When to stop the grease? [emoji848]

[Fuddy1952]

At 68yo, you'd think I'd know the answer by now! Case in point:
I have my Grandad's 1974 Economy (barely a tractor ) he bought new. Yesterday I decided to put the mower deck on after sharpening blades,new belts, etc. When greasing spindles...grease gun got hard to pump (probably hasn't been greased 30 years). I could barely turn blades by hand. After running it did better, tractor runs great.
I have a Trac Vac 880 and should do well with it.
Question is like everything greasing is an art.
How do you know when it's enough? Some things are easy, stop just as grease comes out. Some things you can damage, blow out a seal.
Thanks in advance.
I need to clean tractor up and remove Dad's (rip) brush painted latex.

 

[Captain Dirty]

<snip>Question is like everything greasing is an art. How do you know when it's enough? Some things are easy, stop just as grease comes out. Some things you can damage, blow out a seal.<snip>

The seals one worries about "blowing" are usually around a shaft through an oil filled cavity--e.g. gearbox. Oil, by its very nature will flow past a faulty seal leading to premature wear and eventual failure, although AG equipment is usually robust enough to run for a while.
The seals on grease-filled cavities are usually intended to prevent the entry of dirt and water and often act as "check valves" to allow grease to be exuded. Grease is oil mixed with "soap"; the soap is intended to keep (or at least inhibit) the oil from flowing. I would not worry about "blowing" a seal. (Although you might rupture a rubber boot if you filled it with grease.)

In your case I speculate that time and disuse have allowed the grease and seals to dry and harden. The resistance you encountered may be owing to a blocked "escape route" for the grease. If it is not too much of a hassle, just add a pump or two of grease with each use until such time as you decide to renew the bearings and can see what happened.

 

[mikester]

its enough when you have silver dollar sized globs on your driveway like a trail of bread crumbs

 

[Rustyiron]

its enough when you have silver dollar sized globs on your driveway like a trail of bread crumbs

:laughing:

 

[Peter 315]

its enough when you have silver dollar sized globs on your driveway like a trail of bread crumbs

All the way into the kitchen......

 

[RjCorazza]

At 68yo, you'd think I'd know the answer by now! Case in point:
I have my Grandad's 1974 Economy (barely a tractor ) he bought new.....

My Dad made me grease his 1972 Economy tractor until clean grease showed. We went through a lot of grease! I think the only debatable grease points on that tractor would be the mower spindles. Some say you can't over grease them, some say you can. I believe he loaded up the spindles once until grease came out the bottom, then 3 shots every 25 hours or so.
Over the years I have greased spindles in a similar fashion of 3 shots on a very regular schedule. The rest of the zerks get greased until I see a small amount getting pushed out, not necessarily new grease. With thousands of hours on commercial mowers I have never had a spindle failure with 3 shots of grease on a religious schedule.

Anyway, the real reason for my reply is to say I regret letting my late Father's Economy go to auction when he died. He specifically wanted me to have it, but at the time I had no place to store it. They are great tractors! Enjoy.

 

[crazyal]

Isn't the rule of thumb one cartridge per grease fitting?