Grease Zerks

8N_John · Nov 17, 2004

When using a grease gun on my 8N, I pump until great comes out of the area...is that correct?

I noticed that some areas brownish grease came out when I greased where in other areas it was black. I assume the brown grease maybe has moisture in it? Do I need to keep pumping until all the brownish grease is forced out?

Is any type of grease adequate or do I need to look for a special kind?

I have a couple zerks on my attachments that won't take grease. Is there an easy way to unplug them? If I can't get them unplugged, how do I switch them out?

I'm a beginner so sorry for the stupid questions.

JimR · Nov 17, 2004

Pump till the grease comes out. Use a high quality grease. Remove the old fittings and try to put grease thru them. If they work, then clean out the pin or whatever using a small drill. Remove the pins if neccessary to clean the junk out them.

8N_John · Nov 17, 2004

Do I just pull the zerks out with a pair of pliers? Should I pump until all the brown grease is forced out?

JimR · Nov 17, 2004

Grease fittings are usually screwed in. I don't grease till it is clean. It makes a big mess.

Junkman · Nov 18, 2004

( Grease fittings are usually screwed in. I don't grease till it is clean. It makes a big mess. )

Old grease fittings were usually screwed in, now days, many of the newer equipment have grease fittings that are driven into drilled hole. The fittings have small barbs on the side to hold them in place..... Also, some grease fittings have metric threads and others have SAE threads. You need to know the correct thread so as not to create a bigger problem. When in doubt, remove a good one and take it with you for comparison with the replacement. I know that Kubota BX which is manufactured in the USA uses Metric threaded grease fittings.

PineRidge · Nov 18, 2004

Why not make a trip to your local Harbor Freight and get an assortment of the SAE and Metric zerks in various sizes? Each set of about 25 pieces is less than 5 bucks (cheap). I haven't needed one yet that wasn't in one set or the other.

Soundguy · Nov 18, 2004

The zerks on your 8n will all be sae thread, and you will find 2 sizes. The ones on the front axle spindles will be the larger ones, while the smaller ones are on the pittman arms, draglinks, and the leveling box and lower leveling box yoke..

I found that the TSC grease fitting tools were great.. they sell a metric and sae one. but it is a small 4 way tool that has 2 sockets for the zerks, as well as an easy out and a thread chaser.

I found most of my zerks leaked back thru the hole, so i ended up just replacing all of them.

I agree with the others.. you have no idea what grease was in there.. so pump till you get new grease out.

For the plugged ones.. just replace them... also replace ones that leak. I keep a shop rag tied on to the stem on my grease guns, and always give the zerk a wipe before and after greasing it.. keeps it a tad cleaner.

While you are greasing that N.. also put a couple drops of oil in the oil cup on the generator back plate, and if it is a side mount distribuitor, there will be an oil cup as well, on the shaft.

Soundguy

shvl73 · Nov 18, 2004

Recent experience on a friends backhoe, a right angle zerk had the tip missing, changed out the fitting and it wouldn't take grease at all. I had to remove the fitting and pick out compacted grime in the hole with a sharp pick, then replace the fitting. It took grease after that. Be careful of the threads. Good luck.

Junkman · Nov 18, 2004

( Why not make a trip to your local Harbor Freight .................. )

Because my local Harbor Freight is Allentown PA which is 6 hours away. Christmas is coming and I will put that on the list that I send to Santa at the North Pole.

PineRidge · Nov 18, 2004

Junk sometimes I wish the closest Harbor Freight was 6 hours away from me also. It's about 15 minutes from my place so I'm always stopping as I drive by and by and by. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

markct · Nov 19, 2004

just a little interesting fact about grease fittings, i was reading thru a book published in the 60s called "moving the earth", its all about earthmoving machinery and covers maintenace type stuff too, and in the part where it was talking about grease it showed the two types of grease fittings, the zerk and the hydraulic fitting, the picture of the hydraulic fitting was what we usualy refer to as a zerk fitting, while the true zerk fitting was the actual old style ones that didnt have a head on them, just a little tapered nipple, looks very simular to a zerk but doesn lock the gun on so you need to push the gun onto it the whole time your pumping. just thought it was interesting that what we usualy refer to as a zerk isnt actualy a zerk

Junkman · Nov 19, 2004

My 1960's earth moving equipment had button fittings on the pivots. You slipped onto them sideways and the gun tip locked into place. A few squirts and you took it off. My 1934 Dodge has the type of fittings that you refer to.

PineRidge · Nov 19, 2004

Did you guys also know that they make Zerk caps to keep the dirt out of your Zerk's?

btolle · Nov 19, 2004

(
I noticed that some areas brownish grease came out when I greased where in other areas it was black. I assume the brown grease maybe has moisture in it? Do I need to keep pumping until all the brownish grease is forced out?
)

If the grease is coming out brown it may have water in it. If this is a "new" 8N for you I would recommend that you pump grease through until you see new grease coming out. That will help flush out any water and old crud that is in there. A little messy, but worth it to be sure everything is greased properly.

You dealing with a tractor that is at least 52 years old so a good round of maintenance is in order.

BTW, when you change the oil filter you need to use some paper towels and clean out the bottom of the filter housing, probably gunk trapped in the bottom of it.

Don't forget to remove the air filter, wash it out with solvent and fill it up to the "Oil" mark with 30 W motor oil.

Marvelous old machines. I have owned 2 of them and sometimes wish I had kept the last one as a spare for my new Kubota B7510. It was actually better for some chores than the B7510 is.

Besides that the 8N"s LOOK like a tractor!

Bill Tolle

WCarlson · Nov 20, 2004

There is an easier way to clear a clogged fitting, than removing it. Gempler's has a tool that will do the job and it is on sale Grease tool
Bill

PineRidge · Nov 20, 2004

Bill I have never used one of those grease joint cleaning tools but I have seen them before. Do they actually do what they claim? In the past if replacing a zerk didn't fix the problem I have always found that the pin or grease joint needed to be disassembled to be cleaned properly anyhow.

5030 · Nov 20, 2004

Pine Ridge:

You must be near Maumee. I go by the Harbor freight on Reynolds twice a day.

Junkman · Nov 20, 2004

For $34.99 plus shipping, I can buy a two lifetime supplies of grease fittings.

scout180 · Nov 20, 2004

Northern Tool has 2 cleaners - one is a $24.99 pocket model.

PineRidge · Nov 20, 2004

Daryl I'm not even sure where Maumee is. I use the Harbor Freight on Manchester Road in South Akron. Our place is only about 15 minutes south of that point. Harbor Freight is kind of a home away from home for me.

Junkman I agree that you can indeed buy a lot of zerks for 40 bucks but I was just curious to see if the tool actually saved you having to dismantle the whole assembly in a pinch. It's not the jerk that takes time to replace as much as the time it takes to disassemble the grease joint/pin if the new zirk still won't take the grease. I normally find that if it's that bad the pin is full of mud or grit anyway and really needs to be manually disassembled and cleaned out.