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122 Trans question

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JerrysCC122

JerrysCC122

Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2024
Messages
17
Location
Mid Michigan
Good Morning, I was poking around my machine last night (1965 122) and decided to check the trans oil/fluid at the fill plug in the rear. I was greeted with a waterfall of white, foamy crap. Yup....safe to say it's been stored outside forever and the trans is full of water. I'm guessing water got in to the breather hole up by the creeper lever. Anyway, I'm gonna ask it....THE question that rattles everyone......do I NEED Hytran fluid to flush and fill this unit or is there an "equivalent" until I can find where to get the Hytran? There...I said it :D TIA for any help.
 
JerrysCC102 said:
Good Morning, I was poking around my machine last night (1965 122) and decided to check the trans oil/fluid at the fill plug in the rear. I was greeted with a waterfall of white, foamy crap. Yup....safe to say it's been stored outside forever and the trans is full of water. I'm guessing water got in to the breather hole up by the creeper lever. Anyway, I'm gonna ask it....THE question that rattles everyone......do I NEED Hytran fluid to flush and fill this unit or is there an "equivalent" until I can find where to get the Hytran? There...I said it :D TIA for any help.
Click to expand...
NAPA premium hydraulic fluid is advertised as meets both John Deere and IH/Hytran specifications.
 
JerrysCC102 said:
Good Morning, I was poking around my machine last night (1965 122) and decided to check the trans oil/fluid at the fill plug in the rear. I was greeted with a waterfall of white, foamy crap. Yup....safe to say it's been stored outside forever and the trans is full of water. I'm guessing water got in to the breather hole up by the creeper lever. Anyway, I'm gonna ask it....THE question that rattles everyone......do I NEED Hytran fluid to flush and fill this unit or is there an "equivalent" until I can find where to get the Hytran? There...I said it :D TIA for any help.
Click to expand...
Gear drives don't care what ya put in them. Remove the rear cover plate, clean it up inside and fill it with what ever you want or have on the shelf.
 
I had the same glob problem and put paper towels in the bottom for a few days to soak up what eventually drained down to the bottom. Used a screwdriver to poke the shop towels in all the deep areas too. Seemed to soak up everything and I didn’t need to flush. Did prop up one side for a day and then the other the next day, and then got the rest after a few shots from the air compressor. I figure Hytran is a once in a lifetime purchase until my grandkids sell everything at grandpa’s auction. Plus I spend more than that restocking my garage fridge every month.
 
digger said:
Gear drives don't care what ya put in them. Remove the rear cover plate, clean it up inside and fill it with what ever you want or have on the shelf.
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Good to know. Especially since the manual says you can also use SAE30. I also read on a pulling page that you can use ATF. I have an infinite quantity of Dex6 at work...I may use that just for flushing purposes.
 
I'd at least make sure whatever you end up using is compatible with yellow metals, i.e. the bronze sleeve bearings for the axles. Some newer fluids are not. I wouldn't use ATF. If the pulling page is the one I am thinking of, there is a lot of info on it that is either wrong, misleading, or not a great idea for a tractor used as it was intended instead of as a puller.

I still personally would use Hytran. SAE 30 was dropped from the recommended fluids on the gear drives at some point. There may have been a reason for that. Hytran will deal with water intrusion better, and it is very clingy.
 
mgonitzke said:
I'd at least make sure whatever you end up using is compatible with yellow metals, i.e. the bronze sleeve bearings for the axles. Some newer fluids are not. I wouldn't use ATF. If the pulling page is the one I am thinking of, there is a lot of info on it that is either wrong, misleading, or not a great idea for a tractor used as it was intended instead of as a puller.

I still personally would use Hytran. SAE 30 was dropped from the recommended fluids on the gear drives at some point. There may have been a reason for that. Hytran will deal with water intrusion better, and it is very clingy.
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Dex6 is fully synthetic, and that is all I know. I did flush it out yesterday, and left it overnight with the drain plug out. My coworker said he might have some Hytran lying around at home...."Leftover stash from the 80's.". Ok LOL
 
digger said:
Gear drives don't care what ya put in them. Remove the rear cover plate, clean it up inside and fill it with what ever you want or have on the shelf.
Click to expand...

Given that these are garden tractors and not top fuel dragsters, I agree with you. I think basic lubrication and rust prevention are the primary goals, and nothing in the diff is moving at any great speed. They may have removed 30W from the recommended fluids but they're also in the business of selling Hytran :). Basic 30W should be compatible with the materials in the diff too.

That said, I've got and use Hytran, but the cost of it is almost the same as what I paid for my 122!
 
jbrewer said:
Given that these are garden tractors and not top fuel dragsters, I agree with you. I think basic lubrication and rust prevention are the primary goals, and nothing in the diff is moving at any great speed. They may have removed 30W from the recommended fluids but they're also in the business of selling Hytran :). Basic 30W should be compatible with the materials in the diff too.

That said, I've got and use Hytran, but the cost of it is almost the same as what I paid for my 122!
Click to expand...
I read a lot about this. And I mean A LOT. I came to the same conclusion. Anything is better than the foamy white slop I drained out of it....all THIRTEEN quarts. She's been draining for 2 days now. Since I get a discount at my local O'Really auto parts, I got a jug of their Premium Onionversal Tractor Fluid. Somewhere on the back it says "Hytran blah blah spec." Good 'nuff for me.
 
mgonitzke said:
I would pull the rear cover and clean everything up good before you put new fluid in. There will be a lot of goopy stuff in there that did not drain out that needs to be cleaned out.
Click to expand...

I agree. A trip to tractor supply can lead to a big supply of gasket paper and it's pretty easy to make a gasket for the rear cover. With the rear plate off, and a roll of paper towels you can clean a lot of junk out of there.

I think that red stuff inside used to be called Glytol/Glyptal ?
 
jbrewer said:
I agree. A trip to tractor supply can lead to a big supply of gasket paper and it's pretty easy to make a gasket for the rear cover. With the rear plate off, and a roll of paper towels you can clean a lot of junk out of there.

I think that red stuff inside used to be called Glytol/Glyptal ?
Click to expand...
Correct. It's a sealing varnish for motor windings. But, it also works good inside gearboxes and the lifter valleys of engine blocks to shed oil back to the sump area quickly. It's usually chemical proof though. We have a multi-purpose solvent at work I want to use. There's one parts website that sells the gasket cheap.
 

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