I recently purchased a 1998 bobcat 863 high flow skidsteer and am servicing the machine and have been told many different opinions on the proper hydraulic fluid. Bobcat recommends there own hydrostatic /hyraulic fluid. I have freinds with similar machines who tell me that they use aw-32 on there machines witch is alot cheaper than the bobcat recommended hydrostatic fluid. Obvoisely the manufacterer will always say to use there product which is much more expensive. I have no problem purchasing ther hydrostatic /hydraulic fluid. Just looking for any recommendations from anyone with experience with this please and thank you your help is very much appreciated
I called Bobcat and they said any good quality AW-46 ( low foaming vs 32 ) fluid. I get mine at NAPA. So far so good the last 5 years.
Personally I would never use AW32 in a hydrostatic drive UNLESS I was constantly running in cold temps. The AW46 is a higher viscosity and should be good up to 100F ambient and usually works fine down to -20 or even colder as long as you start slow and warm it up some before going wild. YMMV, that's just me.
That depends on where you live and the time of year. When running AW46 here, even in the fall and spring, hydraulic systems are noticeably noisier until the machine warms up. That's with a bigger excavator; a skidsteer likely is much the same. AW32 may be a better choice if the machine will see cold weather. I just put AW32 in my Bobcat today and would not be comfortable with AW46 if operating in the colder part of the year.