Switching grease and pondering compatibility issues
- Thread starter Tornado
- Start date
Goz63
Well-known member
Equipment
Kubota L2501, LA525 loader, QH15,Land Pride RCR1860, BB2560, SGC0660, forks
I looked at those. You can buy just the locking tip as well. About $25 on Amazon. Have you used one? My concern is it looks kinda long. Can you get it in all the places on the tractor? Some areas are space limited.
I slip an old cotton sock over my grease gun barells to contain any drips. When they get bad I have plenty of old holey socks to replace them. Works for me and it's cheap.
BTW…. when I buy a new grease gun (or refurbish an old one)…. I clean the outside of the barrel with solvent (acetone or mek works good) and paint a colored band around the barrel and then use a Pilot-Marker to label what type grease is inside that gun.
(My Moly greasegun has a Kubota orange band around it labelled “moly”. My general-purpose lithium red-grease gun has a Red band around it labelled “lithium”. My boat-trailer wheel bearings greasegun is painted green…the same color as the grease…. and labelled “marine”, etc etc. They all hang upside down inside that 5 gal bucket.)
I found a HF copy of the Lok-n-load for $17 and it works good.
Hope this helps with ideas.
(My Moly greasegun has a Kubota orange band around it labelled “moly”. My general-purpose lithium red-grease gun has a Red band around it labelled “lithium”. My boat-trailer wheel bearings greasegun is painted green…the same color as the grease…. and labelled “marine”, etc etc. They all hang upside down inside that 5 gal bucket.)
I found a HF copy of the Lok-n-load for $17 and it works good.
Hope this helps with ideas.
I have never said anywhere that I only grease once a year, so not sure why you mention that here. I grease more regularly than owners manual calls for actually. The issue is I simply have a single tractor, and only do about 50-100 hours per year on it. I live on 13 acres, not a farm where I am using the tractor every day. I often go several weeks at a time without ever using the tractor for anything. I prefer to use greases that dont leak. Some are known to leak over time, others do not leak. I prefer ones that do not. There are lots of good greases out there. Some that leak are good, I never said they werent good, just that I dont want to use them.
Anyways thanks all for the replies I think the topic has been exhausted. I will take my research with some of the feedback here and make a decision.
EDIT: The lock n load head is great. Ive used it since day one.
While that original-post statement does not equal to only greasing once per year…. it implies that you grease only occasionally … and that is why I suggested that you find and use a more commonly available grease … you started this thread to address the fact you can’t find your previous grease… a more common brand-name and type will alleviate that difficulty was my suggestion.
No intent to enflame…. it’s just the way I read your comment.
BTW, incompatible greases can prevent proper lubrication as they do not blend… they separate which leads to galling and scoring. Incompatible and improper grease has contributed to tragedies. Alaska Airlines Flt 261 crashed (93 killed) due to improper maintenance and one of the factors was incompatible grease. AS33 grease by itself would be fine. Mobilgrease 28 by itself would be fine. But if mixed the two incompatible greases contributed to excessive wear of the trim jackscrew.
From the report: ““Over the course of the investigation, the NTSB considered a number of potential reasons for the substantial amount of deterioration of the nut thread on the jackscrew assembly, including the substitution by Alaska Airlines (with the approval of the aircraft manufacturer McDonnell Douglas) of Aeroshell 33 grease instead of the previously approved lubricant, Mobilgrease 28.”
While regular inspections should have caught this excessive wear the inspections were also inadequate and were blamed as the primary cause, …. and while either AS33 or Mobilgrease28 alone would lubricate .…. the incompatible greases mixed together accelerated the wear.
If you change types of grease then remove ALL the old grease and replace with the new to avoid incompatibility.
Hope this helps.
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Pau7220
Well-known member
Equipment
L3650 GST, Landpride TL250 FEL w/ Piranha, 6' King Kutter, GM1084R Finish
I knew this was coming.......
So any time you buy any new or used piece of machinery, it must be disassembled to clean all grease from every lube point.... because you never know what type of grease the factory or the previous owner used.
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Russell King
Well-known member
Equipment
L185F, Modern Ag Competitor 4’ shredder, Rhino tiller, rear dirt scoop
Rototiller bearings =no
Front axle = no idea what is there but probably ok
Zero turn mower = no
PTO shaft = no
Bearings will probably skid (rolling element not rotating but sliding). Element gets flat spot, bearing fails early. Early may be ten years from now or 10 months but still fails.
Tornado…. if you want only ONE grease for EVERYTHING… then select a major-brand general purpose NLGI#2 Lithium grease. You can use that on all bearings, pins, bushings, front end loaders etc etc etc. While “moly” is better for sliding bushings and pins…ordinary lithium grease will also suffice for that…. (and is likely why Kubota wants you to grease it every ten hours …because they have no idea what kind of grease you will actually choose in that service. BTW…. does Kubota mean every ten hours of TRACTOR operating time? or FEL operations? (wink)
Anyway…. you want to simplify your greasing chores? Get a good quality name brand lithium grease and use it everywhere and often.
Anyway…. you want to simplify your greasing chores? Get a good quality name brand lithium grease and use it everywhere and often.
Appreciate your suggestions. I personally would prefer a single grease option, simply because Im not someone who is out using his equipment all the time, as I have said. Running 2 seperate greases for example means Id prolly have tubes sit in the gun for 2 years before I used them all. Again this is not because I dont grease but because Im only putting 50-100 hours or so on the tractor per year. My rototiller (which I JUST bought and is brand new woohoo!) I will use it a few times per year to seed some grass seed, or plant my garden in the spring, etc. Of course I will grease as called for, and every time I use the rototiller, but still my hours are just so low, it still takes a while to use a tube of grease.
I have the Schaeffer's 238 on hand now but have not used it yet. I've still been pondering. I think I may actually end up going with lithium or something, even though I've already bought the 238 Schaeffer's. I may just buy a 2nd gun and run the 238 strictly for loader pens and stuff on the FEL, even though Id prefer 1 grease.
I hear you tornado. I have the second power grease gun, and tubes of 274 sitting in the cabinet, I just haven't brought myself to making the switch to using two different types either. I just keep using R&T. I know one size doesn't fit all but....
Maybe the fact im too lazy to switch to two types incentivizes me to grease more frequently with single haha
Maybe the fact im too lazy to switch to two types incentivizes me to grease more frequently with single haha
If you are using the Schaeffers 238 “ulta supreme”…. THAT is an “aluminum complex” grease and SHOULD NOT be mixed with lithium greases. Further, it contains “moly”…and should NOT be used on roller or taper bearings. It actually has limited-purpose uses for that reason.
I’m disappointed in Schaeffers’ promotional material which is described by them as “Technical Data” …. as it specifically says this: “The molybdenum disulfide and solid lubricant package allows the Ultra Supreme to act as a “backstop” lubricant when the grease base is either destroyed or wiped away due to unexpected loads, start-up or other conditions which can exceed the capabilities of the grease base’s fluid film lubrication.“
That statement was posted AFTER they’d made all their brags about how good their grease is. QUESTION: If their grease is THAT good….. Then WHY do they subsequently brag about how protective it is as a “backstop”….. AFTER IT BREAKS DOWN?
There’s a warning-flag there in my opinion.
nbryan
Well-known member
Equipment
B2650 BH77 LA534 54" ssqa Forks B2782B BB1560 Woods M5-4 MaxxHaul 50039
I think your chart may be outdated regarding the polyurea grease type. Incomplete at best.
Shear-stable polyurea based greases like Lucas X-tra HD are compatible with almost all other greases, only borderline with barium complex greases.
yeah im not up to speed on the latest developments in grease. I just pasted the first thing that came up on google.
Yes, I agree. Wide compatibility is partly why I like the polyurea greases like that Lucas X-tra and the JD TY6341.
As to those tables, there are lots of those grease compatibility tables and more than a few are just advertising. Nobody is surprised anymore to find the internet lends itself to data manipulation.
Below is an interesting article on how grease compatibility can be measured more technically, and some examples of how to construct relatively unbiased grease compatibility tables as well.
As with all of these things, compare it with your own education & understanding of the science involved.
rScotty
Elliott in GA
Well-known member
Equipment
LX 2610SU w/535,LP RCR1860,FDR1660,SGC0554,FSP500, DD BBX60005
I thought Messicks covered all of this pretty well - use Polyurea High Temp grease for everything (unless you have something unusual).
They do put on a good video, and in an entertaining way that I enjoy too. But now I'm curious because there in now a new generation of mechanical guys who are way different from my older generation...
I think we all know that lubrication is a pretty scientific and technical issue that is much studied by some pretty smart people with a lot at stake. In fact, I once worked building hard drives for a guy who had a PhD in "grease and ball bearings" is how he put it.
I'm saying there is a LOT known about friction and chemistry that applies to grease & all lubricants.
Messicks are great guys, but their field isn't science. Their field is opinion and salesmanship. That makes them good guys, but they don't offer any references for their opinions. No background or experiments. They just state their own opinions as truths like they were peer-reviewed facts handed down from on High.... instead of what they really are..... which is just personal opinions. We all have those.
That doesn't bother you? Actually, like I said....I'm just curious. It doesn't bother me either; I like their videos. But liking their dog and pony show show doesn't mean I believe them.
rScotty
(I don't believe Spiderman either, but I do believe in his Aunt May)
Elliott in GA
Well-known member
Equipment
LX 2610SU w/535,LP RCR1860,FDR1660,SGC0554,FSP500, DD BBX60005
It is hardly just some opinions by some salesmen. They have training from industry groups and manufacturers plus decades of experience (including their service shop employees). They buy their products from people that only sell that type of product.
I see the same kind of thing on the boat forum I visit. People ask what type of oil to use in their marine engines, and various members start posting about this oil or that oil. The members that are actually employed in the boat industry, many as techs, all say use the recommended Yamaha oil.
Appreciate the replies. Ive seen all the above charts on compatability and the messicks video I saw a long time ago. Grease is just another one of those things where you get 500 opinions when you start asking, so it often doesnt help to ask. Im going to just follow my own research and come up with something. I still havent used the 238 schaeffers on anything and wont until I figure out what Im going to do.