Hydraulic oil change intervals

Goldilocks

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Oxfordshire
Have always been very on top of hydraulic oil change intervals ( often shorten change periods on machines to ensure long service life of components ) Always use best quality 46 grade oil even if machine spec. is for lower quality. Always assumed over time oil gradually breaks down ,especially if a lot of heat generated when machines in use.
However Bateman tell me that changing Hydraulic oil not really that important when I enquired why there wasn't a drain point on the sprayer Hydraulic tank and no change interval in the instruction book.
Thoughts anyone ?
 

kill

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
South West
Dirt is probably the biggest contamination of any hydraulic system so a totally self contained unit shouldn't get that contamination and newer oils seam to last very well.
But condensation will put some moisture into oils over a long period.
If Bateman are giving you advice after their knowledge of sprayers I would bet it's good advice as their techs look after a huge amount of the machines they have sold .
 

Graham Smith

Member
Location
Nottinghamshire
Another option for you is to take an oil sample from your tank every year or after a certain amount of hours, the report from these will help you make a decision on what to do. Sampling the oil over time will build a history of what is happening in the system over the hours of the machine use. They will also advise when to change the filters. The cost of a sample kit can range between £20-£30 and usually takes a couple of days to get the results back from the lab.
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MF 168

Member
Location
Laois, Ireland
We were told hyd46 is really a poor quality oil and 10w is much better for the life of pumps and other components. Whether that's correct or not I can't honestly say but we switched over to 10w in the loader and digger and the self propel as well.
 

balerman

Member
Location
N Devon
I had a tour of the Bateman factory many years ago(YFC I think),I remember them saying that hydraulic oil changes needed to be done under factory conditions,ie no risk of contamination whatsoever,otherwise it is better not done.That is why they say that.This would be the hydrostatic system I think.
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
My machinery lecturer at college taught me that oils don't wear out but become contaminated and the additives run out. The same applies to coolants.
 
Bateman have always said to me dont change the hydro oil as doesnt need it unless there is a problem, such as a broken pipe. However if it needs to be done, get them to do it as it needs doing under almost laboratory conditions. I have never changed the oil in my two and touch wood nothing has happened
 

Gapples

Member
If it's a large tank of oil I agree with Graham Smith, take a sample of oil to be tested at say 1000 hours, yoully get an accurate report back on the state of the oil.
It's probably a sealed system anyway, no connecting & disconnecting of q/r couplings as on tractors & no lubricating of a gearbox, no brakes.
All of these contaminate oil so you really do need to change oils every 1000 hours.
I've seen hydraulic & hydros on combines do 1000s of hours with only regular filter changes, we never bothered changing these oil unless there had been an issue, probably because of lack of filter changing, filter blocking & bypass valve opening hence unfiltered oil circulating the system.
 

Cowabunga

Member
Location
Ceredigion,Wales
Filter changing is often a greater contamination risk than topping up or changing the oil. But if it needs doing it needs doing. Fendt Vario transmissions need oil changes and in fact they share the oil with brake and clutch packs and it gets more dirty looking than I've ever seen a power shifter's oil become. Yet the change interval for the power-sharing hydro system is actually longer than for that of the general hydraulic system which looks pristine at similar hours.
 
I would keep to the change interval of the manufacturer but would be dubious that a machine could do more than 2 years and 2000 hours between changes #
hv 46 oil is much cheaper than wheel motors .the wrong grade of oil will cook the wheel moter in under 100 hours
testing the oil is a good policy if you want to risk it for years

some hydro machines have a pump and filling system that pushes the oil through the filter before it enters the system
househam had this system on the sprint imp super sprint
the oil is cleaner and avoids the risk of contaminated
doing regular oil change and avoiding over heating the system machines have been trouble free for 7 to 10000 hours
 
We were told hyd46 is really a poor quality oil and 10w is much better for the life of pumps and other components. Whether that's correct or not I can't honestly say but we switched over to 10w in the loader and digger and the self propel as well.
Similar to engine oils, there are many, many different grades of hydraulic oil when you look into it. With different specs and additives to meet the requirements.

46 only refers to the viscosity grade of the hydraulic oil.
 

Ali_Maxxum

Member
Location
Chepstow, Wales
Assuming we're meaning hydraulic oil rather than transmission oil? I.e. excavator or hedge trimmer? We never really 'change' the oil but we will do the filters of course. Reason we don't change the oil is because 9 times out of 10 it will pee a load out through a blown pipe or loose fitting, so it's gradually always topped up with clean anyway, never had any problems up to now.

Transmission oil in the tractors however I will change the oil and all the filters at 1000hr intervals. I do a lot of subbing involving towing other peoples trailers, etc, get quite a mix up of sh1tty oils then, the last change was pretty grim for transmission oil.... no real dirt as such though.
 

Gerbert

Member
Location
Dutch biblebelt
A local contractor did the oil sampling thing to his wheelloader and after 8000 hours it was still fine according to the lab. They did change it after that though, guess they figured that they should change the oil just once.
 
Hydraulic oil in a machine such as a digger has the easiest life really. It has a bit of lubing to do and a bit of cooling and just not get squashed. A few metal bits may wear into it but good filtration can mop up most of it. It doesn't have to suffer the temperature and contamination that harms engine and transmission oils so it's a cushy life comparatively.
The biggest problems I have found is lack of use leading to moisture contamination from condensation which seems to get into even sealed systems.
A neighbour had an old hymac which was getting slow because of wear so he drained the oil and put in some old transformer cooling oil which was probably 100 grade he also took the filters out as they were full flow and made the thing squeal like a dying cat. Probably still doing the odd bit of work now.
 

Goldilocks

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Oxfordshire
Thanks for all the replies. The consensus seems to be as long as you let no crap in and change the filters regularly Hydraulic system oil doesn't need changing that often.
I have obviously been over maintaining my machines over the years and could probably save myself some time and money by chilling out a bit regarding oil changes.
 

Gapples

Member
Thanks for all the replies. The consensus seems to be as long as you let no crap in and change the filters regularly Hydraulic system oil doesn't need changing that often.
I have obviously been over maintaining my machines over the years and could probably save myself some time and money by chilling out a bit regarding oil changes.

No harm in a little extra maintenance, the most important hydraulic oil change is the first one, same goes for the filter changes.
The reason being you may have swarf in the hydraulic tank & small pieces of contaminants throughout the system from initial assembly. An early filter change & oil change at perhaps 500 hours will get rid of most of these.
After that hydraulic oil will last 1000s of hours in a sealed system with only filter changes, obviously being ultra clean when doing the filter change.
 
Location
lincs
Bought a 9000 hour Bateman and changed all the oils.took pipes off pump under Wing near steps to do both hyd and hydrostatic oil systems and filters .not sure if necessary,bateman said prob not but did it anyway.would rather that than fry something as we do a lot of roading.doesnt seem to have caused any problems so far.
 

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