I usually buy it by the 55 gal drum so it's been a couple years since I bought a 5 gal pail, I have sticker shock. $103.70 inc.tax = $20.74 per gallon. Here I thought crude was down
Thats why I buy my hydraulic oil at a farm supply store like "rural king" or "tractor supply".32.95 for a 5 gallon bucket.
You have to imagine that at least some of that cost is paying for the Cat name. That said, its still waay to high.
That sounds about right for CAT hydraulic oil. I recently paid $102.49, plus $10.25 tax, for 20 litres of CAT HYDO to top up my 966C. I guess 20 litres is about the same as 5 gallons, or maybe a tiny bit more. What convinced me to cough up the extra for the CAT oil is the technical info for the hydraulic oil. According to CAT, their oil contains "more than twice as much zinc as typical Anti-Wear industrial hydraulic oil to maximize your hydraulic system's life and performance." It contains 0.121% Zinc by weight. Another advantage, or so claims CAT, is that their HYDO oil "is formulated to hold and disperse water so that it does not harm mobile hydraulic systems. Industrial hydraulic oils - often described as anti-wear - do not contain emulsifiers and are specifically designed to separate water . . . Separated water drawn through the system can damage pumps and other components. . . . Avoid oils whose specifications indicate that they 'separate,' 'shed' or 'release' water." So, if you can believe the CAT literature, it's a case of "pay me a little now or pay me a lot later." I prefer the first option.
43.75 I paid yesterday for AW 46 doubt I would go for 100 per gallon.
Think about this does Cat own their own refinery. Take the info from the Cat pail and cross ref with other products. You will be surprised what you find. I asked a JD dealer that question about their hyd oil. He said no they don't, then give me acompatable replacement. He did but pizzed him off.You are paying for the name. Mailtrain
This may be like fertlizer. When the price was up the fertlizer co's bought then the price dropped and we won't buy it this year. I guess I am lucky to be able to use Delo 400 10 in the excavators.
They could have it made to their spec but if other oil meets their spec and a brand name I would use it.
I totally agree with trying to find an alternative to the expensive CAT oils. But for anyone who is not a petroleum chemist, this stuff is not that easy to figure out. Thanks for raising this topic again. I've spent many hours on oil company websites looking at spec sheets and usually come away without clear answers. I even picked up a copy of the Shell book that lists about a hundred lubricants and provides data sheets on them. A few months ago we also discussed this topic on the Lubrication Forum on this site. After that - failing to find anything guaranteed to be close to the CAT specs - I was back at CAT buying hydraulic and transmission oils. If anyone knows of cheaper but up to spec replacements for CAT HYDO and for CAT TDTO 30 weight transmission oil, I'm all ears.
That is high. I bought 5 gal of Cat oil a week or two ago for $60.50 plus tax. TFHYDO-5 10W.
Texaco, Shell, Mobile, and others all make technically compatible oils that meet or exceed Cat specs. I've used them all over the years with good results. I've used some Cat oils too -- mostly made by Mobile Oil -- but did not make it a practice for cost reasons. If you have a machine that is having issues with condensation or moisture in the hydraulic system, you better examine to see why that is happening. Most hydraulic reservoirs are vented and as hot as the oil usually gets, the moisture generally evaporates off during machine use. One reason why most hydraulic and other oils do not often have an expensive additive that absorbs water. It may be you have a bad vent, it’s missing altogether, or there is a leak somewhere that is allowing water in. I’d avoid cheap lubricants labeled from auto parts stores or coops, no telling what’s in them or who made the blend. I suppose if you have one machine that runs less than 200 hours a year they will work out. If you are in nearly daily production, use something better. Quinn is still paying on buying out those other dealers Pete, no discounts from them for you…..
Hi DPete, I know this is an old post but do you think you could let me know your supplier for your CAT hydraulic oil. I have been looking everywhere but was not able to find anything near our target price. Please let me know. Thanks
I find it amazing if your local Cat dealer does not have it in stock. If they were out they would most likely order it in from their nearest depot. Cat HYDO oil does have a different additive package than commercial hydraulic oil and you can double the recommended change interval compared to the manual recommendations if you use Cat oil vs commercial.
I am having good luck with a napa brand to-4 cat spec oil. I am buying 10 weight, and 30 weight in 5 gallon buckets. The price is generally around $75 per 5 gallon bucket with a business discount. I have used bobistheoilguy.com to find oil source info. I am having good luck with the napa brand motor oil too. 10w-40 diesel spec cat spec oil. $10.99 per gallon as of July 2014 with business discount. Specs match up with the other cat spec oil..... Any thoughts?
I forgot to mention the to-4 oil that I was referring to in 5 gallon buckets was hydo or hydraulic transmission oil. 10 weight for hydraulics, 30 weight for transmissions, and a 50 weight for final drives and swing gears.....
We pay between $7 & $8/gallon for all our oils except FDAO SAE60, that's closer to $10/gall.