Grease; Please educate me

[DieselPower]

Well to be honest the synthetic blend grease's spec's for extreme preasure properties are worse than the conventional. It only has a Timken OK load rating of 65 pounds. I guess their trade off for a wider operating range is reduced extreme preasure properties.

 

[DayDreamer]

Straight from the Timken website:

"I saw the phrase “60 O.K. Timken Load” on a tube of lubrication. What does that mean?

Between 1935 and 1972, The Timken Company produced and sold a lubricant test machine that was used to determine the EP (extreme pressure) characteristics of grease and oil lubricants. It became an industry-standard test. A bearing race is mounted on a tapered arbor that is rotating at a high speed. A square, steel test block is then loaded against the rotating race, with the contact area flooded with the test lubricant. The load on the block is increased in increments until the oil film is broken and the spinning race produces a score mark on the test block. The load-value that produces the score is then called the Timken “O.K” load rating.

It was generally assumed that the higher the O.K. value, the more load the lube could hold without the film strength being compromised. However, this is not necessarily the case, and the primary purpose of the test is to determine whether or not the lube has an EP additive. Values higher than 35lbs. indicate the presence of an EP additive."

My interpretation: Grease with a Timken Load rating of 35 lbs. or higher has EP additives. That's the only thing the Timken Load rating is giving you.

 

[DieselPower]

It is still a ASTM standard test used today by all grease manufacturers to indicate the load rating of the grease. The higher the load rating the greater the greases ability to withstand higher loads.

The 35 pound is the low limit for a grease to be accepted as a extreme preasure grease by NGLI standards.

 

[Glowplug]

What d'ya think about Amsoil Synthetic HD Grease? I had just bought some of their synthetic multi-purpose grease before I had read this thread. Little did I know that grease could be so complicated. BTW, I'm talking about for use in tractor, loader, rotary cutter.

 

[DieselPower]

Both of these greases are Lithium Complex and have good compatability with the majority of popular greases used. The GHD looks to have a little higher load handling ability then the GHC while the GHC shows less oil seperation than the GHD. Either of them should work fine for you.

One thing to remember about "synthetic" grease is that the only thing that is synthetic is the oil in the grease. The base properties and additives wear out long before the base oil.

 

[Volfandt]

Is the Traveller brand premium truck & tractor grease any good thats sold at TSC? The label says it meets GC-LB specs and that the formula is a "trade secret".
It has no additional info listed on the tube. I'm guessing Traveller is branded on TSC sold oils, hydraulic fluids and grease. Wonder who makes it for TSC?

Thanks

 

[Volfandt]

Well, the Travellers brand grease seems to work fine so even tho I'm VERY curious as to what the "trade secret formula" is, I'll just continue to use it.

Guess no body here knows it either....

 

[DieselPower]

Didn't see your original post about the Traveller grease. I checked online and I can find no spec sheet for it. It's kind of hard to evaluate it without the technical spec's. I emailed them if they could send it to me. I'll see if I get a reply. It's funny that they list "Formula trade secret" on the tube. Of course it is, no lube manufacturer gives out their blending info.

 

[DieselPower]

Update on Traveller grease. I got a email reply from them this morning and they do not have any spec's on their grease that they could give me.

 

[mikeyd]

While I can appreciate that alot of the members have a much greater understanding about the properties of grease than I will ever have, ultimately I don't think the type of grease you use, as long as it is made by a reputable source, is nearly as important as actually keeping the equipment greased on a regular basis. My dad, a farmer, certainly didn't spend alot of time or money deciding what grease to buy; he bought whatever 5 gallon pail was on sale at Agway. But, growing up on the farm my Dad drilled into my head that you never use a piece of equipment without giving it the once over with the grease gun and you never start a tractor, truck or anything with a motor before you pull the dipstick and check the oil. Overkill? Maybe. But I can tell you I don't ever remember a piece of equipment failing at a lube point or an engine siezing for lack of oil. I left the farm almost 30 years ago but to this day I won't use a piece of my equipment w/o a grease and oil check.

 

[Volfandt]

Thanks for checking DP.
The grease actually seems to work pretty well. It's a red gell looking type of grease that sticks to everything, leaves a slipery residue when wiped up and it seems to flow easily into tight places.

 

[schiker]

Is there a certain website that give these characteristic test values of greases? Or are ya'll looking at the mfg website?

I just bought some Valvolene synthetic grease according to the package it was the best they offered .

How much do you squirt in zerk fittings? I like to pump til I see some movement of grease flowing. I have read you should displace 50% by volume on some things.

I mainly grease my truck steering linkages and ball joints. Also my tractor no heavy equipment yet.

 

[DieselPower]

The majority of manufacturers have their grease and oil spec's listed on their website. Some that do not list them will release them if you ask via email. A very few either don't release any test data or don't know what your talking about.

How much to grease depends on what you are greasing. Regular chassis components only need to be greased to the point you see grease starting to come out.

High speed bearings (ie. electric motor bearings) are best greased using a ultrasonic indicator since to much grease will cause overheating. I doubt you will ever run into a application like this though and they are most frequently found in industrial plant applications.

 

[Z-Michigan]

Most lubricants manufacturers also offer a "Moly" grease. Usually this is the same as their other greases with the addition of 3-5% (by volume) Molybdenum Disulfide powder. Moly is specified by manufacturers like Caterpillar in most of their excavating equipment. The benefit of a Moly fortified grease is it's ability to continue to provide lubrication in what is called boundry conditions. Since Moly forms a solid film lubrication on the metal surfaces there is still something there to seperate the lubricated parts if all of the grease get's squeezed out under extreme loads.

Moly sounds great for lots of applications, especially greasing my FEL pivots every 10 hours - are there any disadvantages to it?

Also, any opinions on the Deere brand Lithium and Polyurea greases? I've read your other posts on incompatibility of polyurea grease with most other types. I have been using Deere brand lithium grease per my dealer's recommendation, even though the Deere manuals indicate that polyurea is preferred.

 

[IslandTractor]

Are there any major incompatablilities that one should be aware of in selecting grease types? I tend to grab several tubes of lithium or multipurpose grease when I am in a place like NAPA or even Walmart. I don't buy the cheapest stuff but haven't paid close attention to the differences in the various grease tubes. I never thought much about incompatability until I saw that one of the greases I bought was a completely different color (reddish) than the usual dark blonde color I was used to. My use is typical CUT maintenance for FEL, axles, BH, mower etc.

 

[Z-Michigan]

Color of the grease means nothing. Per DP's posts, if you stick with a lithium complex base (which is very common) all brands should be OK replacing each other. Lithium also OK but slightly less compatible, and beyond that refer to the compatibility charts. IMHO, if you are not spending serious cash on grease but are buying good brands, you most likely are buying lithium complex greases and shouldn't have a problem mixing them.

 

[IslandTractor]

Thanks Z. That's what I was hoping to hear. Reading about all the Molys and other high end greases made me start to wonder.

 

[EastTnFarmboy]

IT, I went through the same internal debate yesterday at the local TSC. I finally settled on the multi-purpose with MOLY. It nearly gave me a headache trying to understand the differences between all the choices.

Why can't anything be simple anymore?

 

[Z-Michigan]

Just for clarity, moly can be added (by the manufacturer) to lots of different grease types including the common lithium complex base. I am currently using JD branded grease that is a HD lithium complex with moly (this is gray/black color, as I think all moly greases are because of the moly). I also have 3 tubes of non-moly HD lithium complex grease from JD (tan color, bought before I realized moly was better with little to no downside) and one tube of Lucas "red and tacky" which I believe is also a lithium complex grease, again without moly. The basic good grease for a tractor is an HD lithium complex grease with an EP rating. Avoid greases that are specifically light duty or non-EP rated; an ignorant dealer parts person sold me some light duty JD lithium grease (red color) which probably wasn't good for my FEL pins. Moly is highly desirable for FEL or backhoe pins, and not real important either way for other grease points common on a tractor.

 

[DieselPower]

As has already been said, color means nothing. It is only a coloring dye added by the manufacturer, usually to differentiate between different grease's from the same company (red just happens to be a popular color).

As far as grease base compatibility goes it's not really a big problem. If you should happen to switch to a grease that is not compatible with the last one used you just need to make sure you do a good purge job and do your next few grease jobs a little more frequently to purge out any of the remaining old grease.