Hello, I am new here. I have a Dixie Chopper that I've been running for about 25 years. Last fall, a pump line cracked and blew out. Lots of oil. I replaced all of the lines and re-filled the system with diesel engine oil. It took a lot of oil. In fact, I ran out and wound up adding a couple of quarts of 5w 40 I think. That is all I had on hand. It was the last day of weather for chopping leaves here, and I was running out of daylight. It worked fine. So my question is, do I need to drain the system and fill with the recommended oil? Or is it not critical to this pump? Thanks for any suggestions.
Hydraulic oil question
- Thread starter n2qlt
- Start date
StarTech
Lawn Royalty
Where have you been. Hydro Gear uses 20W50 conventional motor oil in their hydrostatics and Tuff Torq uses 15W-50 Synthetic in their hydrostatics. Even Hustler Super Z uses 10w40 in their hydrostatic system.
Dixie Chopper uses high-grade 10W50, 15W40, 15W50, or 20W50 per the owners manual.
I hear ya' ST LOL. That's why I stated to call Dixie and check his manual. Wanted to place doubt in his mind so he would CONFIRM proper fluid. Which leads to a little faulty info on my part, my bad. I stepped in what you are smellin' StarTech.
slomo
cruzenmike
Well-Known Member
When I replaced the fluid in my TT K51 I was able to locate Mobil 1 Synthetic 15W-50 at a NAPA auto parts store. This was the only place that I could find it within 50 miles of where I live. The fluid worked fine but in my research I found many other fluids that would work including: Tuff Tech fluid, Deere Hy-gard, Exmark Hydro Oil and Amsoil Synthetic Hydrostatic Transmission Fluid.
I am no oil expert but I can guess that the "chemistry" of some of these fluids that I have mentioned are favorable for use in hydrostatic drives as compared to regular motor oils (ie high zinc, low detergent/detergent free, etc.)
I am no oil expert but I can guess that the "chemistry" of some of these fluids that I have mentioned are favorable for use in hydrostatic drives as compared to regular motor oils (ie high zinc, low detergent/detergent free, etc.)
I would agree. An oil formulated for a specific purpose would be better than vanilla motor oil. I would use the proper grade/weight hydro fluid.
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Richard Martin
Forum Newbie
Dixie has changed the recommended oil so many times that I'm convinced that any decent oil will work. First I think they called for 15w40, then they called for their own VTC proprietary oil, and finally Lucas 15w40 diesel oil. I'm currently using NAPA 15w40 diesel oil
D/C uses Lucas 15w40 in their units with pumps and wheel motors. It is a very slick oil high in zinc. They came out with their own Speed Eagle oil a few years ago which was Lucas branded Speed Eagle oil. I have seen people use other oils but in some applications the steering levers do not work as freely so that is what I would use.