Grease Fitting Froze

[pajoube]

Not sure what to do with the bottom center section ball bushing that is not getting grease. I changed the zerk fitting which did not help. It feels as though it is froze but not sure if that is possible, All other grease fittings are taking grease in normal fashion.
Any suggestions?
PJ

 

[J_J]

I have seen a tool that cleans out hard grease or rust from grease fittings. Don't remember where. You put a little bit of oil in this tube and place it on the grease fitting and strike with a hammer. the hydraulic pressure is supposed to blow out the obstruction.

I looked in my Northerns hydraulics book, and there it was, item # 403100=1401, or 403101-1401

Hope this will help you, good luck

J.J.

 

[Pacesetter300]

Hi, Gempler's in Madison, WI has a neat tool to unclog grease joints. Their web site is: www.gemplers.com The item number is 109643 and it's less than $40.

Hope this helps

Pacesetter

 

[toy]

Sometimes you can take a small wire and bur the end of it and take the grease fitting out and dig out enough of the hardened grease to get the grease fitting to take. The tool that the others tell you of sounds like it would be good to help with this problem. When you get it to taking grease , if it was me I would pump grease in it and work the joint and pump more grease in it until you have the joint flushed pretty good. If you could find a hose small enough to screw in to the grease fitting hole and a sleeve with a grease fitting in it , you could put pressure on the joint with your grease gun as someone moves the joint, be sure not to get in the pinch point.

 

[toy]

You have been using your mini hoe quite a bit, I was wondering if you hadbroke the grease fitting off that is up next to the bucket on the arms of it. If you have how did you get the old fitting out. I have one broke in mine. My smallest easy out is too small and the next size is just a little too big and the left hand drill bits that I have is not small enough. The next time I get to work on it I am going to use the point of a spade bit to see if it will grab it and spin it out, unless you have a better idea. The location of that fitting is in a bad place, beleive there will be a lot of broke fittings in it unless I put some kind of ring around it too protect it.

 

[pajoube]

I know of the location you speak of. So far it has not broken off and hope that it doesn’t. Not sure how to get out, let me know what worked for you.
PJ

 

[pajoube]

JJ and Pacesetter300,
Thanks for the links, appears to be the same tool at both places. I am going to be running the tractor today and will try a few different positions to see if I can get grease to flow, if not then will probably order and try this unit.
PJ

 

[J_J]

I forgot to mention, if the grease fitting is a 45 degree fitting, replace it with a straight grease fitting. If you use that tool that I mention on a 45, or 90 degree fitting, it may break off.

J.J.

 

[pajoube]

Thanks, I do have a 45 degree fitting on it now.
PJ

 

[RegL]

I have cleared a few frozen greese fittings by heating them up a bit with a propane torch and then pumping greese into them. If you set your tractor on fire call sedgewood for help. LOL.

 

[pajoube]

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
PJ

 

[Kaon99]

Pajoube,

I had the same problem on the same grease fitting. Two 8-hour service periods ago, I could not get any grease to go in. I made a note of it in my service log. This past weekend, I did another 8-hour service. When I tried putting gease in the bottom center zerk, as before, it wouldn't go in. Then I used both hands to pump the gease gun, and I felt a "pop" and the grease started to go in. Normally, I pump until I see some grease coming out of the bushing, so I continued to pump until I saw a little fresh grease coming out. Everything appears to be ok now. I will let you know if I discover anything more about the problem.

Ken in Mississippi

 

[pajoube]

Thanks Ken, that’s encouraging hearing that yours worked it out. I will continue to work on mine but so far it has not opened up. I fear that the two grease channels are out of line, which could be a major problem.
PJ

 

[BrianP]

Hi, I dont know if you can reach it with a drill???
I have seen a many grease fittings stop working on mowers. I take out the fitting, then use a small drill bit to clean out the hole.
NOTE. I have a clear site on the whole & use a small bit in order not to hurt the threads. old or hard grease or rust is the problem. I have done this many times and it fixs the problem. Again just watch the treads & you be fine.
Good luck Brian /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[pajoube]

Do you use a drill to bore out the hole? I do have a clear shot at the hole after taking out the zerk fitting. The tractor is only 3 months old with 75 hours on it. Do you think it could still have rust in such as short time?
Appreciate your assistance.
PJ

 

[toy]

I think Brian was talking about using a smaller bit than the hole to minimize the chance of damaging the threads. That is why I suggested using a small wire with a bur on the end to dig it out, a little more time consuming but it has worked for me before. The drill bit probably will work better using it with caution. When you do get it to taking grease again Brians advice to flush out the old grease is a good one. I also wipe off the grease fittings before pumping grease in to get the dirt of the fitting, and I flush out the joints that are exposed to the greatest contamination, maybe that is overkill I guess.

 

[MossRoad]

<font color="blue">I also wipe off the grease fittings before pumping grease in to get the dirt off the fitting </font>

Me, too. I figure if there is any dirt on the zerk I might pump it into the joint if I don't wipe it off first.

 

[pajoube]

Well, the grease is now flowing. I was doing my usual at 430am wide-awake thinking of projects and how to do them. Pondered the grease fitting and thought I would try changing the axis. I had moved the steering wheel in all positions but did not think about changing the axis, which I did today. Put the grease gun to her and she took all I could give.
Now that is a real relief.
PJ

 

[BrianP]

Glad to hear you got her taking the grease. I did mean a smaller bit than the whole. With out a clear shot I wouldnt take the chance either. Thanks for all your projects PICS by the way. Brian

 

[MossRoad]

Glad you got it working! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif