Greasing the Loader on a MX5100

[rthrbhntg]

This might be a silly question but I'm a novice tractor guy and need to lubricate the loader for the first time on a Kubota MX5100. Read the instructions but it only tells you where to lubricte not how. I have the grease and the grease gun ready to go but how do I get the grease where it needs to go? Seems like a tight fit where all the movement takes place. Any help appreciated.

 

[murphy1244]

Plug in your zerk fitting and give three shots each every 25 hours of run time.

 

[k0ua]

This might be a silly question but I'm a novice tractor guy and need to lubricate the loader for the first time on a Kubota MX5100. Read the instructions but it only tells you where to lubricte not how. I have the grease and the grease gun ready to go but how do I get the grease where it needs to go? Seems like a tight fit where all the movement takes place. Any help appreciated.

First do you have anyone to come help show you that is familiar with lubricating machinery? I am guessing not or you would have called them already.. OK. we will do the best we can here: Step one is to locate all the grease fittings on both sides of the loader and taking a rag and or screwdriver, remove as much dirt around on especially on the end of the grease Zerks as possible. If you can relax the loader on the ground so the joints (the pins and bushings) are not in a bind. You may have to raise to the loader and dump or curl the bucket to get to some of the Zerks, I don't now how they are place on this particular loader.. some loaders have all Zerks on the sides and others have them in between the arms so you will have to observe and think this through.. Basically every where there is a moving joint there should be a pin and bushing set, and it will have a zerk that needs grease.. Now go back inside and loosen the tip of your brand new grease gun.. It was tightened down by a special gorilla that they employ with a 600 ft pound Ingersol Rand impact. That is a joke, but I am serious about loosening the tip of your grease gun. Read this thread for more info.:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/owning-operating/203295-grease-gun-screwdriver.html

Now that you have that hideous chore out of the way you are ready to begin greasing. Pop the grease gun tip onto the first Zerk and pump away until grease starts oozing out of the joint between the pin and the bushing.. be not sparing of the grease, it is cheap compared to pins and bushings. Now comes the hard part, using the knowledge you gained in the aformentiond thread (you did read it didn't you?) you will need to get the tip off without breaking off the zerk, by gently pulling and pushing the tip to one side.. Remember do not break off the Zerk! continue on unitil all the zerks are done and you have some grease showing in all of the joints. Again you may have to lower and raise the bucket and arms to get good flow to the joints and grease channels. Here is another thing to watch for: Often the Zerks are painted over at the factory and will need to be "scraped" with your pocket knife so that the little checkball is clear to accept grease.. Good Luck, and remember no excessive cursing or yanking on the tip or you WILL break the freaking Zerks off and now your troubles have just begun. You must grease every 10 hours of loader operation.. Watch your hour meter and just grease on the 10's.. like 10 20 30 .. you get the idea.. OR even more if your loader is operated in a lot of dirt, or under water at all.. grease ASAP after immersion in water or pressure washing the loader.. The old grease gathers dirt and falls off eventually.. If it gets too messy clean with a rag and maybe a little WD40 on it.. expecially the loader posts where you get on and off as this keeps the grease off of your clothes.. When you are greasing ,, You can wear rubber gloves if you like ..This helps some, but you are going to get some on your clothes...part of the deal.. Good Luck

James K0UA

 

[k0ua]

Oh, and while you are at it.. you cant trust the dealer to have greased your clutch shaft, your two brake shafts. crawl under the floor pan and look at them. and might as well grease the 2 front axle pivots too.
The front one is easy to see, but the one on the back side is a little harder to find. Also look all over the 3pt linkage and hit them too.. sure you dealer was supposed to do all of this, and they need grease every 50 hours, but did he do it? Mine sure as he77 did not. Wont hurt to look.. The front axle pivot has a little square headed relief plug that you are supposed to remove and grease the front zerk until grease starts to overflow out this relief plug. At least that is the way my L3400 was.. your Mx5100 may be different. and the back side of the axle pivot you just pump in 3 pumps and stop as it goes into the axle housing.. so don't pump a tube of grease into it waiting for something to come out somewhere. You will never see that grease again! Not a bad idea to check the fluid level in that front axle while you are at it..Kubota's are noted for not having enough fluid in the front axle.. as it takes some time for the fluid to travel down and eliminate all the air pockets in the axle. Sorry for the book, but read at your leisure, and do what you want.. to do.

James K0UA

 

[bigbull338]

make sure you have the loader up in the air abit.an you can grease the loader zerks with ease.

 

[kcender]

Everybody has their own opinion on how often to grease,there are a few threads on here about it.My preference is to grease the loader pins every 10 hours and the bucket and bucket linkage pins every 5 hours as I find this is a high wear area.That is how I do it,others might do it differently.One thing I can say is that it is hard to grease too often, other than it uses more grease and makes more mess.

 

[k0ua]

Better grease too often than too little, there have been some members on here with less than 200 hours complaining about bucket slop, and when asked how many times he greased in that time... well maybe 2 or 3 times. When in doubt, grease the dang thing.

James K0UA