have the filter and a new oil pan gasket. I just wanted to get some of your input before I go ahead and purchase oil.

Thanks,

-Mike

The owners manual calls out for the BEST motor oil available at the time the tractor was built. The BEST motor oil avaialble way back then is a far cry from the BEST oil available today, and if that Super H was still being built today, I am sure the owners manual would specify 10w-30, 10w-40, or even 15w-40 motor oil.

Likewise with the hydraulic system, the manual would specify Hy-Tran or the equivelant.

I use 15w-40 Rotella in the 2 Hs I own that get worked on a regular basis.

DeltaRed · Feb 3, 2011

I use 15/40 in the engines and Hytran in the hydralics and 80/90 in the trans. of my SC,SH,SM.mO problems

Allan in NE · Feb 3, 2011

Any engine oil under the sun is okay.

I always get amused when folks are trying to make this "monumental" decision of which oil to use.

That old tractor is nothing but an inert chunk of iron and it just flat does not care one way or another.

It’ll run just fine on 3-in-1 sewin’ machine oil if ya pour it in there.

Allan

Faster346 · Feb 3, 2011

(quoted from post at 06:36:15 02/03/11) Hey all,

I am in the process of doing an oil change for the motor and the lift all on my 53 Super H. I asked the previous owner what he had used in the tractor and he said that he used SAE 30 oil and was unsure if it was detergent or non detergent. I do not know much about all the differences between all the motor oil choices but I know that the manual calls for 30 SAE non detergent oil. Will it cause a lot of harm if he used detergent oil and when I change it out I use non detergent 30 SAE? I currently have the filter and a new oil pan gasket. I just wanted to get some of your input before I go ahead and purchase oil.

Thanks,

-Mike

I always use Non Detergent SAE 30 in my H and M, just because it's cheap and that's what my local Agriparts sells. I think I'm going to try 15/40 in my new SC when I change all the fluids. Going to put Hytran in the touch control, and 80/90 in the trans.

mkirsch · Feb 3, 2011

The worst oil on the market today is better than the best oil available in 1953. Even the Walmart store brand is far and away better. You can't hurt your tractor one bit by using the "wrong" motor oil...

Unless you're going to be working that tractor like it was designed, detergent or non-detergent, doesn't matter.

About the only thing important is the weight. With the loose tolerances on these tractors, the thicker the better. SAE30 or 10W30 are good all-around oils. 10W30 has the added benefit of being useful in winter.

I'm still clinging to tradition and using CaseIH Low Ash SAE30. If there is one "right" oil on the market for your old Farmalls, that's the one. My second choice is Shell Rotella SAE30, mostly because the bottle is pretty.

BillyinStoughton · Feb 3, 2011

I always had a soft spot for the labeling on the Shell Rotella myself. It's very pretty.

Billy

dhermesc · Feb 3, 2011

Just curious - does the manual actually say "Nondetergent oil"? Or does it say 30W?

MWZad · Feb 3, 2011

(quoted from post at 13:18:12 02/03/11) Just curious - does the manual actually say "Nondetergent oil"? Or does it say 30W?

Thanks for the help guys, much appreciated... As for the manual it states "SAE-30 weight non-detergent engine oil, 6 quarts" and for the Lift All it also states "SAE-30 weight non-detergent engine oil, 6 quarts"

MWZad · Feb 3, 2011

I did a little research on the Hy-Tran and that looks like really great, and that will go right into the lift all? Hopefully I am going to take out the oil pump, disassemble it and clean it throughly. As far as the oil pan gasket I have herd both to use a sealer and not to use a sealer? Hopefully this weekend ill snap some pictures of the pump when I have it out on the bench. :shock:

Thanks for all the help again!!!

mkirsch · Feb 4, 2011

Hytran or an equivalent is what you'd use in the liftall pump now. They used engine oil because that's all there was in the 1940's. Hytran did not come along until around 1960.

Is this the engine oil pump, or the liftall pump? If you're working on the liftall pump, the gears tend to wear into the cover, causing a loss of pressure. Somewhere there's a technique for using a piece of glass and sandpaper to true up the surface of the cover, which brings the hydraulic pressure back. Since it's apart, you may as well take care of that issue.

For the engine pan gasket, sealant is up to you. Just don't glob it on there. A light smear, just enough to stick the gasket in place, is all you should need.

Be careful tightening the pan bolts, because you can actually bend the pan lip enough to cause leaks around the gasket.

MWZad · Feb 4, 2011

(quoted from post at 06:27:56 02/04/11) Hytran or an equivalent is what you'd use in the liftall pump now. They used engine oil because that's all there was in the 1940's. Hytran did not come along until around 1960.

Is this the engine oil pump, or the liftall pump? If you're working on the liftall pump, the gears tend to wear into the cover, causing a loss of pressure. Somewhere there's a technique for using a piece of glass and sandpaper to true up the surface of the cover, which brings the hydraulic pressure back. Since it's apart, you may as well take care of that issue.

For the engine pan gasket, sealant is up to you. Just don't glob it on there. A light smear, just enough to stick the gasket in place, is all you should need.

Be careful tightening the pan bolts, because you can actually bend the pan lip enough to cause leaks around the gasket.

Ok, thank you. This is for the oil pump not the lift all pump. I have also herd of the glass technique not really sure exactly what the trick is, just have to do a little tinkering around with the pump. I would like to take the oil pump out, clean it up and hopefully it gets me a little more oil pressure. I will take a couple pictures this weekend!

1953 Farmall Super H Motor Oil

MWZad

Member

Wayne in MN

Well-known Member

rustyfarmall

Well-known Member

DeltaRed

Well-known Member

Allan in NE

Well-known Member

Faster346

Member

mkirsch

Well-known Member

BillyinStoughton

Member

dhermesc

Well-known Member

MWZad

Member

MWZad

Member

mkirsch

Well-known Member

MWZad

Member

Similar threads