How to Drain the Hydraulic Fluid in 853 and what Fluid to Use

[Greg19]

Please forgive me if this seems to be a stupid question as I am new to using a skid steer and don't want to destroy the machine. It has 1388 hours. I bought some Citgo AW46 Hydraulic oil and put in the machine since I had a hydraulic line leaking. I just read in a post that I should not use Hydraulic oil since it does not have the lubrication the Hydrostatic drive needs. How do I go about draining the Hydraulic fluid from the entire machine or should I just drain the tank. Also should I use 10W-30? Thank you Greg

 

[Greg19]

Sorry forgot to add the AW46 says: These oils offer optimum antiwear protection to pumps, motors, valves, and other hydraulic circuits. The oils are designed to provide maximum service life to these pumps as well as to other circuit components such as motors and servos. They are also anti-foaming. Can I just stay with the AW46 or should I just drain the tank and add 10W-30 to mix the two? Thanks Again Greg

 

[Tazza]

Sorry forgot to add the AW46 says: These oils offer optimum antiwear protection to pumps, motors, valves, and other hydraulic circuits. The oils are designed to provide maximum service life to these pumps as well as to other circuit components such as motors and servos. They are also anti-foaming. Can I just stay with the AW46 or should I just drain the tank and add 10W-30 to mix the two? Thanks Again Greg

Personally, i run 20W50 engine oil without any issues. I live in Australia, it never gets below freezing.
I know a guy that runs AW46 in his machine as he uses it in his excavator too, i advised him against it, but it's still running. I'd drain all the fluid you can and replace it with something thicker. Check your supply house to see if they have hydrostatic fluid, i wouldn't be too worried about the amount in the system that will be mixed together after you have drained all the AW46 that you could.