I'm servicing my Kubota mower and am changing the oil in the gear boxes for the drive axles. What these gear boxes do is take the input power from the hydrostatic motor and transfer it to the drive wheel, reducing it at the same time. The gears are straight cut and the machine weighs 1200 pounds. My service manual says to use either 80/90 gear oil or hydrostatic oil. I've got a 5 gallon pail of hydrostatic oil, but it sure seems to me that gear oil is a whole lot different than hydro oil. I'm curious how both can be acceptable.
I think what is in the gear box now is gear oil, it smells about the same as the hydro oil but seems a little thicker. As I mentioned, I've got 5 gallons of hydro oil on hand which would be enough to do the whole machine, but I'd have to buy a gallon of gear oil to fill both gear cases. My market is real sour so I'm looking to save any spending I can at this point, so if it's safe to use the hydro oil I'd like to.
Can any of our oil specialists offer their opinions here?
I think what is in the gear box now is gear oil, it smells about the same as the hydro oil but seems a little thicker. As I mentioned, I've got 5 gallons of hydro oil on hand which would be enough to do the whole machine, but I'd have to buy a gallon of gear oil to fill both gear cases. My market is real sour so I'm looking to save any spending I can at this point, so if it's safe to use the hydro oil I'd like to.
Can any of our oil specialists offer their opinions here?