confused on hydraulic fluid

[Tiger Joe]

so maybe this has been discussed somewhere but I cannot find it searching.

yesterday on a trip to Rural King, I noticed their cheap 5 gal Universal Tractor Fluid, CAM2 brand, is no longer labeled UTF. the 5 gal cheap bucket is now labeled AG-20, 20 weight hydraulic oil.

the cheapest alternative i saw was 334 Xtreme UTF for $35/ 5 gal. tractor supply seems to have a similar UTF now for $40/5 gal

so if I'm understanding what I am reading correctly, the Ag-20 would be used in straight hydraulic systems, and the UTF is for "common sump" systems? is that correct? or is the AG-20 the same stuff just relabeled? I know they always had the warning about "not for tractors newer than 1974" but all of our stuff is older than that.

just want to make sure i have the correct stuff for my ford 3000

 

[sotxbill]

the utf will work fine in a 3000 as it called for m2c53 originally.

which was 20 wt, red dye and a mild viscosity improver with low or no friction modifiers.... also same as type f, 303, and other equivalent fluids of that area that limited friction modifiers for wet clutches. Ironically the 3000 with not have any wet clutches/brakes,,, but the 4000 and bigger models did.

You can run newer spec fluids if you wish. And since there are no wet clutches and brakes, you could run the "gm spec" auto fluids of that time period.