80W Gear Oil
 

I know there's been a lot of debate on this. Not looking to create a debate thread.

Need to put fresh oil in the creeper & trans of my 100. The 70/100 manual calls for hy-tran (obviously "hytran-ultra" would be overkill for an non-powershift unit).

Bemoaning the cost of hytran, someone recommended just running 80w-90 gear oil instead of hydraulic fluid. Anyone ever do this on their cub? The 80w-90 doesn't look real cheap either.

Just curious.

I run 80w90 in my gear drives with no issue, if you live in the north and have really cold winters then the hytrans might be better but that said I live in western PA and it gets plenty cold here and I don't have an issue with the 80w90.

Here is what IH recommended. It is your tractor, your time, and your money, do as you see fit...

Transmission Lubrication Chart

The manual trans Cub Cadet is open where the gear shifter goes into the trans. This is what Hy-Tran will do when water gets in the trans.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...ick/UD51-1.jpg

My 100/70 manual states you can use Hy-Tran or 30 weight oil.

Agree X2

I run Shell Rotella T 30W in my gear drive stuff. But I also change it on a regular basis. If you're not going to change it for an extended period I'd use the Hytran

I went to Tractor Supply ( TSC ) and purchased this. Hy Tran equivalent

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DCP_5228.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DCP_5229.jpg
click for bigger pics

I wound up going with the same stuff. I'm confident Traveler Premium will work just fine for this task. For all I know, it's probably good enough for some older farmall row crop tractors as well. Local IH dealer wanted $18/gal for Hytran. No Thanks.

Alternatively, I couldn't narrow down which NAPA fluid was MS-1209 compliant. And the guys at my local napa aren't very helpful on such things. So, TSC it was.

I think eighteen bucks for a gallon of Hytran is a pretty good price. Hytran is what I would use.

That being said, it is your tractor and you can do as you wish. Most tractor fluids have an IH B-6 spec, so you should be alright with a gear drive. 80-90 oil may be a little thick for very cold weather if you operate your tractor year-round.

I run HyTran in my super stock pulling garden tractor. Haven't had any issues.

If the Traveller from TSC at half the price of HyTran has the same specs then it seems to me that you are paying for brand name recognition with HyTran.

If your doctor recommends that you get on a blood thinner to reduce chance of a stroke, and suggests Plavix (brand name) at $200 for 30 day supply, or clopidogrel (same thing but generic) at $13 for 30 days, how many people insist on the brand name??