ben436•6d ago

Just found out boring gear oil into the hydraulic tank is a fast way to kill a stump grinder

I was swapping out a wheel motor on an old Vermeer SC252 last week and noticed the oil looked way too heavy. Turns out the previous owner had been topping off the hydraulic tank with 90 weight gear oil because it was 'cheaper.' That stuff wrecks the seals and makes the pump cavitate like crazy. Took me a whole afternoon to flush the system. Has anyone else run into a customer doing some wild fluid mix like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

cameron_chen636d ago

Did you drain all that gear oil out or just top it off with lighter fluid and hope for the best? Reminds me of this guy who brought his zero turn in with what looked like 10w40 in the hydro reservoir, said it was all he had in the shed.

seth_green855d ago

@cameron_chen63 isn't it wild how people think any fluid is better than none until they grenade the whole system?

margaret_nelson5d ago

Dude used the wrong oil and called it a hack. Love it.