Hydraulic oil additive I laughed at just saved our cutterhead

Last month our shop foreman swore by some additive for the swing gear hydraulics, and I figured it was snake oil. We run a 14-inch cutterhead on the Mississippi and had a persistent knock that two filter changes didn't touch. He dumped a quart in and told me to run it hard for 3 days straight. By day 2 the knock was gone and the pressure gauge stopped dancing around. I still don't fully trust the stuff, but I'm keeping a spare bottle in the truck now. Anyone else had a product like that actually prove itself on the job?

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martin.vera11d ago

Gear oil and hydraulic oil are two different animals though. The swing gear on most cutters runs on gear lube, not hydraulic fluid, so if he dumped a quart of hydraulic additive into the gear case you got lucky, because that stuff can foam up and cook a gearbox if the seals are old. The knock going away was probably the additive thickening things up just enough to quiet the backlash, which is fine short term but it can hide a bearing that's about to let go. Not saying it didn't work, just that quiet is not the same as fixed. Get somebody to pull the cover and check the gear teeth when you get a slow day.

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