Speeco Blue Hydraulic fluid

[FlyingDutchman]

I have an older Speeco splitter I got used and the return hose jettisoned itself. Lost a ton of fluid in a hurry. It's blue in color. I'm thinking that it's Arctic grade oil for cycle times/winter starts. We have probably 15 cords to split yet, and a little more cycle time wouldn't hurt. It was a low hour machine before I got it.

Any idea what might be in there?

 

[Jhenderson]

I’m thinking you’re correct. The only blue hyd fluid I’ve ever seen is used in snowplows . Very low viscosity. I’d replace what you lost with AW46 hydraulic fluid and go back to work.

 

[kevin j]

I think the blue artic fluid used in snow plows is about ISO 22. I use 32 year around. 46 is good too if you split in summer.

 

[milkie62]

I have at times mixed DTE 24,26 & auto tranny fluid with no issues over 30 of use. A splitter I is not a complicated piece of hydraulics so complicated oils are not needed.

 

[milkie62]

Unfortunately alot of people with splitters think too much about their oil type and such. I have mostly switched to a Mercon type auto tranny fluid since I split alot in winter. Even with DTE 24 the cold oil wants to initially push the cylinder out until the oil warms up. I assume I must have a slight crack in the bottom of my tank since it leaks a little bit. So I just add when needed whatever hydro oil I have in the shed. Trust me after 30 yrs with no breakdowns whatsoever on my splitter and doing rounds up to 40" you will never have a problem. Used to be a machine tool mechanic and with that equipment you did need to use the oil spec'd for it but a splitter does not care. Do not make it more complicated than it is.

 

[FlyingDutchman]

You read my mind. Thinking about doing just that to maintain cycle times and cold start. I also can use ATF for my mini skid steer hydro fluid as well.

 

[CentaurG2]

From what I remember Mercedes Benz ATF is blue. Your splitter probably just has some dye added to make leaks easier to spot.

 

[Jhenderson]

From what I remember Mercedes Benz ATF is blue. Your splitter probably just has some dye added to make leaks easier to spot.

Where did you pull that idea from? No manufacturer dyes fluid for any purpose other than identification .

 

[CentaurG2]

Seems logical to me. Smack it with a UV light and see what happens. Simple enough experiment.

 

[sean donato]

So I'll put a thought in your bonnet. Different manufacturers spec oil, amd sometimes they spec a dye.... we had al old plow truck with centralized hydraulics, ie the plow functions ran off the pump in the truck. It ran a red died hydro fluid, but the outfitter speced an iso46 grade fluid. When asked they said it was 46 fluid and it was just what they bought. The color could mean nothing at all.

 

[Jhenderson]

In almost 50 years of hydraulic repair and maintainence I’ve never seen any dye from the manufacturer or supplier. AW hydraulic is clear whether it’s 32,46, or 60. Low temp plow fluid is blue. Boss was red early on but changed to conform with the industry. Nobody dyes hydraulic fluid for leak detection. Particularly on something as simple as a splitter.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

So I'll put a thought in your bonnet. Different manufacturers spec oil, amd sometimes they spec a dye.... we had al old plow truck with centralized hydraulics, ie the plow functions ran off the pump in the truck. It ran a red died hydro fluid, but the outfitter speced an iso46 grade fluid. When asked they said it was 46 fluid and it was just what they bought. The color could mean nothing at all.

Not sure why, but I've seen ATF used in hydraulic systems quite often.

It does make it easier to notice a leak.

I did some research on it and best I can come up with is that ATF is a premium hydraulic oil in that it's more of a multi-viscosity oil.

Around here, I can usually get a deal for AW32 at about $7.75 a gallon if I buy several pails. The regular price is around $13/gallon. Normally no issue to grab 5 or 10 pails.

I'm not sure they even carry pails of ATF.
Might have to check though, may help with cold operations.

 

[cumminstinkerer]

Case construction started sending all new machines out in the early 2000s with different dye in every different fluid, to the naked eye you couldn't tell but put a UV light on it and each different type would glow a different color. the really old Case/Poclain excavators used a fluid that was bright blue, we called it poky blood, maybe someone had some of it lying around and added it to the splitter.

 

[Jhenderson]

Or maybe it’s just plow fluid. When I see a pile of horse manure I don’t go looking for a zebra.

 

[FlyingDutchman]

If I go looking around my log splitter with a UV light gonna find more than just dye in my hydraulic fluid if you know what I mean.

 

[sean donato]

Another tid bit of info I picked off a guy from work, he used to work on air planes. They had different colors of hydro fluid for different circuits, so they could identify leaks faster. He said it was all the same fluid specs, just different colors depending on the circuit it was used in.

 

[Jhenderson]

When I’m splitting wood with my F15 I’ll keep that in mind.

 

[sean donato]

Point being color doesnt have jack to do with the type of fluid. And he also worked commercial flight, so no F15's for him.

 

[Jhenderson]

The point is the cost of anything aero related makes it a mute point for log splitter discussion.

 

[FlyingDutchman]

If I could find a 5 gallon bucket of plow or arctic hydraulic fluid reasonable I would. Thin fluid helps cycle times and yanking the cord on this pig below freezing usually rips the handle right off the pull cord even with the "plow fluid" if thats what it is. Anything thicker would shut me down from splitting below 32 degrees.

I did some work on a paint sprayer that had a cold start valve that made it start easier by essentially deadheading the line between the pump and the sprayer motor, won't work with the splitter. I couldn't believe it worked to help with cold starts based on the hydraulic schematics but it did.

Wish there was a similar, simple thing to do with the splitter that would help with cold starts besides a tank heater or an electric start motor.

Still don't have it up and running yet.