Best way to remove that extra oozing grease?

[fried1765]

Take the tractor to a car wash and wash all of the grease off. When you are done grease each grease zerk to push the water out and start all over again.

My "car wash" is my Hotsy pressure washer.
Hot water does a good job removing old external grease!

I wash my tractors maybe once every two years.
Or when they get very dirty looking (I don't use them much).
Too much washing can actually create problems.

 

[rademamj1]

Over greasing is a necessary evil for great tractor ownership. It keeps all the zerks well lubricated, and pushes out any dust and debris where it can be easily cleaned out.

Cleaning a zerk is an art, and best done with liberal use of paper towels. 1st pass with paper cleans 90% off and then into trash with that, and using a scientificly required 2nd pass finishing paper towel removes remaning grease on that zerk, and then this finishing towel is rotated as 1st pass for next zerk. So on and so on until all zerks are cleaned.

 

[fried1765]

Over greasing is a necessary evil for great tractor ownership. It keeps all the zerks well lubricated, and pushes out any dust and debris where it can be easily cleaned out.

Cleaning a zerk is an art, and best done with liberal use of paper towels. 1st pass with paper cleans 90% off and then into trash with that, and using a scientificly required 2nd pass finishing paper towel removes remaning grease on that zerk, and then this finishing towel is rotated as 1st pass for next zerk. So on and so on until all zerks are cleaned.

That is pretty much the method that I use.

Not a good idea to put oily/greasy rags/paper towels in trash stored indoors.
Spontaneous combustion!
Ask me how I know!

 

[hube2]

The farmer in me says "it's a tractor." been working on farms since I was 12 and I'm thinking about when I will retire. I don't think I've ever seen anyone clean off the excess grease and I have never cleaned off excess grease, with one exception. My one exception is if I really overdo it because I missed seeing it start to squeeze out and there is a really big glob, I remove the really big globs so that they do not drop on my shed floor for me to walk in and then track into the house. I would hear about it for a month if tracked grease into the house. Someone else said it, the extra grease is an extra barrier to keep moisture and crap out of the joints.

 

[ctgoldwing]

LOL! Thanks for all the entertaining responses
I'm the 1st one to say 'it's a tractor'. In fact I say that to the buyer of my last one. Unfortunately no matter how careful (careless) I am I sometimes manage to get grease on me - and its always going to be something I wish I had changed from. I've gotten used to putting on my bib overalls whenever I think there is even a chance I'm going to do something on it. The downside is I work from home and do a lot of office zooming. I get a lot of cracks about my bibs
I guess I will try that degreaser and pretty much use rademamj1's method which is about what I do now.

Thanks to all & be safe!

 

[ADKMax26]

I wipe down my zerks before and after greasing. After the zerk I wipe off the extra old grease oozing out of the joint. A little excess here and there is fine snail trails down from the joints seems to be a magnet to clean clothes eventually. It always seems like I have to just use the tractor to move just one thing with the forks and walk away with grease stains if I don’t. I do my own laundry and do not like to try to get rid of more stains. Our old tractor at work was the worst. The new one I try to wipe down here and there. I just use paper towels or a semi clean rag. Probably not the best for the paint but water near the joint probably isn’t good for the joint.

 

[smittydog]

I wipe down with used blue towels....then save/store until I need a fire starter for my cardboard trash fire.

 

[buck12]

I wipe only before greasing. I figure the old grease on zerks offers some protection from grit during operation.

 

[Jim Nelson]

"Awful" is an interesting comment about WD-40.
I completely agree, but many think it is great.
Different strokes for different folks.

WD40 was never intended to be a lubricant, it was developed as a "Water Displacement Formula" by a company in San Diego during WWII specifically to protect equipment being shipped overseas. Somewhere along the line someone who saw how well it performed it's intended use decided to call it a rust penetrant. This was never it's intended or advertised use yet people continue to claim that is what it is for. It works very well in it's intended use. Recently ,after some ownership changes they have started putting a small amount of lubricant in it. Use it for what it was intended and it is fine, but not a miracle cure all.

 

[TimP]

I use paper towels and several of those Hobby craft Popcycle sticks, like tongue depressors.

They are narrow enough to fit into some of those skinny places the goo seems to ooze into.

Use the sticks to push the paper towels into tight areas as well.

They are disposable too.

I can't remember where I bought mine. Look on ebay or Amazon. It was pretty cheap for 100-200 sticks.

Oh... I always wear some disposable rubber gloves to help with clean-up.

Grease is a necessary evil, but my local shop mechanic gets over zealous and I have found globs of it on my tires and frame.

When it gets onto the garage floor or driveway, I always manage to step in it and track it into the house... NOT GOOD !

 

[cqaigy2]

I'll wipe the zerk before greasing. That's really about it.

 

[BX23S-1]

Like others, i leave the grease there. Its a tractor, it gets used, it gets dirty, its a tractor, not a garage queen.

 

[Peter 315]

I'll wipe the zerk before greasing. That's really about it.

Same here I just wipe the zerk with my thumb........

 

[Avenger]

If you really need to remove the 'extra' grease, then use Tub O Towels. Amazon.com: Tub O Towels TW9 Heavy-Duty 1" x 12" Size Multi-Surface Cleaning Wipes, 9 Count Per Canister: Industrial & Scientific

They are degreasing wipes.

Now, I use these on just about everything, including my hands. But, to be honest, I have never removed the 'extra' grease from the joints. I simply dont care that much. What I do care about is the zerks. I use a towel to clean the zerks before pumping fresh grease. I also use them to clean up the grease gun when I'm done.
This weekend, I actually went around to all the recessed zerks on my FEL and cleaned them out. The hole they reside in were all full of old grease, dirt, etc. Took a small flat screwdriver to remove the bulk of it all and wiped them out with the Tub O Towel.

I have a video of how I grease here: Tools, Techniques, Tips 'N' Tricks - Grease! - YouTube

 

[masscity]

I was a crane operator for a basement company in the Detroit area. I would bend an L in a steel wall tie and use it to get the excess grease off of the boom, jib and truck lower. Had to do it or you had

excess grease falling on the crane or maybe the guys in the hole.

On my L3540HSTC I use the aluminum bracket from a cheap thermometer and put a L in it and pull the grease away from the joints.

 

[oosik]

I get big boxes of shop rags from the local Salvation Army. They wash old T-shirts and rip into rags. One big box for a $5 donation. Wipe zerk before I grease > wipe off excess > burn the greasy rags.

 

[s219]

I used to clean them, but don't bother anymore. But what worked great for me was to use a paint brush to swab the gobs of grease up. Wipe with brush to get the grease, then scrape the brush on a scrap piece of cardboard. That would get rid of the messy stuff, mainly the old grease that pushed out when greasing the FEL. If I really wanted it clean, I found that the best and cheapest solution was to put some diesel on a paper towel or rag, and use it to cut through the grease and wipe it clean. Diesel is cheaper than any degreaser product you are going to find in a bottle or spray can.

 

[Porchfan]

Use latex gloves and have a bunch of shop or paper towels and a trash can nearby. After you have greased up your fittings clean them off right afterwards. Use one finger to remove as much grease as possible and the other to hold the towel. Wipe the towel with the grease from your finger and repeat until the towel gets used up. After throwing the greased up towel away, get a clean towel and repeat. If you do this each time you grease your fittings, it goes quickly since you won’t be wiping off massive amounts of old grease and dirt. It’s really best not to keep the excessive grease on your tractor. It’ll only collect dirt and yourself once and a while. The latter is what got me to be religious about wiping off the excessive grease. According to my wife, I’ve “ruined” several shirts and a few pairs of pants getting excessive grease on them either by bumping up to the grease or wiping my greased up hands on my clothes.

 

[747driver]

I wipe off just the zerk fitting. Worked 30 years as a commercial aircraft mechanic with United. We were not allowed to wipe away the excess grease. It stayed as the inspector who came to look to make sure we lubed everything wanted to see fresh new grease !! Plus as others have said...the fresh new extra grease forms a seal on the outside to keep out dirt and moisture on my tractor and other implement's.

 

[PILOON]

On the humorous side----
The best way is to always wear your sunday best and or new clothes.
They will find the smallest gob of grease.