John V
Well-Known Member
I did a bit of searching online to see people's opinions on alternative hydraulic oils for bobcat skid steers. Not too many of the conversations comment on recent machines. Curious if anyone has experience using aw46 hydraulic oil in a more modern model like my t740. I put Mag1 aw46 in my new holland skid steer and other excavators; it's available from lowes for the best price on hydro oil I've seen, about $25/2.5 gal. Bobcat "proven performance" oil goes for about $65/2.5 gal.
Here's the chart from the t740 service manual regarding hydro oil. I live near Asheville NC, relatively mild temps so aw46 should suit me well viscosity wise, however Mag1 specs show their hydro oil has a VI of 105, which is actually the highest I've seen comparing a couple different brands of aw46 (mobil and chevron are about VI of 98). Are their other hydro fluids you know of with a VI that's 150+? Am I overthinking this, should I just run this mag1 aw46 which I already have buckets of, or just play it safe and get Bobcat's magic unicorn tears oil?
Here's the chart from the t740 service manual regarding hydro oil. I live near Asheville NC, relatively mild temps so aw46 should suit me well viscosity wise, however Mag1 specs show their hydro oil has a VI of 105, which is actually the highest I've seen comparing a couple different brands of aw46 (mobil and chevron are about VI of 98). Are their other hydro fluids you know of with a VI that's 150+? Am I overthinking this, should I just run this mag1 aw46 which I already have buckets of, or just play it safe and get Bobcat's magic unicorn tears oil?