frozen hydraulics

[Allen in MT]

My L2501 HST starts just fine after being plugged in. The weather here has been -20's and the hydraulics seem to be frozen. fluid is up and no frothing or milky look.
No operating 3 pt or front loader and no forward or reverse action or PS.
Does it hurt the hydraulic pump to let the tractor idol to get things warmed up or will that hurt the hydraulic pump?
thanks

 

[SDT]

My L2501 starts just fine after being plugged in. The weather here has been -20's and the hydraulics seem to be frozen. fluid is up and no frothing or milky look.
No operating 3 pt or front loader and no forward or reverse action.
Does it hurt the hydraulic pump to let the tractor idol to get things warmed up or will that hurt the hydraulic pump?
thanks

Who knows?

How much calendar time is on the hydraulic oil? How many operating hours on oil?

 

[Allen in MT]

Who knows?

How much calendar time is on the hydraulic oil? How many operating hours on oil?

40 hrs. since serviced at 50 hrs in 19. all fluids. tractor has a total of 89 hrs, had it since new

 

[GreensvilleJay]

shouldn't hurt it and yes, need at least 15-20 minutes before trying to make anything work, even then go SLOW.. oil at the extremities will be very cold.
no different than vehicle with automatic ,you NEED to let tranny warm up.

bet your finger tips will be cold at -20,even though heart is warm......

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Is it an HST or a DT?

 

[Allen in MT]

Is it an HST or a DT?

HST

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Did BOTH filters get changed when it was done?
Do you have any movement when the rest of the hydraulics won't work?
Do you have PS?

 

[Allen in MT]

Did BOTH filters get changed when it was done?
Do you have any movement when the rest of the hydraulics won't work?
Do you have PS?

yes both filters, no movement to 3 pt, loader or PS

 

[Runs With Scissors]

My Google-Fu is weak right now, but I would be absolutely amazed if the fluid was frozen.

 

[Allen in MT]

My Google-Fu is weak right now, but I would be absolutely amazed if the fluid was frozen.

Generally, the freezing point of hydraulic oil is -10℉, at which point the fluid is unusable; however, even at low temperatures above its freezing point, fluid can increase in viscosity or become thicker. This can adversely affect the performance of hydraulic pumps and motors.
It has been down to a -35 for a bit but mostly in the negative 20's.
My main concern is will it harm anything if I let it run at idol speed for 15-20 min to warm things up

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

If you have no tractor movement, no FEL operation, no three point operation, and no PS, you more than likely have water in main the Hydraulic filter.
Or you have a suction leak that is cavitating the pump.

What fluid did you use?

 

[Allen in MT]

If you have no tractor movement, no FEL operation, no three point operation, and no PS, you more than likely have water in main the Hydraulic filter.
Or you have a suction leak that is cavitating the pump.

What fluid did you use?

Everything done at Kubota

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Everything done at Kubota

Well they could have used UDT or SUDT2 2 completely different flow rates.

Pull a plug with a clean bucket under it and see how it flows.
But if you have to do it outside, I would wait till it warms up a lot.
I flat refuse to run the tractors when it's this flipping cold out!

 

[Allen in MT]

Well they could have used UDT or SUDT2 2 completely different flow rates.

Pull a plug with a clean bucket under it and see how it flows.

They used Super UDT according to the service invoice sheet.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

They used UDT

That's why, you need to be running SUDT2 in your climate!
UDT is way too thick when it's cold.

 

[Foxrunfarms]

I worked at a tree and lawn care company for 10 years. When Temps got down to 0 we didn't go out. 1) too cold for crews 2) too cold for the equipment. The lift would just creep raising up. I let my lx2610 and atv warm up and Idle for 10 to 15 minutes to let everything circulate in cold weather. Even then the hydraulics are a little slow until you use them for a bit.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Generally, the freezing point of hydraulic oil is -10℉, at which point the fluid is unusable; however, even at low temperatures above its freezing point, fluid can increase in viscosity or become thicker. This can adversely affect the performance of hydraulic pumps and motors.
It has been down to a -35 for a bit but mostly in the negative 20's.
My main concern is will it harm anything if I let it run at idol speed for 15-20 min to warm things up

Good to know.

It must be different than the stuff we used in aircraft though.

We never had a problem (that I can remember) when we would go to "Cold Weather" training with our EA-6B's in the Corps. It was regularly in the -20's and below too.

When I worked on Gulf Streams at Chrysler, it was never a problem either. We used Skydrol IIRC and they operated in all types of climates as well.

I dunno.

The only things I remember about Skydrol is how it F'ing burned like a bitch when you got it on your skin.

I clearly remember the first time it ran down my arm, and into my armpit.....I was like. ......OMG WTF!!!!!!!

Hahahaha

 

[BAP]

Generally, the freezing point of hydraulic oil is -10℉, at which point the fluid is unusable; however, even at low temperatures above its freezing point, fluid can increase in viscosity or become thicker. This can adversely affect the performance of hydraulic pumps and motors.
It has been down to a -35 for a bit but mostly in the negative 20's.
My main concern is will it harm anything if I let it run at idol speed for 15-20 min to warm things up

Hydraulic oil shouldn’t freeze up at -10 degrees. If there is water in it, then that will freeze, but the oil itself shouldn’t freeze. It will become thicker and move harder until it warms up. We used to feed cows at -35f and never had hydraulic oil freeze up. Tractors and loaders hydraulic functions moved slower until they warmed up, but worked. Of course everything moved slower at -35f.

 

[TheOldHokie]

My L2501 HST starts just fine after being plugged in. The weather here has been -20's and the hydraulics seem to be frozen. fluid is up and no frothing or milky look.
No operating 3 pt or front loader and no forward or reverse action or PS.
Does it hurt the hydraulic pump to let the tractor idol to get things warmed up or will that hurt the hydraulic pump?
thanks

If the pump is not getting inlet oil it will wear quickly.. You can easily check by removing the pump supply hose at the loader valve If you are getting oil out of that hose the pump is safe. No oil dont run it. The pour point of SUDT is close to -40F. Water is 32F.

Dan

 

[jimh406]

I don't know if I should have been able to do this or not ...

I started my L2501 HST the other day at around -10 to -15, nope, I didn't look at the temp. When it started, it vibrated for a bit side to side. My guess was the hydraulics. I backed out of my shed and let it run at about 1500. After a while (I didn't time it), it stop vibrating and worked fine to clear my snow drifts.

YMMV.