How about some 140w gear oil in the front diff?

[OrangePower]

All the purists that want to jump in and say "use what the manual states" can take a seat in the stand, this thread isnt for you!

For all the rest, I dont often use high gear in my BX23s, so, its all slow crawling. For the hills I climb and the dirt I transport in the bucket, 75w seems a little on the light side. I have 1,000 hours on her now, so, the major wear has been done, no going back, but, going forward, how about some 140w? Should have good sheer resistance and make up for the wear in the bushings?

May come back to bite me in the winter though. Since it will never really warm up, like a transmission, maybe a straight 90w? Need to get some 140w and stick it in the refrigerator to see how thick it gets, as I do use the tractor sparingly in the winter time.

 

[Henro]

After 22 years with both my Kubota tractors I have never changed from UDT or SUDT in the front axles....what is your motivation for using something else? Especially if higher viscosity than recommended in the manual?

Well I guess you gave an indication of motivation...but unless you have an issue with seals leaking, why not just stick with UDT or SUDT which the tractors are shipped with. It is probably the best for cold temps....

Frankly, I think you are overthinking this...

 

[RCW]

I would put it in the freezer, not the refrigerator to check viscosity.

I see you’re in VA. Freezer would give you worst case scenario.

In upstate New York, I’ve had to blow snow at -8 degrees F.

Just a thought.

 

[OrangePower]

After 22 years with both my Kubota tractors I have never changed from UDT or SUDT in the front axles....what is your motivation for using something else? Especially if higher viscosity than recommended in the manual?

Well I guess you gave an indication of motivation...but unless you have an issue with seals leaking, why not just stick with UDT or SUDT which the tractors are shipped with. It is probably the best for cold temps....

Frankly, I think you are overthinking this...

Well, if you happened to read my painful post about my Kubota dealer, one of the issues I was having that needed to be looked at was my front tires/bearing/gears. If I got a load on them, or ride at an angle, the tire jumps around like a mexican jumping bean. It bounces and wobbles in all kinds of diff directions (lots of stuttering/jerking motions, not always a ....ahem, fluid motion) and I could swear I feel/hear a little grinding. Fluid is filled and looks okay, everything seems to be working fine as long as no load is on it. Could be a defect or I just wore it out pretty early in life. Since my warrantee is gone thanks to the dealer that never looked at it, just trying to save it for as long as possible before a tear down.

 

[TheOldHokie]

All the purists that want to jump in and say "use what the manual states" can take a seat in the stand, this thread isnt for you!

For all the rest, I dont often use high gear in my BX23s, so, its all slow crawling. For the hills I climb and the dirt I transport in the bucket, 75w seems a little on the light side. I have 1,000 hours on her now, so, the major wear has been done, no going back, but, going forward, how about some 140w? Should have good sheer resistance and make up for the wear in the bushings?

May come back to bite me in the winter though. Since it will never really warm up, like a transmission, maybe a straight 90w? Need to get some 140w and stick it in the refrigerator to see how thick it gets, as I do use the tractor sparingly in the winter time.

Hey man - dont stop there - pump it full of EP grease

Dan

 

[OrangePower]

Hey man - dont stop there - pump it full of EP grease

Dan

If EP grease is a liquid, okay, but I dont think you know what your talking about.

 

[TheOldHokie]

If EP grease is a liquid, okay, but I dont think you know what your talking about.

You would be wrong on the matter of knowledge and apparently you dont recognize sarcasm.

Let me makebit plain. I think SAE 140 gear oil will buy you nothing and will actually open you up to potentially damaging behaviors.

Dan

 

[OrangePower]

You would be wrong on the matter of knowledge and apparently you dont recognize sarcasm.

Let me makebit plain. I think SAE 140 gear oil will buy you nothing and will actually open you up to potentially damaging behaviors.

Dan

Like Dave Chapelle would say.... "GOTCHA ******* !!" I fully understood your sarcasm, but, I see you didnt get mine???

Proper lubes for proper applications, of course. The BX is a slow azz moving tractor. Its not flinging lube around like a cars rear end or transmission gear box driving 70mph down the highway. As long as it can seeps into the cracks n crevices, your good. Seems everything is submerged, its not dependent on sling lube. Only part I see would be the pinion shaft, and, that too touches plenty of oil.

Negatives - Turns into ep grease in cold weather, wipes away from bushing surfaces and doesnt replenish, great for the gears though. Puts a strain on the engine from resistance of non turning wheels. From 75w to 140w, where does that tradeoff begin? Im not an oil-ologist (how about you?), just came to chit chat about it. Didnt mean to ruffle your sarcastic feathers. Carry on, lol.

 

[TheOldHokie]

Like Dave Chapelle would say.... "GOTCHA ******* !!" I fully understood your sarcasm, but, I see you didnt get mine???

Proper lubes for proper applications, of course. The BX is a slow azz moving tractor. Its not flinging lube around like a cars rear end or transmission gear box driving 70mph down the highway. As long as it can seeps into the cracks n crevices, your good. Seems everything is submerged, its not dependent on sling lube. Only part I see would be the pinion shaft, and, that too touches plenty of oil.

Negatives - Turns into ep grease in cold weather, wipes away from bushing surfaces and doesnt replenish, great for the gears though. Puts a strain on the engine from resistance of non turning wheels. From 75w to 140w, where does that tradeoff begin? Im not an oil-ologist (how about you?), just came to chit chat about it. Didnt mean to ruffle your sarcastic feathers. Carry on, lol.

Like I said it will buy you nothing and you have kind of identified the main concern - channeling in cold weather. The oil gets so viscous it wont flow fast enough to fill in behind the gear teeth as they move in and out of mesh and you actually loose lubrication. Not at all good - in fact very bad - for gear teeth. In over the road applucations the oil gets warmed pretty quickly by the high speed gears whipping it up so channeling is held to a minimum. In a low speed BX the oil may never warm up and those gears could run a very long tine with little to no oil film.

I am not an "oilologist" or even a rheologist but I do know and understand the labeling and rheological requirements for the SAE viscosity grades.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Kubota has designed and built quite a few Millions of these units and have been doing it for 50 plus years.
But hey you know more than they know.
So throw some heavy oil in it that will do noting to help Lube the front axle parts and is very likely to do damage, then blame it back on Kubota, sounds logical.

You do know the size of the diff gears is about the size of your thumb print.