which grease for slow & fast bearings & bushings

   / which grease for slow & fast bearings & bushings #21  
Small TLB here with a few implements that have bearings such as a pto snowblower, pto chipper. I've just used the same grease all around until now - but it's been nagging me and I doubt my lithium/moly grease correct for the "fast" or "spinning" interfaces.

For the loader, BH, grapple, etc - the lithium-complex moly fortified grease does seem ideal. Note, I was jumping around brands as I could pick it up on the drive up, such as Valvoline Moly-Fortified Gray/Lithium Full Synthetic. I've realized this is stupid and have 'standardized' on, and now stock, John Deere HD Moly Grease Case TY6333 (picked the Deere because it seems the most consistently widely available online & in my area). I believe this (the Deere 3% moly lithium-complex grease) is the "optimal" choice here for these (A) low-speed/temp (B) high-pressure and (C) sliding surfaces.

On the bearings, though, hope I haven't damaged them, or caused myself a bunch of work to strip & re-pack :(. Using these two as an example:
  • snowblower 1st stage shaft bearings, chipper feed bearings: it's a bearing (eg not a sliding interface where Moly excels). But it's relatively low RPM so practical difference is probably really low(?).
  • snowblower 2nd stage is to be 500 or 1000rpm (eg roughly car wheel bearing speed), and are bearings not sliding surfaces
  • pto shaft u-joints: bushings not bearings (moly is good for sliding) - but relatively fast. Potentially too hot for lithium/moly to be ideal?
SO that's four types of interfaces. What's the "optimal" grease for each? If I want to do it right, I don't mind keeping multiple grease guns. I'd prefer to have everything last as long as possible, and/or require minimal disassembly/cleaning/service (beyond daily greasing).
  1. Slow + Sliding (bushings in loader pins, etc)
  2. Fast + Sliding (engine-speed U-joint bushings such as PTO)
  3. Slow + rotating (slow (10's or RPM) ball/roller bearings - geared down shafts)
  4. Fast + rotating (engine-speed ball/roller bearings)
Tentatively I believe I should be using lithium/moly for #1, and polyurea for #2 & #4?

Thanks!

I would recommend following the recommendations of the equipment maker. Generally though a polyurea or lithium grease that has the GC-LB rating can be used for almost everything from PTO shafts to pivot pins to wheel bearings. I keep a case of the (usually red colored) high-temp GC-LB lithium grease and use it for everything except the gearboxes in the disc mower. Those call for one specific grease by one specific manufacturer, and it turns out that specific grease is also a very different viscostity than regular NLGI #2 gun grease as well.

If you want to get Deere's grease, the emerald green TY6341 Multi-Purpose SD Polyurea Grease is GC-LB rated for high-speed bearings and is recommended by Deere for just about everything of theirs that has a zerk as well as for packing wheel bearings. The TY6333 is NOT a GC-LB rated grease and it says in Deere's literature in bold letters "Not recommended for high-speed bearings."
 
 
Top