dabluebery
New User
Greetings. I've been using & fixing a 1958 MF202 for 2 years now. I need to change the transmission fluid --- when I got the machine it was full of water and I've been nursing along with used motor oil and leftover transmission fluid & gear oil I had laying around.
The tractor has the Davis backhoe and an aftermarket hydraulic reservoir tank mounted just above the PTO since the original hydraulic system in the loader arm went bad before I bought the machine. The PTO is inaccessible and I've never used it.
A friend of mine who has some experience with older tractors advised me that since the PTO is moot, I should use heavier gear oil in the transaxle. His reasoning was that the PTO wants thinner fluid to work properly, so the 1958 manufacturer recommendation (SAE 80/90) was a compromise with the transmission, differential, and PTO in mind. Since I'm only using the transmission and the differential, he thinks I should thicken up the sauce to more like 90w120 gear oil. Sounds logical enough but I don't know enough to argue.
My first choice was 80W90 gear oil. Other relevant info; I'm a hobbyist, I use the backhoe to dig out trees, pull stumps, grade a small piece of property, lift stuff, and get myself into trouble. I live in NYC suburbs so it's never much below 30 degrees and I don't do much during winter anyway, total hours per year ~100 or less.
Can you guys add some other votes so I can crowd-source this before I head off to buy 8 gallons of fluid? Thanks.
The tractor has the Davis backhoe and an aftermarket hydraulic reservoir tank mounted just above the PTO since the original hydraulic system in the loader arm went bad before I bought the machine. The PTO is inaccessible and I've never used it.
A friend of mine who has some experience with older tractors advised me that since the PTO is moot, I should use heavier gear oil in the transaxle. His reasoning was that the PTO wants thinner fluid to work properly, so the 1958 manufacturer recommendation (SAE 80/90) was a compromise with the transmission, differential, and PTO in mind. Since I'm only using the transmission and the differential, he thinks I should thicken up the sauce to more like 90w120 gear oil. Sounds logical enough but I don't know enough to argue.
My first choice was 80W90 gear oil. Other relevant info; I'm a hobbyist, I use the backhoe to dig out trees, pull stumps, grade a small piece of property, lift stuff, and get myself into trouble. I live in NYC suburbs so it's never much below 30 degrees and I don't do much during winter anyway, total hours per year ~100 or less.
Can you guys add some other votes so I can crowd-source this before I head off to buy 8 gallons of fluid? Thanks.
