Grease Fitting Puzzle? Simplicity Citation 61"

Vic_N · Jun 2, 2014

My mower's manual says to remove the bolts on the front casters, replace them with 1/4-28 grease fittings, grease the casters, remove the fittings and replace the bolts. I replaced the bolts with the fittings and left them on the machine. Can anyone explain why you'd remove and replace a grease fitting? The only thing I can think of is they're located in a place where someone might damage them but it seems pretty unlikely to me. Photo attached.

Gary Fowler · Jun 2, 2014

My Ferris is the same. No need to keep the zerks in as they will weep a bit of grease and make a bit of mess running down the tubing.

These are only greased once a year and if you over fill, the grease will be pressurize above the hole so expect some to pump back out when you remove the zerk. BTDT! If you don't remove the zerk, it could leave pressure on the caster housing that might damage the pressure seals. I put the pipe cap back in mine after greasing. Not a big deal to remove two zerks every 100 to 200 hours of operation.
Possibly a good thing to do would be to run it around a rough area to settle the grease prior to removing the zerk.