Hello, I have a 1971 International backhoe. The previous owner told me that it was a hydrostatic trans and the machine came with a hydro maintenance manual, but I do NOT believe that it has a hydro in it. I have a speed selector for gears 1-4 and after removing the floor plate I can see a lockout mechanism that prevents switching from forward to reverse without using the clutch. Everything I have read about hydros tells me that I should only have one speed forward and one in reverse and that these are infinitely variable whereas my tractor very clearly has 8 speeds in each direction (1-4, hi-lo). I have a small hydraulic leak somewhere under the seat that I want to ignore until later in the summer when my clay yard turns to concrete and I pull the hoe off to replace some lines and the tower block (if that's what it is even called. the irreplaceable upper block that attaches the boom to the tractor, with the nearly stripped teeth). In the meantime I need to add some fluid but at $100 for a 5 gallon pail, i'm not eager to piddle Hy-tran all over the place. Does a non hydrostatic machine require Hy-tran? The previous owner included a bucket of universal fluid but I don't see International listed in the compatibility list. Unfortunately I have been adding that fluid (I didn't know any better at the time) and since the previous owner claims to have done a recent oil change, I think it is safe to assume that the lower cost universal is what he has used. So, what fluid do I need to be using, and do I need to panic now about the potentially incorrect fluid?
Hy tran is for wet brakes and clutches, not hydrostatic. If you have a dry clutch, and dry brakes, then you don't need hytran, but what do you have? Is this a combined hydraulic and manual transmission oil?
I have been told that they are combined. But I was also told that I have a hydrostatic trans. Aside from the engine itself I have only found one place to check and fill oil and that is a large dipstick hole down in front of the seat.
I'm not familiar with your model# Hy tran was formulated to be universal fluid. It lubricates, and has friction modifiers so wet brakes don't sound like you are grinding gears. By my thinking the most important is the additives that lift water away from harming the machine, and hold it in suspension so when you drain, it drains. There are numerous other additives in Hy-Tran you may not need. I have OCD only to the point of wondering if when facing a huge repair, could I have avoided it with the correct oil. In my crawler I just bought, I don't know what was put in. When I drained it it was black!! I went out and bought Tractor Supply oil at half the cost to run briefly. I'll change filters, and use Hy-Tran soon.
This is what I would like to do but I am fearful that non hytran oil is going to ruin my day before I park it this summer to replace the bad hydraulic hoses. All that I know about hydraulic systems internally is that I don't want to get personal with them.
Hy-tran is an old Case spec, your IH was built long before Case and IH got in bed together. Like somebody said, Hy-tran has nothing at all to do with hydrostatic transmissions. Case developed it to work in HYdraulics and TRANsmissions It's main attribute is that it is good for wet brakes. Btw, the transmission you are describing is not hydrostatic, the hydrostatic IHs I saw had a pedal for forward and reverse, the farther down you pushed it, the faster you went.
Half mile from me throuout childhood was an IH dealer. They had stacks of Hy-Tran with the big IH emblem. My first Case machine was a 1988 580K backhoe. The manuals for it called for Case TCH fluid. I believe the specifications were virtually the same. By 1971 I was assembling lawn and garden tractors for them.
I didn't know IH sold Hy-Tran also, but Case has used it for many years. According to my Case service manual, your hoe should have called for TCH in the hydraulic system, and Hy-Tran Ultra, (the newer spec), in the drive system. But, regardless, I was agreeing with you that Hy-tran is not just a hydrostatic oil. It is important to use with Case wet brakes, since the wrong oil has a history of making the linings separate, and the water handling characteristics are great also.
Chad; here are a couple of links you will no doubt find interesting for your 3400. http://www.tractordata.com/backhoe-loader/000/1/2/126-international-harvester-3400a.html http://www.tractorforum.com/f192/ih-3400a-backhoe-new-me-21000/ and another ----- HeavyEquipmentForums Also do a Google search for IH 3400 and you will find enough reading to keep you busy for quite a while.
I checked the Tractor Data site. Better scrap it. Your digging depth is only inches, reach from swing pin center is only inches. Seriously, it looks like a nice tractor. From the era I was very partial to the 1414 tractor with loader, and hoe. It was powered by a BD154 engine used in the 414 farm tractor. The owner of the IH dealer would recruit me as a teenager to help with landscaping. We had a "Fork" device that replaced the bucket. With it we could lift a 5x6' patch of earth supporting several small trees, or one larger one. We turned an acre of his front lawn into a forest. He also had a single axle flatbed dump they moved tractors on I loved to drive.
A little brake info for you Chad if you need to work on them. HeavyEquipmentForums Sky King hasn't posted anything for quite some time, but he posted a lot of info for your tractor.
I've been reading some of his posts. Lifting the engine out of the way to replace the clutch is one of particular interest to me. Thanks for the links.