Zerks that won't grease

[CountFred]

The loader on my tractor has not been greased in quite some time I'm guessing. I've slowly been working through maintenance and repairs since acquiring the tractor. All the zerks on the tractor itself took grease just fine, but the zerks on the loader pins won't take any.

- I've removed a few of the zerks and they feed grease, so they aren't the problem.
- I've tried applying heat to the pin area in the hopes of getting the old grease that may be crusted in there to flow.

Those are the only tricks I've been successful with in the past in getting grease flowing again, anybody have other ideas? I don't really want to start popping pins out because I'm not sure what's supporting the weight and my usual response of "We'll use the tractor to pick up heavy object X" will be an issue in re-assembly.

This is a 460 loader on a John Deere 4500 CUT, not that the model particularly matters.

 

[California]

Did you try holding the loader off the ground so the slack in the pin bushings is on the opposite side compared to when its parked?

 

[Tractor Seabee]

You may have to bite the bullet and remove the pins and clean them up. The oil passages can be fairly small and hardness grease difficult to remove. Not really that hard; block up the joint so both parts are setting on something solid. Use a piece of shaft a little smaller than the stuck pin so you do not mushroom the end. Get out the BFH and punch it out. If there is bounce in the direction of pin get a another BFH and back up the joint. I have also used a porta-power to push pins if backing can be established. You may need to soak the joint in solvent for awhile if the grease is hardened throughout the bore. I used to overhaul large industrial machinery in my younger day and encountered many of these mind challenging situations. Simple mechanics and force principles usually won the day. I have even drilled, tapped, and devised a puller adapter to use impact gear pullers.

Ron

 

[sixdogs]

You may have to bite the bullet and remove the pins and clean them up. The oil passages can be fairly small and hardness grease difficult to remove. Not really that hard; block up the joint so both parts are setting on something solid. Use a piece of shaft a little smaller than the stuck pin so you do not mushroom the end. Get out the BFH and punch it out. If there is bounce in the direction of pin get a another BFH and back up the joint. I have also used a porta-power to push pins if backing can be established. You may need to soak the joint in solvent for awhile if the grease is hardened throughout the bore. I used to overhaul large industrial machinery in my younger day and encountered many of these mind challenging situations. Simple mechanics and force principles usually won the day. I have even drilled, tapped, and devised a puller adapter to use impact gear pullers.

Ron

I would go ahead and remove them now--without using heat. Spray with penetrating oil, take the weight off the pin and get it out. I did a thread on this for a tractor I bought. All the pins looked good except one, and that was a problem. Replace any pin that needs it since they are not pricey. If OK, clean the pin and bushing, grease up and reassemble.

Here's my thread with a picture of the pin that didn't get grease. ix it now before it gets worse.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/368226-heres-why-you-grease-your.html

 

[CountFred]

I have not tried lifting to get at these. When I started digging into it, was while I was waiting for the hydraulic fluid to drain so I could change that. Not the best time to try lifting. Now that it's finished, and back together with clean fluid, I'll see if any of them will take grease when loaded the other way.

But, looking at those pictures... It sounds like removing the pins is the best choice for a used tractor in an unknown state.

I'm tempted to drop the landing gear and remove the front loader from the tractor to give better access for disassembly. Is that likely to make things easier or harder to keep blocked and get reassembled? My first guess is that it shouldn't make any difference, but maybe I'm missing something about how the loader rests. I'll take a look before I start removing anything, but want to hear thoughts from others out there.

 

[oosik]

I have one zerk - the same one - that will not accept grease on my loader. I found a simple solution - rotate the bucket and the zerk will now accept grease easily.

 

[crackerjack222]

I have a zerk on one of my loaders that will not take grease. After pulling the pin, I saw that the sleeve had spun and the hole in the sleeve no longer matched up with the zerk. The sleeve is hardened material and I did not have a drill bit that would drill it. Still that way.

 

[FredH]

I have multiple zerks on my loader and on the B.H. , that require the operator to rotate to a given rotation spot before they will take grease . Some are simply due to access to the zerk , others though , as mentioned before , it shifts the pressure being put on the pins to allow grease flow . I use a Lincoln air gun to make things easier .

Fred H.

 

[90cummins]

The loader on my tractor has not been greased in quite some time I'm guessing. I've slowly been working through maintenance and repairs since acquiring the tractor. All the zerks on the tractor itself took grease just fine, but the zerks on the loader pins won't take any.

- I've removed a few of the zerks and they feed grease, so they aren't the problem.
- I've tried applying heat to the pin area in the hopes of getting the old grease that may be crusted in there to flow.

Those are the only tricks I've been successful with in the past in getting grease flowing again, anybody have other ideas? I don't really want to start popping pins out because I'm not sure what's supporting the weight and my usual response of "We'll use the tractor to pick up heavy object X" will be an issue in re-assembly.

This is a 460 loader on a John Deere 4500 CUT, not that the model particularly matters.

I would remove the grease fitting and use a drill that will fit into the threaded hole and just drill in until you get hit the pin, it won't hurt to drill into the pin slightly.
This will give the grease a path to follow.
90cummins

 

[mykleh]

make sure you get all the chips out after drilling or that will make lapping compound look good...