Hydraulic systems may be as simple as a floor jack in your garage or as complex as a crane. Some are mobile, traveling many miles to worksites every year, and others spend their entire service life in one spot on a factory floor. Regardless of the type of system, they all operate in a similar fashion using the same types of parts. The hydraulic oil plays an important role in the health of each of these components and the overall smoothness and efficiency of the system.
Reservoir – The reservoir is simply the tank that holds the oil. On its way through the system, the oil will spend a short period of time here. In that time, the oil has an opportunity to release air that’s entered the system so it doesn’t contribute to sluggish operation. All AMSOIL hydraulic oils have excellent air-release characteristics, maximizing this important benefit of the reservoir. Another important function is to allow water to separate from the oil, allowing it to be drained. This is obviously most important for systems with larger reservoirs where draining can be accomplished easily.
Pump – The oil can’t be too thick when the machine starts in cold conditions. If it is, there’s a chance the pump will be damaged. On the flip side, the oil can’t get too thin when the machine hits its highest operating temperature or excessive wear and poor performance can result. To ensure the viscosity remains within the system’s limits you can do one of two things: Change to lighter or heavier oil depending on the conditions OR use a multi-viscosity oil to cover all the bases. The easiest way to identify oils that resist thinning and thickening is the viscosity index (VI). Oils with high viscosity indices resist viscosity changes with temperature far better than those with low VI. This fact can often save customers the expense and hassle of changing from lighter to heavier oil to meet the conditions. Most oil companies provide the VI number on their product data sheets.
Hoses and seals – Hydraulic oil must not chemically damage seal or hose material and should condition these materials to extend their service life.
Valves – Hydraulic valves are very close-tolerance items and even the smallest amount of varnish or dirt can bring a key piece of equipment to a halt. Keeping dirt out is simply a matter of good maintenance practices, but preventing varnish is largely up to the oil.
Varnish forms when oil breaks down under high-heat conditions. AMSOIL synthetic hydraulic oils naturally resist this breakdown, but AMSOIL Synthetic Multi-Viscosity Hydraulic Oil takes it to another level. It’s a high-VI, multiviscosity oil built with the ability to combat varnish formation better than conventional oils, as the image shows.
Actuator – The actuator is the component that does the work. Everything else in the system is there to power and control it. The common actuators are cylinders or hydraulic motors. How well they do their work often depends on the proper viscosity of the oil, so the same benefits multi-viscosity oil provides for pumps are true for actuators.
AMSOIL offers a high-quality hydraulic oil for just about every application.
Synthetic Tractor Hydraulic/Transmission Oil
Designed to provide the correct frictional characteristics for transmissions and wet brakes while performing as a premium synthetic hydraulic oil
Engineered for many types of popular mobile machinery, including farm tractors, fork lift trucks, off-road equipment and more
Provides excellent all-weather capability
Synthetic Multi-Viscosity Hydraulic Oil
- Fights varnish
- All-season performance
- Maintains cleanliness
- Promotes maximum fluid life
- Resists foam
- Maximizes energy efficiency
- Biodegradable Hydraulic Oil ISO 46
- Outstanding cold-weather performance
- Resists oxidation for long oil life
- Guards against wear
- Helps reduce harm to the environment
- Synthetic Anti-Wear Hydraulic Oil
- Anti-wear protection for high-pressure systems
- Recommended for gear, vane and piston pumps
- Contain rust, oxidation and foam inhibitors
- Designed for extreme-temperature operation
- Hydrolytically stable and readily separates from water
5 I’ve been using Amsoil products for 40 years
By Farmrab, a Verified Buyer from Escalon, CA on May 19, 2018 Over the forty years I’ve been using your products, they just continue to improve. The tractor hydraulic oil works on my tractors everywhere except the engine. They have an oil for that too. If it uses oil, on my farm it’s Amsoil Synthetic.
