Hydraulic oil for tractors

[SirDick Diodenob esquire]

Anyone know about hyrdaulic oil for a digger ? Its an old Ford 4000 tractor with digger attachments . There is a tank in the cab at the left hand side of the drivers seat with a filler cap and dipstick which is way below the low level mark , I think its the hydraulic oil tank as there is a pipe leading from it to the front which goes into a round yellow item bolted on the front bumper that could be a pump . Tried the operators manual which is helpful how to drive it but no clue about the oil just mentions various Ford oil specs with the MC prefix which I think none of them are for the hydraulics . Local farm supplier has Rockman 46 oil at £33.30/20 L and he says this is the one but they have three different types . Its an old machine and it leaks a lot but I would like to use the correct oil , will this be ok ? Also is this oil ok to use in a trolley jack ?

 

[scarecrow]

hi I have a ford 555 which would-be similar a 46 hydraulic oil should be fine that's what I used. the tank on mine is out in front of the radiator and directly over the hydraulic pump the two are connected by a 2 in. pipe the pump is driven by a shaft from the main drive shaft of the engine
if your tank is in the cab check to make sure the pump isn't underneath it somewhere and is driven from the housing and the round thing on the bumper could be the filter unit

 

[dai]

take some pics and tell us the ford oil specs
if the oil does the gearbox aswell hyd46 is no good you will need something like a UTTO or at least a super universal

 

[metalspanner]

Some photos would help!
But it sounds very much like the tractor is used as a power unit and the excavator bits are bolt on units which are self contained,this would use a hydraulic fluid only so 46 oil should be ok.

 

[SirDick Diodenob esquire]

Thanks for all the replies and also on Pulsarbebbs thread , didnt want to hijack the thread so started this one . Here is photo of the yellow item which I think is the hydraulic pump as its got a large squidgy pipe on the right hand side which when you squeeze it you can feel the back pressure of the fluid in the tank and a stiff one on the left hand side which cannot be squeezed . I already took your advice and put 46 fluid in the tank in the cab as it was way below the dipstick level . With the engine running there is a medium pitch loud noise coming from the pump and I wonder is this bad ? Needs a lot of welding so will be asking for some advice , the tractor would have been going to the scrap yard or exported so its not exactly mint but I would like to get it back to serviceable condition so thats its good for digging , would be even nice to get it looking like Pulsarbebbs Dexta but thats probably not going happen . The only thing I have some competance in are the electrics but having had a good look it dosnt seem to have any apart from the starter motor and a headlight which dosnt work , difficult for me to believe this is road legal once its taxed and insured ( no mot required ) . When it was delivered I forgot to ask how to turn off the engine , me thinking you just switch the ignition off and take out the key but of course it carries on going even after disconnecting the battery , an hour later managed to stall it but then found a choke type cable which you pull .

 

[scarecrow]

yes that's the pump the big pipe is the gravity feed from the tank.
noise from the pump isn't good could be a bearing going on the shaft there will be a filter unit somewhere as well that probably needs a new filter

 

[metalspanner]

Hi as SC has already said it is a hydraulic pump, the squidgey pipe will be the supply side and the incompressable one is the high pressure supply.
You really need to identify where the high pitch noise is coming from it could be a bearing on its way out, or it could be the gears in the pump (I am assuming it is a gear pump) where it has been low on oil water contamination could have crept in.
If you dont have a mechanics stethoscope the tube from cling film or baking foil serves a substitute, just have a listen round it whilst it is running.

 

[snowcat]

worn pumps usually wine, the noise could be due to cavitation caused by air being sucked in on the LP side of the pump... If the shells (bearings) are worn then the pump would normally lose pressure, and TBH are normally shot, as any amount of run time damages both the gears and the outer caseings....

Dirty oil is a killer, It destroys pumps, especially on modern equipment where iv seen CCLS pumps destroyed in just a few 100 hrs.....

 

[SirDick Diodenob esquire]

Thanks again for the responses , am getting the picture and , will look for the filters and gauzes on the suction side , the front loader and back actor seem to work ok with plenty of power but I can see the previous owner didnt lavish attention on it , there was no cap on the hydraulic tank just an old pudding dish turned upside down to keep the rain out .

the oil specs are ;
M2C-85-A or SAE20W/30 manual transmission is this the same as 46 hydraulic oil as used for the front loader and back actor ?

ESN-M2C53A or ESEN-M2C86-A rear axle

M2C87 A10 SAE10W diesel engine

The tractor also has power steering using a hydraulic ram and this looks to have a mini system all of its own with a separate tank and pump powered seperately off the engine fan belt , dont know what oil is meant to go in here , would the 46 be ok ?

Have managed to buy a workshop manual for it but it wont be delivered for another week .

 

[wyn]

The tractor also has power steering using a hydraulic ram and this looks to have a mini system all of its own with a separate tank and pump powered seperately off the engine fan belt , dont know what oil is meant to go in here , would the 46 be ok ?

I think this type of system tends to use ATF.

 

[dai]

I think this type of system tends to use ATF.

tends to use ATF
but hydraulic oil and ATF are very similar so i wouldnt buy a drum just for the steering on a tractor thats 40 years old

 

[scarecrow]

tends to use ATF
but hydraulic oil and ATF are very similar so i wouldnt buy a drum just for the steering on a tractor thats 40 years old

if she has an hydraulic transmission it would used ATF but i think the 555 was the first to have one

 

[Pulsarbebb]

As Scarecrow said if it whines it could be a blocked filter, I had this problem on our ford 4000 in the back axle and when we managed to get the pump out it was completly blocked with crap, hope this helps

If you need anymore advice on the mechanics of the ford 4000 feel free to ask me

 

[SirDick Diodenob esquire]

Thanks for the further advice . Used a cardboard tube to listen to the pump that works well . Its strange because there is no noise at all coming from the pump body or even the aluminium cast inlet adaptor , the noise is coming from the squidgy inlet pipe and seems to be localised around a three inch section . The noise is loud and sounds like the engine on a model plane . Gripping the rubber inlet pipe where it slips over the inlet adaptor I can feel a strong vibration but the noise virtually dissapears so as advised by snowcat its probably cavitation ? There is a 2inch dia feed pipe from the reservoir under the right hand rear wheel arch , am now trying to take that apart as thats the only place I think there could be a blocked filter.