Running hydraulics in the cold?

[TheBennyB]

This will be my first winter with my hydraulic machines. Any tips or things to watch while running in the cold? Is it even a good idea? Doesn't get real cold here mainly 30's during the day.

[Colin11123]

Probably not cold enough to warrant going to thinner oil but that would be about all you would need to worry about, if it's really cold would drop to a thinner grade oil. Also lipo batteries don't perform so well in the cold so keep them in the house until you are about to use them.

[TheBennyB]

Right on. Guessing it's not a bad idea to put the machine outside for a bit to temper the
running gear before use? With my tanks I have to do this or the metal idlers, sprockets, road wheels and track are still warm and melt any snow on them which then freeze once it gets cold and can cause bind up's if snow and slush start to accumulate and freeze up on the now cold metal.

[Efroeh]

Originally Posted by TheBennyB

Right on. Guessing it's not a bad idea to put the machine outside for a bit to temper the
running gear before use? With my tanks I have to do this or the metal idlers, sprockets, road wheels and track are still warm and melt any snow on them which then freeze once it gets cold and can cause bind up's if snow and slush start to accumulate and freeze up on the now cold metal.

You could try temper the machine in the cold. With hydraulics it's always a good idea to warm them up. Just do slow easy movements to get the fluid moving and starting to get up to operational temp. When I used to work service rigs I've seen on really cold winter days (-40 celsius) hydraulic winches and filters split in half from cold hydraulic fluid.

[TheBennyB]

Word, thanks for the responses.