[68ragtop]

Anybody know if Mobil Hydraulic Oil DTE 11M has or can be substituted for something else? Want to change the hydraulic oil in a JLG scissors lift that says in both he manual & on the pump decal to use DTE 11M I was thinking I could just use a std hydraulic oil that is good for the cold weather here in Wisconsin, but this doesn't appear to be something anybody stocks. I am only finding 24, 25, 26, etc.

does the 11 just signify viscosity, or maybe something with friction & lubricant properties ? Can't even find anything on the Mobil website.

Any thoughts? Looks like I need about 6-8 quarts depending on how much oil I can get out of the steering system. Just want to change it for maintenance purposes.

Thanks, 68RT

[Sirrotica]

Here's a hydraulic oil cross reference for the Mobil spec, along with pricing:

https://petroleumservicecompany.com/...oss-reference/

If you still have questions, I would contact JLG tech service. When I was rebuilding a old JLG lift for the company I worked for in PA, they were very helpful.

I also did road service on many brands of aerial lifts as well as reach boom forklifts. Any time I had a question on JLGs I gave them a call and their people were very helpful answering technical questions on their products. When you're doing field service you can't have a service manual for each, and every machine you encounter.

Hope this is helpful.

[dataway]

Sirrotica are you familiar with any of the inspection requirements for commercial use of man lifts? I've got a excellent condition used "Nifty-Lyft" 34' articulated boom type. I just use it for personal use ... I've heard for commercial use they have to be re certified every ten years or something, including weld xrays etc. which is why a lot of companies dump them when they get that old, as the inspection is stupid expensive.

Some day I may want to sell it and I'm just curious what my potential audience might be.

[Sirrotica]

I used to inspect them for insurance companies to insure them, the requirement was every year, as required by OSHA.

There are visual inspections of welds, we never did any X rays, nor have I heard of any of those requirements.

The people that usually buy older lifts are small companies that then drop the yearly inspections. There is no government bodies that will follow up to check up whether the unit is being inspected, or not. The problems come when there is an accident, even when it's obviously operator error.

There was a electrical contractor that had never had his lift inspected that rented his Asplundh lift to a tree trimmer. The main lift cable failed while it was fully extended, and it crashed to the ground on top of a picket fence. The guy lived, and of course sued the electrical contractor for his injuries. The unit was a 1959 unit and at the time, was roughly 35 years old, never had a yearly inspection since Asplundh sold the lift. Big mess, I had to do an appearance before the attorneys, and answer questions of what I found following the post accident inspection as an expert witness. I never did have to go to court as I believe they settled out of court.

Problems like this is why the utility companies sever the booms before they sell off their aerial trucks, so they can't be held responsible in any capacity because they render the boom useless for it's intended purpose.

There is a huge area that is open to litigation when there is an accident even going back to the manufacturer of the equipment years after the unit leaves the factory. Anyone that has done any service work that is documented, will be called in by attorneys in the event of an aerial lift accident. Attorneys will sue every company that has serviced it and possibly the person, or entity who sold the unit to the current owner. There's plenty of liability to go around.

I've had people try to get me to work on their aerial lifts off the clock, and I refused to because of the liability factor. They could own me in the event of an accident, even when it's operator error.

My advice would be to forget about selling a lift unless you could have an inspection required by the buyer before that would give the unit a clean bill of health. I doubt even then you would be absolved from any responsibility.

[dataway]

Thanks for the info. I bought this unit when it was about three years old from a rental company. It's paid for itself already just using it around the farm. Wonderful thing to have around with a house that is 30 feet tall.

If and when I do ever sell it, it will be to a private individual ... and I'll give him no receipt Luckily it's not registered or anything in my name. I have to hide it on the property because if you can see it from the road people stop and want to rent it, or have me come do something for them ... I always explain, no insurance for that, so not a chance.

[68ragtop]

I called JLG, cannot talk to a real person unless your a dealer. so then I emailed service, they told me to go to a dealer to get the info.
Geez, that didn't get me very far.

I'll see if there is anybody at Mobil that can help. guessing not, but who knows

[68ragtop]

I did find this statement on amazon: Mobil DTE 10 Excel 15 was formerly Mobil DTE 11M.

Not sure if its true considering the source. Searched through Mobils website & found nothing on 11M ITs like it never existed. weird.

[Sirrotica]

Originally Posted by 68ragtop

I called JLG, cannot talk to a real person unless your a dealer. so then I emailed service, they told me to go to a dealer to get the info.
Geez, that didn't get me very far.

I'll see if there is anybody at Mobil that can help. guessing not, but who knows

Sorry that didn't work out for you, but it has been over 20 years since I talked to the JLG service reps. That's too bad that they decided to have no tech service any longer, because of all the lift companies I've had occasion to talk with, they truly had some of the best, most knowledgeable people that had actually worked on their machines of all the manufacturers out there. They didn't just sit in front of a computer screen with a troubleshooting tree, they had the manuals right there and could look up whatever you needed to know, if they didn't know the answer off the top of their head. Most times they knew the answer to your question as soon as you asked them.

The PSC link I posted: https://petroleumservicecompany.com/...oss-reference/ shows what other brands of hydraulic oils will interchange with the Mobil spec. Hydraulic oils, similarly like motor oil, can interchange as long as the viscosity is the same or similar. On our service trucks we only carried one universal hydraulic oil for all machines that used hydraulic oil, and 5 gallon pails of ATF that some manufacturers used as a hydraulic oil. That covered 99% of everything we worked on.

The viscosity needs to be thin enough that it will flow in winter temperatures so that the steering is able to react even when cold. In your part of the country that gets down to zero, or below, you need the correct viscosity oil. If the machine is used in a heated environment the viscosity is not as critical. Hydraulic oil doesn't get thinned out to the point it won't lubricate like motor oil does because of no internal combustion engine is heating it up, so you can run a thin oil as it doesn't get hot, especially in the steering system.

We sometimes had machines that were used in freezers that were 20F below zero, that we sometimes had to drain the regular fluid out, and replace it with a synthetic hydraulic oil so they would function. The viscosity isn't critical, unless it's used in an extremely cold environments.

[68ragtop]

Getting somewhere......

the DTE 11M was in fact replaced by DTE 10 Excel 15 I talked to a local oil supplier & they recommended Chevron Rando HDZ 15 (like is in the link you listed above)

The guy I talked to said the only difference is the Mobil DTE 10 Excel 15 is zinc free.
Not sure if that matters, or what the zinc does for that matter

Anyway, only bad news is I have to buy a 5 gallon pail of it if I go that route. It will be used in cold weather as well as warm, so for sure needs to be at most 15 weight I'm thinking?

[Sirrotica]

10, or 15 weight is what we used in rental machines that could end up anywhere, in any environment. We never had any oil related failures that I ever saw, or heard of.

Hydraulic oil doesn't have anywhere near the demands that motor oil does, so as long as everything is well lubricated it will work. Two things that will ruin a hydraulic system is dirt contamination, and being run low for fluid. The pump cavitates when fluid level is low and it raises hell with the valves and pumps when the air bubbles pop they can shatter metal parts.

In an aerial lift, air in the system can also lead to a drastic and catastrophic drop in the basket or platform, possibly injuring the person, and I have also heard of one death from a cylinder that had just been installed, but never properly cycled or bled to remove the air.

In your case you're dealing with a steering system that from the sounds of it, is isolated from the lifting portion of the unit, so not a critical point. Just make sure that upon refilling the system you cycle it side to side a couple times to remove air before driving it.

[68ragtop]

Its a single stage lift cylinder, with a piggy backed pump & reservoir all in one unit. then the hoses to the steering come off of that & controlled by a couple of solenoids. So shared oil through one pump. I figured it would be best to remove the hoses & move the cylinder manually each way to get out as much oil as I can. I will be sure to run the basket and steering empty a bunch of times to work out any air.

[Sirrotica]

Usually cycling a cylinder two time purges all the air, doing it more than that won't hurt anything though. Basket leveling slave and master is sometimes tougher to purge air from, lift cylinder is usually straightforward same as steering would be.