Deere polyurea grease

[bdog]

Virtually every Deere machine I have says in the manual to use the polyurea grease. This is for pins and bushings on dozers, excavators, backhoes, skid steers etc. No mention at all of the moly grease even though Deere makes a moly grease. I go to my local Deere construction dealer and if you ask for grease they give you moly. They say they sell it to everyone and hardly ever sell the polyurea. I have always thought moly was best in these applications but why do no owners manuals recommend it?

 

[Beltzington]

I had the same question when I bought my tractor and found the same issue you did of dealers pushing moly even though JD highly recommends their poly, maybe moly is a solution looking for a problem. I decided to use what it came from the factory with (poly) and order a case whenever I run low, although I rarely use more than three tubes a year. Attached is detailed specs for all of the older Deere greases and you will see poly is compatible with most grease while moly is not. This was important to me as I lubricate everything I own that requires grease with JD poly.

View attachment JDgreaseDKD1688revGrease.pdf

 

[rScotty]

I have several hand grease guns in a plastic 5 gallon bucket. Also in there are spare tubes of grease, a roll of rags, and JD's metric and imperial zerk kits.

I use JD SD poly for most zerks. If I'm working the loader or hoe in water I'll tend to use either the JD Corn Head or HD Waterproof grease. JD Corn Head grease is also a polyurea....not that it matters on bucket pivots.

I have one gun loaded with that horrid sticky black-staining moly grease which is only used rarely and sparingly for joints that begin to squeak. Sometimes the backhoe swing pivot will squeak in spite of being greased with polyurea regularly. Then it gets a shot moly grease which always fixes it. Not needed for most applications, though.
rScotty

 

[jwalk2c]

I had the same question when I bought my tractor and found the same issue you did of dealers pushing moly even though JD highly recommends their poly, maybe moly is a solution looking for a problem. I decided to use what it came from the factory with (poly) and order a case whenever I run low, although I rarely use more than three tubes a year. Attached is detailed specs for all of the older Deere greases and you will see poly is compatible with most grease while moly is not. This was important to me as I lubricate everything I own that requires grease with JD poly.

View attachment 539341

Hi, I also am trying to decide which grease to use on my John Deere 455G loader as well as Ford 1520 tractor . This chart does not list the Special-Purpose Calcium Sulfonate Grease with 5% Moly - TY27373 (construction equipment) grease.
That is the grease I am thinking of trying. I currently have a case of the TY6333 (3% moly) but after I purchased and began using I read it drys out easily.
I also noticed the price has decreased dramatically on the TY27373, it was about $12 a cartridge, now it is approx. $6.
AS someone mentioned and I can attest, the TY6333 with 3% moly is black and messy. Thanks Johnny Walker

 

[s219]

I used the Deere moly grease on my old tractor, and couldn't wait to use it all up. That stuff stained everything, and kept doing that for months after I had switched to another grease. Seemed like every time I greased, more old black moly would get pushed out. The moly stuff is technically better for bearings/pins under load, but I don't think it's that critical for most of our tractor uses, and it's so messy it's a pain to work with. As my wife will tell you, I don't normally care about how I look or getting my work clothes dirty, and I don't bother cleaning my tractor very often, but having moly grease on all my tractor lube points even made me feel messy. Years later, the moly stains in my work clothes are still there.

 

[Ford850]

Both JD and Kubota have gone to Poly as their recommended grease for everything. Look at the bottom of this page for similar threads for discussions on this same topic. I think Sixdogs did a little research and talked to a JD dealer after seeing his Kubota recommendation.

 

[bdog]

But what is strange is if you read the PDF Beltzington posted

Polyurea:
• Ideal in rolling contact applications.
• –15° to 350°F (–26° to 177°C).
• For high-temperature, extreme-pressure conditions.
• Used for initial lubrication in U-joints and axle bearings at the factory.
• Excellent protection in corrosive and wet conditions.
• Compatible with most other types of grease.
• For all-purpose applications, especially those requiring a severe- duty grease.
• Our best multi-purpose grease.

Special purpose HD Moly
• Premium high-quality grease.
• –10° to 350°F (–23° to 177°C).
• For use with pins, bushings, and ball joints.
• For use where shock load and sliding contact are continuous.
• For chain, cable, and conveyor lubrication.
• For applications where pitting, scoring, and wear failures are a problem.
• For high-temperature and extreme-pressure conditions.
• Compatible with lithium, aluminum, and calcium greases.

Isn't virtually everything we grease on our tractors or especially construction equipment pins, bushings, and ball joints?

The owners manuals state Polyurea. Their own literature makes no mention of pins and bushings as an application for Polyurea but it definitely lists them for the HD Moly.

 

[sixdogs]

The poly Deere grease is great for loader pins and bushings because it is thick and sticky. My formerly sloppy buckets tighten up like new with poly so that's what I use. I also use it for other things but do use the lith-moly blend on some high speed bearings like my mower and such. Pure lithium seems to be fading from the scene and I don't think Kubota even sells it any more. I have two cases left and only use it on implements.

My dealer is a huge place that does big ag tractors and loads of construction equipment and the parts guy says they sell about 85% poly grease. Seems like the future will be poly and moly.

In short, I love Deere poly urea grease for most all uses.

 

[Z71]

Grease comparison test..► Moly Heavy-Duty EP Grease Comparison Test [AMSOIL] - YouTube

 

[rScotty]

I used the Deere moly grease on my old tractor, and couldn't wait to use it all up. That stuff stained everything, and kept doing that for months after I had switched to another grease. Seemed like every time I greased, more old black moly would get pushed out. The moly stuff is technically better for bearings/pins under load, but I don't think it's that critical for most of our tractor uses, and it's so messy it's a pain to work with. As my wife will tell you, I don't normally care about how I look or getting my work clothes dirty, and I don't bother cleaning my tractor very often, but having moly grease on all my tractor lube points even made me feel messy. Years later, the moly stains in my work clothes are still there.

That's the same way I feel about the moly grease. The lowest swing pivots on the backhoe are under tremendous load all the time. They do benefit from moly grease so I use it there but nowhere else.
rScotty

 

[sixdogs]

That's the same way I feel about the moly grease. The lowest swing pivots on the backhoe are under tremendous load all the time. They do benefit from moly grease so I use it there but nowhere else.
rScotty

Try a tube of the polyurea. It stays put and tightens loaders and buckets up.

 

[Silvic]

As has been said above. For loaded points (pins) that are slow moving moly is great. For high speed bearings (PTO equipment and the like) and hydraulic motor bearings use poly. I have read where it is actually bad for high speed bearings to use moly. I use the moly on just a few things but the poly is the go to item for most things. On my Fecon head they specify greasing on a four hour interval and specify only poly. Of course those bearing are very high speed and work all the time under a lot of "abuse".

 

[bdog]

For those that complain about the messy black moly grease I really can’t disagree but truthfully I don’t want any grease on me it is all messy and sticky. I do use the polyurea in other applications like bearings but it isn’t like getting it on my clothes is ok or something it is all grease. I wear rubber gloves when I grease things and wipe up the excess as I go with any type of grease.

 

[om21braz]

I have swapped to the Mobilith SHC 460 all around. Especially good for high speed bearings. It may be a bit cost prohibitive for bulk use though.

https://www.exxonmobil.com/en/marine/products/mobilith-shc-460-grease

 

[sugarloafguy]

Hi,

We have used a number of different greases the last several years in both our trucks and flail mowers. I got a new Deere HX7 cutter in October and could not wait to pump out the grease it came with. When warm it is everywhere. Not so impressed with the other Deere grease in zerks that is yellow maybe Poly in our new 5085E loader either. Our Alamo SHD flail mowers see hundreds of miles each year and had been a real problem with rollers, shafts and bearings. About $600.00 each failure plus the lost time in the repair garage since the mowers may be 30 miles from the shop or more. Half the fun of using grease that does not work is laying underneath mowers on the 8' shoulder of a 3 lane highway with patrons driving 80-100 mph right beside you. We switched to Texas Refinery 880 Crown and Chassis. They make a moly as well. Problem solved. No more rollers gone, bearings or shafts. Grease that actually stays where you put it. It works well in our new Deere 331G track skid steer with Deere forestry head. No bearing failures there either and it runs 40 hours/week. One of our mechanics was service manager at Yale and they had constant bearing issues until they switched to TRC. No more issues. It is worth $8.00 a tube guys.


Brian

 

[rScotty]

OK, I'll try it - backhoes eat grease. I see that Texas Refinery 880 C&C comes in 4 different grades (weights). Which one?
thanks,
rScotty

 

[sugarloafguy]

rScotty,


We use the TRC 880 Crown and Chassis #2 with the 100LB Timken OK load. Not sure on the Moly 880 C&C
maybe try #1. TRC could advise better on that one.


Brian