303 oil replacement

[Tx Jim]

Photo below shows hyd oil screen location

 

[sotxbill]

Tractor Supply has Traveller Premium Tractor Hydraulic Fluid that meets the Hyguard and the old 303 spec. What was 303 at the farm stores until recently really wasn't meeting John Deere's 303 spec - even as low as it was. What they were selling was basically nondetergent 20W oil.

The illegal 303 oil was actually used electrical transformer oil being illegally sold as 303 oil, thus the providers were sued and forced to stop the fraud. The is nothing wrong with real 303 fluids for the older tractors up to the early 80s... then the higher pressures, higher heat required moving up to a more expensive base oil for the newer tractors, and installing coolers to control heat. Also the international treaty to ban the use of whale harvesting stop the use of the viscosity additives used in 303 oils also making the move to a better base oil. And 303 is a bump above the nd 20wt oil with a read dye in it, as it crossed over to "type F" ATF,,,, not "type A" ATF... as you suggest. Type A was/is .... a non detergent 20wt oil with a red dye. 303 fluid had viscosity index improvers, antioxidants, anti-wear agents but no friction reducers thus the type F spec was born. (m2c-53 and 303)