I Would like to respond to the article by Joe O'Neil about the new "all season, synthetic" tractor hydraulic fluid from Chevron ("A Fluid for All Seasons," April 2000, page 30). You quote Chevron's Jack A. Zakarian as stating that Chevron patented the product because "the formulation is so special." In fact the Chevron patent reveals that the product is no more "synthetic" than is the reformulated Castrol Syntec, i.e.. it apparently contains no true synthetic base oils and represents yet another example in a disturbing trend of taking advantage of the recent looseness in the definition of what constitutes a synthetic oil.

In addition, the opening statement of the article would have us believe that equipment operators have had no choice but to change fluids with the seasons, and that Chevron has recently saved the day with the introduction of All-Weather THF. Not only that; Mr. Zakarian states that the John Deere J2OC and the J20b specs could not both be met by one fluid until the introduction of Chevron THF.

In fact, Amsoil Inc. in Superior, Wis., has just such a product: Synthetic Tractor Hydraulic/Transmission Oil, ATH, which exceeds both the Deere specs, can certainly be considered "all weather." It is a true synthetic, and the product has been available for over 15 years!

Paul B. Buck
Industrial Chemicals & Lubricants Inc. Duluth, GA

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