I would like to change the hydraulic oil on my 2011 cat 246c and was not sure if I need to spend the extra money on cats hydraulic oil or is there any other oil that would be just as good and save some money. Any one have a caterpillar and using a different brand hydraulic oil?
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Caterpillar Hydraulic oil?
- Thread starter jfp2673
- Start date
Nige
Senior Member
Almost everyone uses a different brand than Cat. On our machines we started off using Mobil, now we use Conoco. Any SAE10W hydraulic oil from a major oil company like the two I mentioned will do fine for your 246. We have a total of 5 x 246C/256C skid steers (amongst other things)
What is the difference in price between CAT oil vs another brand and how many gallons does it take to change...15gal? What would the savings be for one machine? I can see a better benefit over multiple units. Besides if I'm not mistaken CAT has a 6000 hour hyd oil change interval so savings would be minimal for one unit.
If the spec for your machine is Cat "Hydo10" then you can use any quality brand oil labeled Hydraulic Oil AW ISO 32 that meets ASTM D 943 and ASTM D 2272. You also have the option of going to a full synthetic or multi-vis hydraulic oil for a slight additional cost.
FWIW, I use a multi-vis AW ISO 32/46/68 hydraulic oil in all my equipment. It meets all requirements and saves from stocking different viscosities.
FWIW, I use a multi-vis AW ISO 32/46/68 hydraulic oil in all my equipment. It meets all requirements and saves from stocking different viscosities.
Nige
Senior Member
AFAIK Cat-branded Hydraulic oil is good for 4000 hours or 1 year of operation, compared to other branded oils that Cat says to change at 2000 hours/1 year. Now that's fine for people like us who are clocking 6000+ hours per year, but what about the guy who for example does less than 1000...? The extended life does him no good at all.
Apart from that I would always change oil based on condition and not necessarily on hours run.
Cat-branded oils generally sell for premium prices.
I totally agree. You can have an analysis performed for around $25.00.
durallymax
Senior Member
Cat strongly recommends SOS to determine intervals, enough machines they don't even list intervals and SOS is required for warranty. Hydraulic oil is good for many years and I know they say the Hydo10 will go beyond 6000hrs.
Whether or not you use Cat's SOS is up to you, there are many other companies out there as well but Cat's SOS is actually pretty cheap. I never change fluids based on a set interval, I always use oil analysis to determine a save interval and then check each machine annually. Generally engine oil intervals are extended out to one per year at most (1000hrs or more is not that hard to achieve on most machines). Hydraulic oil goes much further and everything that I have switched over to Delo HD ELC coolant is now ready for 8 years or 15,000hrs.
I do still use Cat's Hydo 10 for our Skid Steers as they are all under warranty. Technically I should not have to but we only need it for topping off the machines and refilling after a blown hose ETC. I stuck with the Hydo10 at the reccomendation of Chevron. We switched to all Chevron Delo products and their engineers recommended staying with Cat Hydo10 for the machines under warranty. The coolant is identical and IIRC it is actually Chevron Delo anyways. The engine oil I know is different, Cat wanted to label Chevron Delo 400 under the Cat name but Chevron would not let them rebrand their top tier product without their name on it, they offered them their 2nd tier product and Cat passed.
I was going to check with Cat someday to see what their opinion was on us sticking with Hydo10. However I'm not too worried about it. The savings are not astronomical. I'd save $30 per 5 gallon pail. In the past year of owning the machines we have maybe gone through 5 pails. Not an astroomical savings IMO. Its more of a PITA to have to stock one extra fluid as these are the only machines using 10w hydro fluid. Everything else is delivered in bulk and much nicer to deal with, although having the Cat fluid in 5 gallon pails isnt bad because we have to use a pump to fill the machines anyways especially the C series where you are supposed to tilt the cab but if you have long enough fingers you can pop the cap off.
The "D" series machines scare me. They put the fill on the side like Bobcat, that can be a big issue. When we trade out our machines for them I will be buying some padlocks so no diesel can be put in.
Whether or not you use Cat's SOS is up to you, there are many other companies out there as well but Cat's SOS is actually pretty cheap. I never change fluids based on a set interval, I always use oil analysis to determine a save interval and then check each machine annually. Generally engine oil intervals are extended out to one per year at most (1000hrs or more is not that hard to achieve on most machines). Hydraulic oil goes much further and everything that I have switched over to Delo HD ELC coolant is now ready for 8 years or 15,000hrs.
I do still use Cat's Hydo 10 for our Skid Steers as they are all under warranty. Technically I should not have to but we only need it for topping off the machines and refilling after a blown hose ETC. I stuck with the Hydo10 at the reccomendation of Chevron. We switched to all Chevron Delo products and their engineers recommended staying with Cat Hydo10 for the machines under warranty. The coolant is identical and IIRC it is actually Chevron Delo anyways. The engine oil I know is different, Cat wanted to label Chevron Delo 400 under the Cat name but Chevron would not let them rebrand their top tier product without their name on it, they offered them their 2nd tier product and Cat passed.
I was going to check with Cat someday to see what their opinion was on us sticking with Hydo10. However I'm not too worried about it. The savings are not astronomical. I'd save $30 per 5 gallon pail. In the past year of owning the machines we have maybe gone through 5 pails. Not an astroomical savings IMO. Its more of a PITA to have to stock one extra fluid as these are the only machines using 10w hydro fluid. Everything else is delivered in bulk and much nicer to deal with, although having the Cat fluid in 5 gallon pails isnt bad because we have to use a pump to fill the machines anyways especially the C series where you are supposed to tilt the cab but if you have long enough fingers you can pop the cap off.
The "D" series machines scare me. They put the fill on the side like Bobcat, that can be a big issue. When we trade out our machines for them I will be buying some padlocks so no diesel can be put in.
Nige
Senior Member
You can buy an oil sample kit containing bottle, tubes, caps, etc, so that you can take your own sample but then you have to send the sample to a laboratory for analysis. There will be many labs in your area who do this (not just your Cat dealer) but usually only the dealer lab also gives you an interpretation of what the results mean and suggestions of what action to take. The vast majority of "independent" labs simply give you the analysis results and unless you know how to interpret them it's as much use to you as ***$ on a bull.............
Here's some typical examples of the interpretation we get on our samples. Note the 4 exampleshere are from different compartments on different machines
No Action Required - NO PROBLEMS PRESENTLY ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SAMPLE. CONTINUE SAMPLING AT THE NORMAL INTERVAL.
No Action Required - COPPER LEVEL APPEARS HIGH. IRON HAS INCREASED. OTHER READINGS APPEAR TO BE NORMAL. OIL AND FILTER CHANGE NOTED. ELEVATED COPPER LEVEL MAY BE DUE TO INCREASED OIL COOLER CORE LEACHING, NOT WEAR. CONTINUE TO SAMPLE AT NORMAL INTERVALS.
Monitor Compartment - IRON AND COPPER LEVELS HAVE INCREASED. CHECK MAGNETIC PLUGS FOR DEBRIS. OTHER READINGS APPEAR TO BE NORMAL. WE RECOMMEND YOU TO CHANGE OIL IF NOT ALREADY DONE RECENTLY. RESAMPLE IN 250 HOURS TO MONITOR.
Action Required - POSITIVE WATER AND GLYCOL DETECTED. NO VISCOSITY TEST DUE TO WATER IN OIL. HIGH SODIUM CAUSED BY COOLANT CONTAMINATION. INVESTIGATE POSSIBLE SOURCES OF COOLANT ENTRY AND REPAIR AS NECESSARY. RESAMPLE IN 50 HOURS TO MONITOR.
Here's some typical examples of the interpretation we get on our samples. Note the 4 exampleshere are from different compartments on different machines
No Action Required - NO PROBLEMS PRESENTLY ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SAMPLE. CONTINUE SAMPLING AT THE NORMAL INTERVAL.
No Action Required - COPPER LEVEL APPEARS HIGH. IRON HAS INCREASED. OTHER READINGS APPEAR TO BE NORMAL. OIL AND FILTER CHANGE NOTED. ELEVATED COPPER LEVEL MAY BE DUE TO INCREASED OIL COOLER CORE LEACHING, NOT WEAR. CONTINUE TO SAMPLE AT NORMAL INTERVALS.
Monitor Compartment - IRON AND COPPER LEVELS HAVE INCREASED. CHECK MAGNETIC PLUGS FOR DEBRIS. OTHER READINGS APPEAR TO BE NORMAL. WE RECOMMEND YOU TO CHANGE OIL IF NOT ALREADY DONE RECENTLY. RESAMPLE IN 250 HOURS TO MONITOR.
Action Required - POSITIVE WATER AND GLYCOL DETECTED. NO VISCOSITY TEST DUE TO WATER IN OIL. HIGH SODIUM CAUSED BY COOLANT CONTAMINATION. INVESTIGATE POSSIBLE SOURCES OF COOLANT ENTRY AND REPAIR AS NECESSARY. RESAMPLE IN 50 HOURS TO MONITOR.