Grease shortage

[Hay Dude]

Hey, we have you beaten on that one as there is a ditchweed dope "dispensary" on about every street corner here. You can pull up to about any stoplight with your windows down and smell somebody smoking that crap, or go into any store and pass by somebody just reeking of it. It's kind of spooky when you go into a place where the people there really shouldn't be smoking dope such as an electrical supply house, truck stop, or a gun store and you smell it. I swear at least as many people are smoking dope now as smoked cigarettes when I was a kid, and when I was a kid you could still smoke cigarettes just about everywhere.

The only thing I've ever done with ditchweed is spray it with Grazon and 2,4-D to get rid of it in fields because, well, it's a noxious weed.

Maybe if we figure out how to make grease out of ditchweed we'll solve the shortage

Now that’s what I call “progressive”.

 

[Hay Dude]

A fire that levels a grease manufacturing plant will put a dent into the supply chain....

Chemtool fire causes potential grease shortage

That was the excuse in 2021.
Supplies rebounded since then, but are now in shortage mode again.

 

[ruffdog]

That was the excuse in 2021.
Supplies rebounded since then, but are now in shortage mode again.

From what I hear, Chemtool is not "rebounding". Without new plants to fill the void, the supply chain is still strained and susceptible to shortages.

 

[ruffdog]

Here is a story about the industry still being plagued by the supply chain issues of 2 years ago:

Global Grease and Grease Tube Shortage? All you need to know - AET Systems

"Another shortage plaguing the grease industry is the shortage of polyurea thickeners. Polyurea is used extensively for thickening long life greases, rated for life greases, and electric motor bearing grease. Shortages and the specialty of polyurea grease have led many manufacturers to drop their polyurea grease products or have them very limited stocks."

 

[ruffdog]

Here is another article talking about the Polyurea shortage and what caused it:

Addressing Grease Shortages Starts with Soap Thickeners | Chevron Lubricants (US)

"In order to achieve long life, polyurea greases tend to be more complex to produce, and therefore, more expensive. However, a massive fire in June 2021 devastated a third party manufacturing facility that accounted for most of the polyurea produced in the U.S., resulting in a shortage and leaving long-time users scrambling for compatible alternatives."

 

[3930dave]

Here is another article talking about the Polyurea shortage and what caused it:

Addressing Grease Shortages Starts with Soap Thickeners | Chevron Lubricants (US)

"In order to achieve long life, polyurea greases tend to be more complex to produce, and therefore, more expensive. However, a massive fire in June 2021 devastated a third party manufacturing facility that accounted for most of the polyurea produced in the U.S., resulting in a shortage and leaving long-time users scrambling for compatible alternatives."

Very on-point, but I can't help think of that other high-action thread at the moment........ Signs We Won't Make It .

> One < factory goes down, and takes down the continent ?

How many times do we have to see this ? We (the West) have choke-regulated all our Industry to the point of..... If we can't buy it from China, we can't get it.

If we shut off these Industrial supplies, we won't be able to grow Food...... Wait ! Sorry Hay, I keep drifting back to that Other Thread.....

Rgds, D.

 

[ruffdog]

Very on-point, but I can't help think of that other high-action thread at the moment........ Signs We Won't Make It .

> One < factory goes down, and takes down the continent ?

How many times do we have to see this ? We (the West) have choke-regulated all our Industry to the point of..... If we can't buy it from China, we can't get it.

If we shut off these Industrial supplies, we won't be able to grow Food...... Wait ! Sorry Hay, I keep drifting back to that Other Thread.....

Rgds, D.

That is what we get when we only have the few companies seeking very high profit margins. The big guys also have to eliminate any competition too....then a plant fire or ?

 

[Robin Veerman]

Amsoil grease supplies have been fairly good, whenever I needed some. Usually only a tube or three for me though. The Multi-purpose is in short supply right now, but the Synthetic Polymeric Truck #1/2 grease or the Synthetic Polymeric Off-road #1/2 grease seems available right now. Might be worth a shot if you can’t find what you need. Ships pretty quickly, even up here in Canada. Just check the compatibility chart posted earlier to check against your current grease. (see post #19)

https://www.amsoil.com/c/bearing-chassis-grease/28/?zo=331384

 

[ultrarunner]

I

I spoke with a couple other farmers in my area. Both told me what I already (kinda) knew.
Stock up in the winter.

You would think grease would be something that the manufacturers would have plenty of during the warmer months when its more in demand, but I guess thats the downside of Capitalism????

don’t know if Capitalism or more a function of lack of competition and/or high bar for newcomer entry.

In any industry competition often brings down price and spurs innovation.

Just look how EV has changed with Tesla entry worldwide?

 

[Williy]

Hay-Dude perhaps you can find something here to fit your needs???

Robot or human?

willy

Don't ask me how that above happened it was suppose to be this:
www.walmart.com/search?q=grease

 

[zzvyb6]

This post brought back a memory of a weird incident from the past. My wife (R.I.P.) dropped off a strawberry filled jelly donut for me at the barn on her way to work. I was prepping the hay mower with all its dozens of Zerks. I took a bite out of the donut and then noticed a strawberry jelly blob on my white tee shirt (no it wasn't a barbeque stain, sorry). I quickly wiped it up and expected to enjoy the fresh home made jelly blob, but it was not jelly.
I can still taste it after all these years...

 

[Yander]

Rural King has this on sale. I bought 8 today. Will last me a while

 

[jd110]

Will John Deere corn head grease work? It is softer than the Ty6341 polyurea and is also a polyurea thickened grease. Part number is AN102562. Not sure of availability at deere but Amazon shows case of 10 for $84.71

 

[English Rugby Fan]

Excellent article thanks.
one good explanation is a lifetime of understanding.

 

[agburnsky]

Kubota #70000-10701 14oz High-Performance Polyurea Multi-Purpose Grease​

Kubota polyurethane multi purpose grease seems to be available, I googled it and a well know kubota dealer (Messicks) says they have over 1000 in stock.

 

[Doz]

If your using in a auto greaser why wouldn’t you buy a five gallon bucket!

 

[Hay Dude]

If your using in a auto greaser why wouldn’t you buy a five gallon bucket!

1. As I stated before, the greaser reservoir filling mechanism supplied by Krone would be very difficult to try to fill from a 5 gallon bucket.
2. We travel from 1 field to another. Carrying a 5 gallon bucket of grease is a lot less convenient than tubes. Why can’t these clowns just keep a consistent supply of tube grease in stock?
3. We invested in 4 battery grease guns. They are much easier than a 50lb bucket to drag up and down a ladder to grease the rest of the baler.

Ever greased a large square baler? Takes about an hour and you have to climb a ladder, walk across the top of the baler (very dangerous, know a few who have fallen and got seriously injured) and get down inside the baling chamber. Try that while toting a 5G bucket of grease.

Thats why.

 

[auxhyd]

1. As I stated before, the greaser reservoir filling mechanism supplied by Krone would be very difficult to try to fill from a 5 gallon bucket.
2. We travel from 1 field to another. Carrying a 5 gallon bucket of grease is a lot less convenient than tubes. Why can’t these clowns just keep a consistent supply of tube grease in stock?
3. We invested in 4 battery grease guns. They are much easier than a 50lb bucket to drag up and down a ladder to grease the rest of the baler.

Ever greased a large square baler? Takes about an hour and you have to climb a ladder, walk across the top of the baler (very dangerous, know a few who have fallen and got seriously injured) and get down inside the baling chamber. Try that while toting a 5G bucket of grease.

Thats why.

Perhaps you can refill the tube cartridges from the bucket? Industrial supply places tend not to run out of this kind of thing but industrial users buy it by the 55 gallon drum.

I believe Lubriplate has a poly grease and Kaman Industrial Technologies (now part of Motion Industries) used to sell it.

 

[Hay Dude]

Perhaps you can refill the tube cartridges from the bucket? Industrial supply places tend not to run out of this kind of thing but industrial users buy it by the 55 gallon drum.

I believe Lubriplate has a poly grease and Kaman Industrial Technologies (now part of Motion Industries) used to sell it.

Yeah,. possibly.

So far, it’s easier to send one of my kids out to buy a few remaining tubes from the 5-10 places than lug a 5G bucket up a ladder.

 

[sixdogs]

So here we go again. Polyurea grease in MY area sold out ”indefinitely”.
No John Deere Green polyurea or Lucas green polyurea grease anywhere.
Checked everywhere, box stores, hardware stores, farm stores, tractor dealers. Nothing, zip, nada.

I have 2 automatic greasers I have to keep loaded with grease or Hay Dude makes no hay.

So the question is, what type of grease mixes with polyurea grease without clogging issues?
Things are getting desperate.

I'm grease crazy and can tell you for certain Deere Lithium and Lith-Moly blend mix with the Deere poly with zero issues. I actually called a JD grease engineer and he explained it.

My takeaway is that the modern JD incantation of poly will blend with almost everything. He didn't exactly say that because it wasn't a direct topic we spoke about but that's what I came away with.

In the few years I've used it I have mixed with lots of grease and never an issue. Even on wheel bearings with some old grease there. Never an issue. It's great, as you likely know, of loader parts and dozers where stuff is a slop fit and the JD poly seems to "tighten" things up, slop wise.