Hydrolic Fluid

[jcamp38]

Hi,

I'm going to be changing the hydraulic fluid in my airens 22 ton wood splitter. The manual suggests ISO 32, but I know nothing about hydraulics. I saw I could get this at home depot for fairly cheap. (broken link removed)

Would this work or is there something you would suggest?

Thanks.

 

[johneh]

That's what I use in my splitter and have for a long time
It works just fine and is what your unit calls for
If you are worried by the AW it means Anti-Wear
which is a good thing

 

[ericm979]

ISO 32 is the weight (viscosity), like with engine oil. It's a different scale but 32 is roughly 20wt. For things like log splitters I use the cheapest hydraulic oil I can find, usually 5 gallon pails from Tractor Supply.

 

[johneh]

AW 32 hydraulic fluids have an International Standards Viscosity Grade or ISO VG of 32. This is the thickness of the fluid tested at 40 degrees Celsius. ISO VG 32 has good cold weather flow capabilities and its thickness is equivalent to an SAE 10 weight lubricant

 

[brenndatomu]

This is some of the info that came with the 16 GPM 2 stage pump I just bought for a splitter project
"Be sure to use AW-32 10-Weight (ISO 32) or AW-46 20-Weight (ISO 46) light hydraulic fluid or Dexron III automatic transmission fluid. This pump is not designed for use with “universal” or "tractor" transmission oil, such as "303". The use of incorrect fluid may damage the pump and void the warranty."

 

[cahaak]

Buy it in a 2.5 or 5 gallon quantity if you can. It's pretty cheap at any farm type store.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

I switched my splitter last fallto ATF.. Ill never go back to aw32

 

[SpaceBus]

I switched my splitter last fallto ATF.. Ill never go back to aw32

What's the advantage to ATF/Dextron?

 

[xman23]

I've never changed mine (20 years), nor the filter. It isn't exposed the combustion contaminates like engine oil. I work with hydraulics and it never get changed until it gets contaminated.

 

[salecker]

What's the advantage to ATF/Dextron?

thinner in cold weather

 

[salecker]

I mix ATF into my 950 loader hydroilc fluid from time to time to color the fluid to see it through a sandblasted site glass.
It has had AW32, AW46, 10W and ATF added during the years.

 

[ABMax24]

We run AW22 in ours, IIRC it's in between AW32 and ATF in viscosity, but still cheap like AW32.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

What's the advantage to ATF/Dextron?

With the ATF in it.. there are 2 advantages 1 I have had hard starts in the winter when splitting. The ATF makes it so much easier to start The 2nd is if you need to split in warmer temperatures. The splitter doesn't seem to get as hot.

I still have 1 splitter with AW in it.. You can definitely feel the difference in starting when its cold between the 2. I did split recently when it was 85 degrees out and the ATF splitter the flue and cylinder seemed to run cooler then the AW..