plow hydraulic fluid

my plow pump(monarch electric,cab mounted) says to use only sae 10w fluid. its tough to find. i see in conversion charts that it crosses in industrial numbers to iso 32. my question is; is that the same as aw32? i think i read that somewhere but cannot find it again. aw32 is available all over the place but i can only find iso 32 in 5 gallon buckets. hate to spend 40 bucks when i can buy a gallon of aw32 for 11. any help?

 

I got a Monarch pump on my dump trailer, I use transmission fluid in it. Find Monarchs number and call them, see what they say.

 

tractor transmission/hydro is 10 weight.

 

Would old fluid cause slow operation after a period of use? Mine lifts fine at first, after 20 minutes or so it gets sluggish and more rpm's are needed to get it to lift. Maybe a drain and refill of Hy-tran is in order?

 

Most guys that plow a lot have dual batteries on there trucks and a high output alternator. After a lot of plowing, you battery will run down since there is a lot of draw to run the motor on the plow pump. When plowing the engine of your truck/jeep is not running at a high RPM, thus alternator output is down and the alternator will not replace the voltage taken from the battery. Battery becomes weak and things slow down. If the electric motor on the plow pump is worn a little too, it will draw more voltage. Do your lights dim, heater fan slow down when you run your plow motor? I would look at it as a electric issue. Changing the fluid will not hurt and see if there is a filter any where too. I have been told a motor on a plow pump is just a starter motor. Take it to a auto parts store and see if they will test it and see what your amp draw is.

 

Uhhhhh, belt driven hydraulic pump here. No amps, ohms, or volts required..............Gonna change out the fluid this spring.

 

Good belt or belt slipping?

The next idea only works if your vehicle is keep in a heated garage
Do you have the right fluid in the pump, after plowing the fluid may cool down and become thicker using more power to move it.

 

Don't get enough snow around here to plow, but have delt with hydraulics a bit. Running hydraulic equipment will cause the oil to heat up, especially if the oil runs through by-pass valves. If the pump is worn, the oil hot, the hydraulics will be slow and sometimes not operate at all.

Solution(s)- rebuilt pump, use higher weight oil (temp fix), or put in an oil cooler (also a temp fix).

I could be and probably am all wet as I've never used a snow plow.

 

I have the same problem with the pump on my Jeep. Lifts very well when cold and performs worse when warmed up. I tried changing the fluid, I used ATF; that was all I had at the time. The condition did not worsen or improve. Does anyone have a photo of their Monarch pump? I want to compare it with mine to see if that is what I have. Also, it would appear the pulley on mine was replaced, it looks too small. It's only about 3 1/2" in diameter. Thanks

 

here are pics of my belt driven pump: i would say it is a 3 1/2" diameter pulley but it only controls flow a bigger pulley will flow less and the pressure will remain the same as there is a relief valve but the load on the engine will decrease with a larger pulley on the pump
i run power steering fluid in place of 10w, atf has additives that are undesirable and at least castrol power steering fluid is SAE 10w http://www.castrol.com/liveassets/b...wnloads/a/AU_Castrol_Power_Steering_Fluid.pdf