SAE30 may well be factory-fill but for your location I would still go for SAE 10W in view of its improved low-temperature capability in winter temperatures. See below which is an extract taken from the O&M Manual.SAE 10w is also what I found on the net. My local Cat dealer told me that the factory fill on that machine was 30w.
No, it's a high-spec mineral mongrade. HYDO is the regular offering.I've been looking at a lot of different options. I thought I read somewhere that the HYDO Advanced is actually a multi-viscosity synthetic.
Straight viscosity TDTO is also a mineral mongorade. Commerical oils of the same specification are designated as "meeting Cat TO-4 spec". TBH I would not even consider using a synthetic. Mobiltrans HD10W (what we used to use) would meet the specifiction well enough. Conoco PowerDrive 10W or Shell Spirax S4 CX 10W would also be acceptable.It meets the TO-4 spec, is a synthetic, and I'm expecting it to be less than the $109 per 5 gal that I was quoted at Cat. That was TDTO, which I believe is a conventional oil.
No, it's a high-spec mineral mongrade. HYDO is the regular offering.
ihttps://s7d2.scene7.com/is/content/Caterpillar/CM20150813-35930-61404
If you are talking multi-viscosity (aka mulitgrade) then the only option would be TDTO-TMS which is a multi-viscosity synthetic powertrain oil that as a commercial oil would be a TO-4.
Straight viscosity TDTO is also a mineral mongorade. Commerical oils of the same specification are designated as "meeting Cat TO-4 spec". TBH I would not even consider using a synthetic. Mobiltrans HD10W (what we used to use) would meet the specifiction well enough. Conoco PowerDrive 10W or Shell Spirax S4 CX 10W would also be acceptable.
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Note: We used TO-4 in hydraulic systems for the simple reason that we had some machines that required TO-4 and others that didn't. In an attempt to avoid any errors by having two 10W oils and to eliminate the possibility of filling straight HYDO oil in a system that required TO-4 we used TO-4 in everything.
Other than you're wasting your money because the oil will be due for change based on hours/time operated (whichever comes first) loooooooooong before it becomes degraded by age, exposure to contamination, water, etc.Pardon my ignorance, but is there a disadvantage to synthetic for this application, other than price?
Most likely. Also due to lubricant deterioration through the machine NOT being used. Oils do not maintain their quality ad infinitum when they lie in a machine system that is not working.Ok, I'm following...
2000 hours would probably be more than 10 years for my usage. Is the 1 year interval mainly due to the potential for condensation accumulation over that time period?