Here's why you grease your loader faithfully.

[2458n]

When I finally got in a Union apprentice program one of the first tasks was to take your grease gun and go grease that backhoe. I was able to do so without missing any zerk fittings. Most often missed by members was the zerk in the center of front axle. I was okay thanks to my little Kubota at home.

 

[k0ua]

You sure that pin doesn't have some type if design flaw?

Rick I would bet $100 that pin was perfect when it was first put in the bushing. The way the pin looks now is typical of an ungreased pin. The owner has confirmed it had no grease in it and the zerk was plugged.. I have seen this before.

 

[bdog]

We grease our backhoe and skid steer every day when using them hard. Now I don't grease it if I am just doing a ten minute task but if I am going to go do something that takes several hours I grease it before I start. Grease is cheap.

 

[dfkrug]

I always thought those were for sissies but now I think I may be getting one.
Guess I'm a sissie.

You've got company.

Mine is a Lincoln 14.4V. Works great, and it is much easier to load vs. my old lever-action units.

 

[sd455dan]

Rick I would bet $100 that pin was perfect when it was first put in the bushing. The way the pin looks now is typical of an ungreased pin. The owner has confirmed it had no grease in it and the zerk was plugged.. I have seen this before.

agree my guess is that being a new loader and pin / bushing - the tight clearances aggravated the scoring of the pin by trying to seize it. An old worn bushing / pin with grease removed and then put into operation might have fared better

 

[RedNeckRacin]

I still use an old fashioned pump grease gun but I feel like I can get a better sense of how the fittings are taking grease by the pressure on the gun. A Good gun and a Lock-n-lube is well worth the couple extra bucks! A Cheap gun with a cheap jaw makes you want to pull your hair out trying to get grease into a joint thats not easy to get to.

OP-Cool pic and a good reminder!

 

[Turbys_1700]

I've got pump grease guns, large and small, and a couple cheap-o air guns. Actually got a cheapie close out at Tractor Supply for $5.99. My other one has worked great for several years so no biggie. I would like to have one of those Dewalts but they are pricey. Perhaps the birthday coming up will solve that. Got to get my wife to read this thread.

 

[check]

I think I'll go and grease my loader.

Time to grease my BX25 backhoe. Thanks for the reminder!

 

[RickB]

Rick I would bet $100 that pin was perfect when it was first put in the bushing. The way the pin looks now is typical of an ungreased pin. The owner has confirmed it had no grease in it and the zerk was plugged.. I have seen this before.

I agree. My post was a poke at all the steering wheel holders here that can't do anything wrong.

Great thread and a good lesson.

 

[sixdogs]

I use the one hand pistol grip grease gun and like the one I got from John Deere on sale. Also, I previously reviewed one on this site --can't fin it right now--that had a two stage function for regular power or super power and was the perfect, but expensive grease gun. I can grease anything with that and do it one handed. I'll find the link later.

Edit----The grease gun I like the most is the Alemite pistol grip that I put a flex hose onto. I thought I posted a thread on it but can't find it. maybe it was just a comment in another thread but it works great and has a lever change setting that boosts pressure. It's the best I have ever had and cost about $38-$40.

 

[dickfoster]

What's something like that run?

All my Dewalt battery is 12v.

This thing will run the hundred yard dash in about 4 sec. LOL

This one is a 20V max tool. It cost me one arm and one leg but with all the zerks on the loader and backhoe it was worth it. I can use it on the truck too so it's not just for the tractor. About $250 but if you have some 20Vmax batteries and a charger already you can get the tool only for about a buck seventy unless you just gotta have the case. I've been converting over all my corless stuff to 20Vmax lately so all my tools use the same batteries and chargers.

This thing puts out a lot of pressure, 10,000 PSI to power through clogged zerks and at 5 oz/min it gets the job done faster into the bargain. It's a bit hefty but it does come with a shoulder strap. It'll go through 16 cartridges or so before you need to recharge the battery. It'll dump a cartridge toot sweet if you let it. Yeah you can also fill it from bulk but I use the cartridges. Filling from bulk is a messy proposition.

It's nice having both hands free, one for the gun and to squeeze the trigger and one for the fitting. It's variable speed so you can control how much grease it squirts so you don't waste any.

 

[ultrarunner]

Thanks for the info...

You are well versed in many topics here at TBN...

If you don't mind me asking... how did you become so knowledgeable?

 

[Rosher18]

I think I'll go grease my front end loader. One of the lift pins would clunk every time I changed the direction force was being applied (using the bucket to pull coarse sand arena footing from the piles out into the flat for grading)

 

[Hilldale Harry]

On the safety side, make sure you are wearing good leather gloves when you hold the hose. I've seen what a grease wound looks like. The grease pierced a weak spot on the hose and of course, pierced his hand near the thumb. Very ugly wound, for an ugly long time. Almost impossible to get the grease out of the flesh. Lucky to have his hand into his old age.

 

[DieselBound]

I"m back to contemplating picking up a cordless: I already have DeWalt 20v batteries and charger, so that reduces some cost for me. I have a manual gun (Lincoln) and a pneumatic (also Lincoln). The pneumatic really helps cut down on hand strain, but messing with the air hose (and having to fire up a noisy compressor) is starting to become tiresome.

Just gone done lubing a small trailer that I picked up a while back. It sat for over 10 years. Took everything I had with the manual grease gun to break through the hardened grease. One bushing just wouldn't take (even after using a good zerk and having flooded the channel with PB Blaster and then diesel [allowing to set, with pressure, over night). This was for the end of an axle leaf spring. Grabbed a hammer and smacked the bottom of the leaf spring (perpendicular to the flats) and the grease then went in like nobody was watching!

Somewhat off-topic (because my mind always wanders off on me), I'm currently looking at new(er) tractors and have noticed that just about everyone except Kubota (well, for the models that I was looking at) have their zerks on their loaders at the ends of the pins (convenient!). I've always cursed the zerks on my Kubota's loader, as they're jammed up inside the arms and are harder than all get-out to get the gun to seat on, can't really see them; I end up pumping the pockets full of grease (which makes seeing the zerks even more difficult). I talked to a Kubota salesman about this and he told me that the reason they aren't on the ends is because with zerks on the ends the pins are weaker and more prone to break if/when they get a bit sloppy: having sloppy pins on my Kubota (it was worked VERY hard before I got it; I haven't worked it any easier!) I can attest to the pins not breaking, but I have no way to compare (not privy to the "parallel universe").

Also be sure to grease your implements! Tail wheels on field mowers seem to really be thirsty all the time: I tend to forget/procrastinate until I find the wheel not wanting to readily flip back around after changing directions, resulting in the tearing up of ground.

 

[FTG-05]

And while you're at it: Don't forget to clean out your grease cups (or whatever they're called):

 

[k0ua]

I"m back to contemplating picking up a cordless: I already have DeWalt 20v batteries and charger, so that reduces some cost for me. I have a manual gun (Lincoln) and a pneumatic (also Lincoln). The pneumatic really helps cut down on hand strain, but messing with the air hose (and having to fire up a noisy compressor) is starting to become tiresome.

Just gone done lubing a small trailer that I picked up a while back. It sat for over 10 years. Took everything I had with the manual grease gun to break through the hardened grease. One bushing just wouldn't take (even after using a good zerk and having flooded the channel with PB Blaster and then diesel [allowing to set, with pressure, over night). This was for the end of an axle leaf spring. Grabbed a hammer and smacked the bottom of the leaf spring (perpendicular to the flats) and the grease then went in like nobody was watching!

Somewhat off-topic (because my mind always wanders off on me), I'm currently looking at new(er) tractors and have noticed that just about everyone except Kubota (well, for the models that I was looking at) have their zerks on their loaders at the ends of the pins (convenient!). I've always cursed the zerks on my Kubota's loader, as they're jammed up inside the arms and are harder than all get-out to get the gun to seat on, can't really see them; I end up pumping the pockets full of grease (which makes seeing the zerks even more difficult). I talked to a Kubota salesman about this and he told me that the reason they aren't on the ends is because with zerks on the ends the pins are weaker and more prone to break if/when they get a bit sloppy: having sloppy pins on my Kubota (it was worked VERY hard before I got it; I haven't worked it any easier!) I can attest to the pins not breaking, but I have no way to compare (not privy to the "parallel universe").

Also be sure to grease your implements! Tail wheels on field mowers seem to really be thirsty all the time: I tend to forget/procrastinate until I find the wheel not wanting to readily flip back around after changing directions, resulting in the tearing up of ground.

I don't know what to say about the weak pins, except my first inclination is "BS". I can tell you the zerks are a lot easier to reach on my Kioti on the ends than my previous Kubota's. Yes the tail wheel on my rotary cutter always needs grease too. I think it is because of the constant motion, and the somewhat sloppy fit that the grease gets pushed out pretty quickly maybe?

 

[DieselBound]

I don't know what to say about the weak pins, except my first inclination is "BS". I can tell you the zerks are a lot easier to reach on my Kioti on the ends than my previous Kubota's. Yes the tail wheel on my rotary cutter always needs grease too. I think it is because of the constant motion, and the somewhat sloppy fit that the grease gets pushed out pretty quickly maybe?

There's got to be some reason, but I suspect it isn't as big of a reason as they might suggest. All I can say is that with easy-to-access fittings you're more likely to get them greased properly than those that are harder to access. I know that I have one that it's questionable whether I am in fact getting enough grease in to: have to lift the loader and then, because I'm outside (currently no garage or barn to work under) I find myself staring into a very bright background of clouds or sun, which leaves me feeling like I'm "shooting in the dark!"

Yes on the tail wheel. Large gap and the grease just seems to get pressed out. Maybe set up a drop-feed to it? I have a new tail wheel, because I busted the old one (if it'll break, I'll break it!), and this one tends to dry up more quickly than the original one and the shaft is already scored (softer metal?).

 

[k0ua]

There's got to be some reason, but I suspect it isn't as big of a reason as they might suggest. All I can say is that with easy-to-access fittings you're more likely to get them greased properly than those that are harder to access. I know that I have one that it's questionable whether I am in fact getting enough grease in to: have to lift the loader and then, because I'm outside (currently no garage or barn to work under) I find myself staring into a very bright background of clouds or sun, which leaves me feeling like I'm "shooting in the dark!"

Yes on the tail wheel. Large gap and the grease just seems to get pressed out. Maybe set up a drop-feed to it? I have a new tail wheel, because I busted the old one (if it'll break, I'll break it!), and this one tends to dry up more quickly than the original one and the shaft is already scored (softer metal?).

Yeah, anything that can make the greasing chore easier and faster, I am all for it. It is a messy job at best, and sometimes frustrating when it does not go quickly and easily.

 

[sixdogs]

...

Also be sure to grease your implements! Tail wheels on field mowers seem to really be thirsty all the time: I tend to forget/procrastinate until I find the wheel not wanting to readily flip back around after changing directions, resulting in the tearing up of ground.

I mow with a pull type Woods RD8400 and grease the rolling wheels on it after every time I mow my 2.5acres. Almost 400 hours later there is zero slop and they feel almost like new. Small price to pay I figure and the satisfaction of tight rolling wheels is worth it as well.