Hydro oil advise.

[RedEyedRooster]

I have a 2014 tiger cat STC52V-22FX with 83hrs. The cap came off the hydro oil the other day while mowing I found the cap lying next to the engine. Oils is below filler tube. Manual says to fill with 20w50 motor oil 3" 1/4 from top of filler tube. I don't know when cap came off and I cant see anything in the oil but I mow under some cedar, pine, and oak low limbs. Do I drain it and refill it, ya think. SAE 20w50 motor oil? what do you suggest (brand) I use Shell Rotella T Heavy Duty Conventional motor oil 10w30 in my motor with Wix filter but Shell Rotella doesn't make a SAE 20w50. You know I'm like everyone else I want this to last 1500-2000 hrs. Wore me out deciding on motor oil to use and I thought I'd have some time on the hydro oil but here I am. Another thing, do I go 500hrs before change hydro oil like the manual says or change more frequent(I guess it says annually). I mow up and down hills. 80 hrs is a full years mowing for me. Help me I'm worn out.

 

[Mad Mackie]

I wouldn't be overly concerned about contamination in the hydraulic drive oil as the filter will catch almost any contamination. The hydraulic oil from the reservoir is filtered before going to feed the pumps.
Any 20W50 dino oil will work in the hydraulic system. The fill level is at the bottom of the metal sleeve in the reservoir, there is a hole in the side of this sleeve, face it forward so it can properly vent during machine operation.
As for engine oil, Kawasaki has its own 30W engine oil and if not available any premium 30W engine oil is OK.
I use Kawasaki oil filters on the engine in my Hustler X-ONE/Kawasaki FX730V and Briggs oil filters on the Briggs commercial Turf engine in my Scag Tiger Cub repower. I had a problem years back with so called quality aftermarket oil filters.
Although you don't put lots of hours on your machine, I still recommend an annual hydraulic system oil filter change using a Scag filter. When you remove the hydraulic filter, the reservoir will also drain about 2.5 quarts of oil, so be prepared for this.
When replacing the hydraulic filter, fill the new filter with oil and as the element absorbs the oil, keep adding oil until all the air has purged and install the filter.
Pour two quarts of 20W50 engine oil into the reservoir and let it settle and purge the air out for a few minutes before you restart the engine. After restarting the engine, let it run for a while and then test run the machine. Recheck the hydraulic reservoir level and top off to the bottom of the metal sleeve.
The hydraulic system will normally purge out any trapped air during operation.
The air purging process is necessary when any pump to wheel motor hose, pump or motor has been disconnected or replaced.
Mad Mackie in CT:smile::biggrin::laughing:

 

[RedEyedRooster]

Yesterday went to my scag dealer, which I like he's great.I asked what they use in the hydro all he said was what ever is on sale. He didn't have a filter so I'm just going to top it off with a conventional 20w50 till I get a filter. I stopped at Autozone, Oreillys,and Advanced on the way home looking for a conventional 20w50 but didn't see anything I liked, was really limited, I'll have to revisit. I'm going to look for an conventional 20w50 with an API SL,SM or SN. I see people use Mobil 1 15w50 with Hydro gear pumps and thought I'd check it out. Can you put Mobil 15w50 in with whatever I have in the tank that was on sale? lol

 

[Mad Mackie]

I just read every word in the Scag operators manual, but never did see "OK to use as long as its on sale"!!!

 

[clay45]

I thought there was something about recommended to not use any of the new extra-long-mileage- oils. Just use a standard non-synthetic 20-50W motor oil. I used regular yellow bottle Pennzoil and it works fine.

Lots of filters here:
http://www.stens.com/Portal.aspx?CN=19127EB0DB70

Regards,

Clay

 

[RedEyedRooster]

I went with a case of Havoline 20w50 after talking to three different dealers I found that one was 15w40 synthetic and the others were whatever conventional was cheap. I just topped off my tank so that I could mow. Kind of surprised that there is no standard to what goes in a brand new scag that cost $80000.00 dollars. Whatever I guess I'm not very pleased. You know I just want to do what is correct and I believe that scag should say If your a dealer use this cause we tested it and know it's good. Which may have been the case with saying use any 20w50 conventional motor oils.

 

[Mad Mackie]

I'll venture to say that there are no two Scag servicing dealers that sell the same brands of 20W50 engine oil. The manufacturer of the pumps and wheel motors specifies 20W50 engine oil of SL, SM and SN is their requirement and Scag relays that in their operators manuals.
The best way to get longevity from your machine and engine is to follow the scheduled maintenance for each.
I have changed hydraulic oil and filters on some very expensive machines, $500,000 and up and they specify a particular type and grade of hydraulic oil, but not a particular brand although some package it with their own name on the container which is always more expensive but not necessarily a better quality product.
Mad Mackie in CT:smile::biggrin::laughing:

 

[Bobby Boyd]

I changed my hydro oil and filter at the end of last year. It was the first and only time in 3 years since I purchased the machine (bought new in January 2012) that it has been changed.

In the turf tiger manual it states to raise the rear wheels and run machine following changing hydro oil/filter. I assume this is the get air out of system? Why do rear wheels need to be raised (off ground)?

How often to change hydro oil/filter has a lot of opinions even among those that sell the machines.

I had noticed the little hole in the metal sleeve but never knew it had to point forward. Thanks Mackie.

-bobby

 

[Mad Mackie]

Hi Bobby,
I'm referring to the Tiger Cub and Tiger Cat regarding the positioning of the sleeve insert in the hydraulic oil reservoir. On these machines, the reservoir is a sloping plastic tank mounted on the rear of the L/H fuel tank.

With the rear wheels off the ground there is no load on the hydraulic system allowing the pumps and wheel motors to self bleed easier.

 

[man00]

Old thread, I have a Badboy outlaw with zt5400 hrdros. I called Hydrogear they said they use Mobil 20w-50..in the ZT5400 hydros. Badboy said they use Formula shell 20w-50. Both oils are hard to find in stock. HydroGear said to use regular oil (dino)