What did you do with your Power Trac today?

[woodlandfarms]

Uhmm. I wore out my steering Ram ears. No one ever said lube.

 

[joshlee]

I noticed that too. I use green John Deere and it comes out black. And that pivot Z is not repairable.

With the color change thought, I am going to wonder if I put enough grease in? It makes a big mess as it works out and gets all over the hoses.

I take it it’s not repairable because that round stock is welded tight to the FEL? I don’t know if that means it should be greased more often? That’s the one place on my PT where I get grease all over myself if I’m not careful when hooking up the hoses to the couplers.

 

[joshlee]

Uhmm. I wore out my steering Ram ears. No one ever said lube.

Woodland farm, you mean the ends of the steering cylinder?

 

[ponytug]

I take it it’s not repairable because that round stock is welded tight to the FEL? I don’t know if that means it should be greased more often? That’s the one place on my PT where I get grease all over myself if I’m not careful when hooking up the hoses to the couplers.

You are right. The arms are welded together through the inner cylinder. I think that at least one person here did damage one, though I don't recall that it was a lubrication issue.

Personally, I looked at what would have to be replaced and decided to lube it well and often.

All the best,

Peter

 

[m5040]

So Peter, since you lube yours well and often, do you or have you ever noticed a color change (if you use colored grease to start with) with the grease as it exits out around the sides of the center Z link?

 

[ponytug]

Yes, I grease the rollover cylinder about every four to eight hours depending on whether or not I am loading/curling it frequently. Our 1445 gets daily use moving hay around (400lbs+/-), which isn't much, but any earth moving, mowing, or tilling is a different story.

I do notice color change. I used a moly enhanced high pressure grease for a long time (black) and couldn't notice anything. The latest high pressure grease that I have is red (Chevron ultra duty grease EP2), and it comes out the edges mixed red and black. Given the play in the two cylinders, I figure some grease goes straight to the outside. The inner and outer cylinders on my tractor have perhaps 2mm of play in them, judging from the outer rim of the outer cylinder as it rotates. When the grease zerks are on loaded, that is thin, side, it is harder to get grease in, but i figure that is when the grease is most needed.

About three years ago, I upgraded my grease gun nipple to a "locknlube" only to discover the locknlube fitting doesn't fit into the loader arm zerks "sockets", and replaced it with an Azuno 12,000psi grease gun coupler which does fit and is fantastic. I think it is a better version of the locknlube concept and much cheaper. I now almost never have grease escaping out the sides of the grease gun fitting anymore. For me, I used to find greasing the rollover cylinders and the central pin to be a little challenging with keeping the coupler engaged. Not any more. I use an air powered grease gun, which is especially handy for greasing the roller over cylinder job as it seems to take a fair amount of grease. I recycle the squeezed out grease from the rollover cylinder on sliding surfaces, like my post driver, basically any lower tolerance dirty surface that needs some rust protection or incidental wear protection. The grease squeezed out from other fittings I don't usually recycle as there is less of it, and it is generally pretty dirty.

YMMV...

All the best,

Peter

 

[SpringHollow]

Pulled out 4 wagon loads of firewood today before the trails thawed in the sun. The last two loads were getting questionable as the top surface of the trails thawed. Installing my duals might have let me get another load out. I would have been in trouble early on with the narrow front tires my CUTs have had.

Ken

 

[SpringHollow]

I might finish it with crush and run. At least that is what they call it in Virginia.

Here they call it crusher run, ie. stone that has gone through the crusher but has not been sifted so it still has the fines.

 

[m5040]

I was using the 1430 to get a steel safe that a friend bought out of the house cellar. The turf to get to the cellar hatchway door was soft and I have the chevron bar tires. Well the bars sank in to make a perfect pattern of the tire tread but that was about it, even with the weight of the safe. It didn't look the best, but I am just doing a favor and it could have been worse. However, the neighbor came over to supervise with his 4-wheel ride on electric (wheel chair?) and his tires sank down making 3" deep ruts.

 

[m5040]

Going to have to get me a Azuno couple too.