Pressed-In grease fittings???

[Fuddy1952]

Wonder who the idiot was who developed press in Zerk fittings? I had to bush hog a field today so thought I'd grease my new bush hog (I think it has 30 hours) and the wheel swivel one just pulled out. I'll dis-assemble it, drill & tap new Zerk after washing everything...but how dumb design can anything be?

 

[fried1765]

Wonder who the idiot was who developed press in Zerk fittings? I had to bush hog a field today so thought I'd grease my new bush hog (I think it has 30 hours) and the wheel swivel one just pulled out. I'll dis-assemble it, drill & tap new Zerk after washing everything...but how dumb design can anything be?

CheeeeeP !!!!

 

[ruffdog]

Most times press-in zerks are fine if installed correctly. Care has to be used when drilling the hole by double drilling or reaming.

 

[rScotty]

Wonder who the idiot was who developed press in Zerk fittings? I had to bush hog a field today so thought I'd grease my new bush hog (I think it has 30 hours) and the wheel swivel one just pulled out. I'll dis-assemble it, drill & tap new Zerk after washing everything...but how dumb design can anything be?

One day I realized that all my old implements are clearly better built than the new ones. And about at the same time it occurred to me that we aren't ever going to get back to quality machinery unless we change something. So when I can see something of better quality, I buy that one.

Maybe more importantly, for awhile now I've been making an effort to return things that are poor quality. Hit them where it hurts.
All that takes is making sure that both the retailer and I agree about their return policy. It's usually right there on the receipt, so it turns out to be easier than I thought. To my surprise, I haven't had any problems doing that even with fairly high dollar things like appliances. After all, the retailer just wanted to make a sale; he didn't manufacture it.

I don't buy something intending to return it; I expect it to work right so I don't have to. But I surely will bring it back if it doesn't.

It's not perfect, but I don't know of any better way to get the manufacturing world to change.
rScotty

 

[ultrarunner]

Press In or Drive In have been around over 100 years... My 1928 Ford is full of them and no issues other than lining up the grease gun...

I have the drive tool which sets the fitting home.

 

[downsizingnow48]

I use press in fittings on everything I make for the tractor. No issues. Hole has to be correctly sized.

 

[CoyPatton]

As rScotty indicated, quality is a serious issue—but on this one it is my opinion that quality fails in 2 areas
1) inferior steel! It just does not have the integrity for the long term to hold up. This is a factor in both parts the zerk and the modern implements, with a few exceptions.
2) workmanship or rather lack thereof, is how I chose to express the bigger issue of quality. Very few individuals anywhere take any ‘pride’ in a jib well done. This has always been and issue but not as widespread as it seems it is currently.
As someone else mentioned, the drilled or stamped hole during the construction stage must be the correct size for the press in zerk. This is actually quite involved for long term success, the hole must be clean, free of burrs and when pressed in the zerk needs to properly aligned, these conditions can be achieved easily and quickly with experience and attention, but mass production tends to place less importance on these than speed too often it seems.
Then quality control seems next to nonexistent.
I guess it goes back to the old joke when this 60 yr old was a kid, you don’t want a car build on a Friday or a Monday! On the former the workers are too distracted thinking about their weekend plans and the latter, they are suffering from their weekend activities!

 

[rScotty]

Press fits have been around for centuries. Nothing wrong with press fits. Sloppy work has been around for a long time too.
Sloppy zerks are a pain, sloppy axle bushings are more so. Sloppy crankshaft bushings are a disaster. All similar Third World stuff. None of it is impossible to fix, just time-consuming.

In recent decades, sloppy work and poor fits are increasingly combined to make cheap goods. That leads to a manufacturing future that looks good to some but not for me. I simply return things when they are shoddy or defective.
not shy,
rScotty

 

[fried1765]

One day I realized that all my old implements are clearly better built than the new ones. And about at the same time it occurred to me that we aren't ever going to get back to quality machinery unless we change something. So when I can see something of better quality, I buy that one.

Maybe more importantly, for awhile now I've been making an effort to return things that are poor quality. Hit them where it hurts.
All that takes is making sure that both the retailer and I agree about their return policy. It's usually right there on the receipt, so it turns out to be easier than I thought. To my surprise, I haven't had any problems doing that even with fairly high dollar things like appliances. After all, the retailer just wanted to make a sale; he didn't manufacture it.

I don't buy something intending to return it; I expect it to work right so I don't have to. But I surely will bring it back if it doesn't.

It's not perfect, but I don't know of any better way to get the manufacturing world to change.
rScotty

Be VERY careful with the Best Buy (appliances) return policy.
After fifteen days, Best Buy will NOT accept returns, even if the item is unused! (ask me how I know)

 

[Fuddy1952]

When I bought my John Deere tractor from a local dealer I got most implements with it, FEL, BH, bush hog, etc. I can't take it back after over a year just for a Zerk. Otherwise it does a good job.
I've never had a threaded Zerk fail. I've added Zerks to things not having one (drill & tap). I'm not a mechanical engineer but common sense when you grease something the hydraulic pressure is a lot and "wants" to push a press-in out. I push gun tip straight on and pull straight out. I grease until I just start seeing grease come out. I don't think I'm doing it wrong?
Just seems like mentioned here "cheeeep!"

 

[downsizingnow48]

The oversized hole can be fixed by using a thin center punch to dimple the inside of the hole. That will close up the clearance and retain the fitting. I had one come loose in something years ago and that fixed it permanently.

 

[JethroB]

Wonder who the idiot was who developed press in Zerk fittings? I had to bush hog a field today so thought I'd grease my new bush hog (I think it has 30 hours) and the wheel swivel one just pulled out. I'll dis-assemble it, drill & tap new Zerk after washing everything...but how dumb design can anything be?

I too had the tail wheel zerk fall out on a Bush Hog brand mower on the second greasing. The thread portion of the zerk is very very short so it had little to grip with. I am concerned replacing it with a longer one it will rub against the shaft? I suppose I need to probe the hole to see what kind of clearance there is.

 

[Gem99ultra]

Be VERY careful with the Best Buy (appliances) return policy.
After fifteen days, Best Buy will NOT accept returns, even if the item is unused! (ask me how I know)

I had the same experience with B/B. Bought several thousands of dollars sound equipment from them, including a big TV with installation. Installers were never able to get the TV installed correctly, and finally simply left, telling me Good Luck.

I loaded every piece of stuff that I bought from them, hauled it back and set it down inside their front entrance counter, and demanded a full cash refund. That took a firm discussion with several employees and "managers", but I did walk out with my money. Sometimes it just takes a lot of firm persistence to make them understand that contracts have two sides.

 

[Fuddy1952]

Back to grease fittings, I fixed it. I used 1/8" NPT fitting so had to drill quite larger. Cleaned after blowing out. Pipe thread so tapered fit, it took a lot of pressure with 7/16" socket installing it, it was just up to inside so worked great. Won't come out now.

 

[JethroB]

Back to grease fittings, I fixed it. I used 1/8" NPT fitting so had to drill quite larger. Cleaned after blowing out. Pipe thread so tapered fit, it took a lot of pressure with 7/16" socket installing it, it was just up to inside so worked great. Won't come out now.View attachment 669856View attachment 669857View attachment 669858

Thanks for posting your results and the photos. It appears that you have no issue with the length of the zerk rubbing against the rotating shaft. Hopefully I can get similar results on my repair.

 

[Reb954]

A press in zerk came out on my PTO driveline for my mower. I just drilled and tapped it for a thread in zerk. The new zerk extended into the tube enough I couldn't put the driveline back together so I just filed off the inner part of the zerk so the driveline could be assembled. It has worked fine for the last couple years.

 

[metalbender]

Press in zerks have been around as long as bean counters wanting cheaper and faster production.

 

[AlaskaL3130]

Wonder who the idiot was who developed press in Zerk fittings? I had to bush hog a field today so thought I'd grease my new bush hog (I think it has 30 hours) and the wheel swivel one just pulled out. I'll dis-assemble it, drill & tap new Zerk after washing everything...but how dumb design can anything be?

Is this a Bush Hog brand cutter manufactured in the US or other make?

 

[radios1]

Wonder who the idiot was who developed press in Zerk fittings? I had to bush hog a field today so thought I'd grease my new bush hog (I think it has 30 hours) and the wheel swivel one just pulled out. I'll dis-assemble it, drill & tap new Zerk after washing everything...but how dumb design can anything be?

I hear Rube Goldberg made a lot of inventions!..

 

[koshari]

Back to grease fittings, I fixed it. I used 1/8" NPT fitting so had to drill quite larger. Cleaned after blowing out. Pipe thread so tapered fit, it took a lot of pressure with 7/16" socket installing it, it was just up to inside so worked great. Won't come out now.View attachment 669856View attachment 669857View attachment 669858

i done the same thing on our cub cadet deck spindles, tapped them m8 and screwed new nipples in,