60" Belly mower maintenance - quick question

[amg280]

Hey guys. Now that my grass is growing like crazy, been putting some serious mowing hours on my deck. The manual suggests greasing all fittings every time I mow. Isnt this a little excessive? What would be a good maintenance plan to follow? Sometimes its hard getting in all these tight spaces without taking the deck out, which is a pita.

One last thing. I was greasing the boge wheels yesterday, and noticed one of the zirk fittings was loose. It wouldnt tighten down. Stripped out. Took it out, there were like no threads on it. What gives? I stuck it back in and greased it best I could. Im mowing 5 acres so definetely want to keep this thing in top shape! When should I change the gear box oil? 50hrs? Give or take. That thing gets HOT!

Thanks guys for the advice from the experts!

 

[TripleR]

I try to grease all of the main deck components; believe there are eight and do the wheels as they don't touch the ground when you have the deck adjusted properly.

Now my wife will occasionally take off every once in a while without greasing it, yes she greases the deck, but for the most part every time we use it and we mow about thee acres or so.

 

[Toolguy]

I have a RCK60-30B under my B3030. The manual says to grease daily. I interpret that to mean every 8 to 10 hours. That would constitute a normal days work. I think that is the minimum that one should grease the deck. Myself, I grease after 3 mowings of my 2 acres which is about 4 hrs. I use a pistol grip hand grease gun. I give the outer spindles a total of 10 pumps each and the center spindle 5 pumps. The center spindle top bearing is lubed by the gearbox so the lower bearing is the only one that is getting grease. I grease the wheels until I see grease come out around the bearings. I give the belt tensioner pivot 2 pumps and the idler pulley 5. Every other time I grease the deck, or if I have the mower removed from the tractor, I grease the U-joints on the driveshaft. A couple of times a year I will also grease the lift linkage pivots on the tractor. I don't know where the grease goes because I never see much of it coming out of the top or bottom of the spindles. Anyway, that is how I do it. Not saying if it is right or wrong, it is just my way. Seems to work. The deck runs quiet and tight and nothing has broken in 5 years. You will get many different opinions on greasing. The only thing you can do wrong by over greasing is to make a mess. Under greasing will allow parts to wear out prematurely. Good luck.

 

[oldballs]

Those guide wheel zerks are the pressed in type, I think. They will pull out if you aren't extra careful. ... ...sort of a pain.... among other pains. The gear box is suppose to get a fluid change at 50 hours per the Kubota Manual. I used Kubota 80W-90, but did it when the MMM was off.

 

[actionaj]

I grease mine about twice a month with deck removed. I put around 4-6 hours on it a weak mowing. A tip for greasing the anti scalp wheels is to use a grease needle. The grease zerk will pull out of the plastic wheel when you pull the hose off. Found that out the first time greased them. A grease needle works great for this and is a lot cleaner.

 

[amg280]

Thanks for all the advice guys! Looks like Im going to need to stock up on grease! :thumbsup:

 

[TripleR]

Thanks for all the advice guys! Looks like Im going to need to stock up on grease! :thumbsup:

Get a long flexible hose too as this helps with the back U-Joint.

 

[radioman]

I always give mine a shot of grease everytime I mow if I mow more then an hour each time. I change my gear oil every year in spring no matter what. If you mow 4 hours a week for 5 months will rack you up over 80 hours. This tells you you need to change oil in spring, mid summer and possibly fall depending on how many hours you mow it with.

The zerks do fall off the darn plastic wheels. I am seriously thinking about making my axels same as larrys that he drilled the axel to accept zerk in metal axel. I been racking my brain on how to make a jog in drill press I have from TSC to make it drill perfectly in center of axel.

 

[amg280]

I always give mine a shot of grease everytime I mow if I mow more then an hour each time. I change my gear oil every year in spring no matter what. If you mow 4 hours a week for 5 months will rack you up over 80 hours. This tells you you need to change oil in spring, mid summer and possibly fall depending on how many hours you mow it with.

The zerks do fall off the darn plastic wheels. I am seriously thinking about making my axels same as larrys that he drilled the axel to accept zerk in metal axel. I been racking my brain on how to make a jog in drill press I have from TSC to make it drill perfectly in center of axel.

If you figure out how to do that let me know. Im always afraid im going to lose that "loose" one mowing!

On a lighter note, I went to 3.1 to 3.0 on the dial, and it cut my lawn like a golfcourse! Very nice. I think my dealer did a pretty good job of lining and adjusting everything well. I went over the spec in the manual and everything seems good, including the front draw bar.

I love mowing the lawn. Its my relaxation place. I just need to smooth it out some now, my back cant take some of the bumps!!

 

[newdeal]

ok wait a sec I didn't even know we needed to grease the wheels. I was only greasing 5 spots on the deck, two on the shaft and 3 on the deck itself. Then also the one on the tractor that is under the floor cover (even though it says to do it every 50 hours I do it when I have the grease out). What I can't figure out though as I am a beginner is how much grease to put in those **** and also how to easily get my grease gun off because man it seems to clip on VERY well

 

[Toolguy]

A general rule of thumb when greasing is to pump grease until you see it come out somewhere. To remove the grease coupler off the fitting you pull or push it sideways. Never try to pull it straight off. It is designed to lock on when it is straight so the pressure of the grease gun doesn't push it off. Also, some grease couplers can be adjusted tighter or looser by turning the end. Good luck.