Which Hydraulic/Trans oil to use in older Tractors is safe?

[TM1010]

I'm getting ready to change the fluids in my JD 300 LBH, 2010, and 1010 hyd system, and was looking in the old 2010 owners manual of which oil to use and noticed that they specified JD303 or sae10w30 oil. What got my attention was that even though in the past that when I changed out the trans/hyd. fluid in the 300, I would just go down to my TSC and grab some JD303 that they had and put that in. What I didn't know was after reading many different articles, that the JD303 fluid has been obsolete since 1974 and that the JD303 fluid that's being sold today is even banned from being sold in Missouri,Georgia and I think North Carolina, and doesn't even meet JD specs. Now I'm worried that i might have caused long term damage to the trans/hyd system in my 300, due to lack of lubrication! Has anyone tried sae 10w30 oil in there trans/hyd systems?

 

[Tx Jim]

IMHO it's not the lubrication of trans brgs/gears that is as important as prolonging the life of the wet brake linings & clutches on your 300. JD recommends hyd that meets J20c spec's. JD hyd oil is called Hy-Gard but there are also other brand oils that meet J20C spec's.

 

[Jim.ME]

The premium UTF in the black pail at TSC says it meets JDM J20C. Walmart Super Tech Tractor Hydraulic Oil and Mobilfluid 424 are a couple others that advertise they meet JDM J20C. Many other brands have the specs they meet printed on the containers, or the seller should be able to give you technical data sheets (as well as SDS info) for the product as needed. I wouldn't use 10W30. Just my thoughts, others will have different thoughts/advice I'm sure.

 

[Russ from MN]

I bought a 5 gallon pail of Mobilfluid 424 at L&M last week really reasonable after rebate, planning on using it in our JD.

 

[TM1010]

Everyone, Thank you for your responses. When I looked at all my service manuals between the 300, 1010, and the 2010, JD303 was the only one that go in all three tractors, and the 2010 manual was the only one that mentioned the use of sae 10w30, and I wasn't sure about using 10w30 in the 300 because of the reverser disc's and the brake disc's in the trans. I'll look into using the Mobil 424 and the Wal-mart oils as JIM.ME mentioned.

 

[Jim.ME]

(quoted from post at 11:40:15 09/26/19) Everyone, Thank you for your responses. When I looked at all my service manuals between the 300, 1010, and the 2010, JD303 was the only one that go in all three tractors, and the 2010 manual was the only one that mentioned the use of sae 10w30, and I wasn't sure about using 10w30 in the 300 because of the reverser disc's and the brake disc's in the trans. I'll look into using the Mobil 424 and the Wal-mart oils as JIM.ME mentioned.

JD 303 oil is outdated and has been superseded first by JDM20 A and now JDM20C. A JD dealer would sell you the current Hy-Gard in place of the 303, so an oil meeting the JDM20C spec (which is Hy-Gard) should be fine in all of them.