I'm find it very difficult to grease the u-joint that is next to the gearbox. There is not enough room inside of the u-joint to attach the grease gun coupler to the grease fitting. The only way that I can do it is to take the driveline off of the gearbox and then I'm able to open up the u-joint and access the grease fitting. This is not something that I want to do every 8 hours. Any ideas on how to grease it without taking off the driveline?
RCR1872 Rotary Cutter
- Thread starter jim0316
- Start date
Unless operating at severe angle, U joints require very little grease.
I grease drive line U joints each fall upon mower removal.
SDT
Yeah, I have an RCR1884 and although overall it's an excellent cutter, Land Pride didn't even spend 5 seconds thinking of how to make maintenance easier for the end-user. I've greased the u-joints and the moronic plastic housing "journal bearings" but I can't remember which adapter I used. I have an OTC grease gun adapter kit that I use for various fittings.
Quick Connect Greasing Accessory Kit | OTC Tools
Maybe you shouldn't grease them and then send SDT the bill for new u-joints when they come apart.
I've probably greased the u-joints on the old King Kutter every 2 years and they are nice and tight. I'll split the bill with SDT
Bmyers
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Equipment
Grand L3560 with LA805 loader, EA 55" Wicked Grapple, SBX72 BB, LP 1272 mower
You are not alone. The joint next to the gear box is a bear and I end up with more grease on me than in the u-joint. Everything else can be greased with little effort.
What has that got to do with this discussion? The u-joints on the Land Pride rotary cutters are not sealed and therefore require grease. How often they should be greased as a function of hours used is the topic we're discussing. Land Pride recommends adding grease to the u-joints every 8 hours of use.
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I have the 1860, so not sure if the pto shaft is different, but have no problem accessing that fitting.
Hard to get a picture of.
Hard to get a picture of.
There will be no bill.I've probably greased the u-joints on the old King Kutter every 2 years and they are nice and tight. I'll split the bill with SDT
Been following stated practice on dozens of mowers for decades. Never a failed U joint.
Other zerks such as tail wheel spindle and tail wheel axles (if bushings) are greased after every use.
SDT
Entirely relevant.
Note caveat regarding angle in earlier post.
Indeed, if angle is zero, there is no movement in U joint and grease is needed only to retard corrosion.
SDT
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What exactly do you mean by "sealed"? Every agricultural and automotive u-joint I've ever seen has rubber seals between the cross and caps to keep moisture and dirt out and to help retain grease. Some aren't regreasable as in the case of most OEM automotive u-joints. As long as the seals are intact, the initial fill of grease will keep the needle bearings happy. Adding more every 8 hours simply pushes more grease past the seals and flings it all over your equipment. I'll stick with what has worked well for me for decades like SDT
Sealed as in grease can't get in or out. Lots of u-joints are sealed these days.
Nope. Totally irrelevant since grease is able to get in and more importantly out of the u-joints. In case you didn't know, the needle bearings inside the end cap rotate inside the cap, hence the need for grease. You do what you want to do and maybe those of us that paid for the implement will do something different.
Typical response from you by the way. The OP asks "how do I follow the manufacturer's guidelines and get grease into the u-joint" and rather than answer the simple question you come back with the bible according to SDT with "it doesn't need to be greased more than once a year" with no consideration or knowledge of how much it's used or how often. Do you know who made the u-joints in the OP's cuttrer, the quality, the longevity or how much testing Land Pride did to arrive at their recommendation? Nope!
At the end of the day, everybody just does whatever makes them sleep more peacefully. May we all rest in peace. To the OP, if pulling the shaft apart is the only way to get grease in the u-joint, then it looks like you'll be doing just that every 8 hours. You could try some different angled fittings or cutting a bigger access hole or investing in a different, more easily serviced PTO shaft assembly.
Yep.
I expect that I know much more about (pick a topic upon which I have commented) than you expect.
That said, I expect that Land Pride did no testing at all regarding frequency of U joint lubrication. Still, what is stated in the manual is much the same as I would have written had I written the manual. The reasons for such, however, have little to do with U joint longevity.
As you have now escalated your responses into into areas that you appear to know little about, e.g., little or no rotation of needle bearings if drive line operating at zero (or near zero) angle as is usually the case when operating a three point rotary cutter, I ask if you have watched closely when greasing U joints? The U joint spider is cross drilled to supply grease to each of the four needle bearings from a single zerk in the spider. The grease takes the path of least resistance which is determined by several factors. In most cases grease is expelled from only one (sometimes two) needle bearing dust seals rather than all four. Accordingly, greasing a U joint usually adds grease to only one or two needle bearings.
I will indeed continue to follow proven practice that has served me well for decades with my equipment.
I have no problem at all with others greasing their U joints as often as they like but informing folks that doing so is unnecessary is, no doubt, appreciated by some.
SDT
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@mcfarmall, thanks for that post. That's all the OP was asking ... how to achieve his desired objective, not listen to a bunch of "I know more about everything than everyone else dogma".
"I expect" ... seriously, so no actual knowledge, just a suspicion. And despite "knowing" why Land Pride recommends an 8 hour greasing schedule because you always know such things, and despite that fact that you didn't write the manual, you have no doubt that you would have done a much better job of it.
"... [D}espite that fact that you didn't write the manual, you have no doubt that you would have done a much better job of it."
When did I say that?
SDT