How much grease is needed on mower caster arms?

Anonymous Poster · Jul 19, 2001

I like everything about my LandPride finish mower except one thing, and that's the way they made the casters arms. To adjust the height, I have to pull a pin and move the spacers to the top or bottom. As near as I can tell, that's the way they did it on other brands also. The problem with that is I get my hands pretty greasy and dirty every time I want to change the height. Plus, I worry that dirt is getting inside, so I feel obligated to pump in some grease every time I change the height. This is much less convenient than changing the height of my riding mower was, which just required moving the arm to the next notch. Am I making this worse than it needs to be by over greasing? How often do ya'll grease the caster arms on your mowers? I sure wish someone would come up with a better method of changing the height of these type of mowers!

Bird · Jul 19, 2001

Danny, my Bush Hog is the same way, and I give 'em a shot of grease before each use. I guess my advantage is that I've never changed the height; liked it at the height the dealer delivered it./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Bird

ronjhall · Jul 19, 2001

Danny
Adjusting the height of my Kubota 72" MMM does not require me to get my hands full of grease. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif That being said if there is any grease within 3' of where I'm working, some will get on me. /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif
Like most others I put grease to all mower fittings while engine is warming up.

Anonymous Poster · Jul 19, 2001

Ron,

By "MMM", do you mean "Mid Mount Mower"?

glennmac · Jul 19, 2001

EGAD! Mowers need to be greased each time you use them? I havent been doing that.

Bird · Jul 19, 2001

Mowers need to be greased each time you use them

That's what my manual says. Of course, I think it might depend on how much mowing, how long it's run at a time, etc. But since grease is cheap, I'm pretty liberal with it./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Bird

Von · Jul 19, 2001

Re: How much grease is needed on mower caster arms

my owner's manual for the MMM on B2710 states the castors and wheels get greased every 50 hours. and the spindles daily. I figure every 8 hours of use I do all spindles, casters and wheels. Better to be safe than sorry.

looch · Jul 19, 2001

Mowers need to be greased...

That's scary./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Danny,

Same thing for my Farm King. To add to the mess, they didn't bother to mask the shafts during painting. When I pull my spacers off, the red paint mixes with the grease and I end up looking like a mad scientist. I think I've figured out the right height now so I hopefully won't be re-adjusting them anytime soon. Like Bird, I give mine a shot before each outing.

There's one annoying thing with my set-up. The pins that hold the wheels in fall out more often than I'd like. I lost 3 the last 2 times that I mowed. I don't know what kind of bizarre force enabled me to find them. I have since wired the "spring-ring" back onto the end of the pin. Anyone else had this problem?

ronjhall · Jul 19, 2001

Glenn
I didn't read manual./w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif Followed the recommendation that others suggestedhere on TBN./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif About needing something to do while engine and transmission are warming up./w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif Like Bird said grease is cheap./w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif I know how much wheels are ($85 with bushings)./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif I don't want to find out how much a gauge wheel spindle is./w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

glennmac · Jul 19, 2001

A grease gun I do have. Better safe than sorry. Good I was reading here today.

ronjhall · Jul 19, 2001

Danny
Yes MMM means "Mid Mount Mower".
Sometime back Muhammad put together a list of Abbreviations that covered most of the common ones. A thread that included a whole lot of suggestions followed. I looked up MMM. Glossary only went to MM./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif If you havn't looked at this thread it should keep you reading for a while./w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif

Leef · Jul 20, 2001

Ron, I've started using a synthetic grease in my grease gun. I don't think it's particularly better than regular grease, but blue grease doesn't seem to be as dirty as the black stuff. Just playing mind games with myself.

Leef

DaveM · Jul 20, 2001

Danny- Yep, it's messy but I think it's also a pretty bullet proof way to adjust the height. Personally, I've adopted a "always wearing gloves" habit whenever I do anything with the tractor. OK, the seat and steering wheel are usually grease free but just about everything else I need to touch is kinda greasy or dirty. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Dave

Bird · Jul 20, 2001

always wearing gloves

Gosh, I'd ruin too many gloves that way. I just keep my big jug of Fast Orange handy in the shop to wash my hands frequently./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

MReeter · Jul 21, 2001

My sister-in-law is a Nurse,had her pick me up a box of Latex Surgical gloves were she works.Snap on the gloves,do the dirty work,throw the gloves away.My wife has fun with me "operating" on our equipment.And yes,I grease the spindles about every 8 hours,and the casters every time we mow.

Bird · Jul 21, 2001

MReeter, would you believe the tool trucks (at least Matco) carry those boxes of latex gloves? And my brother sold lots of them.

Bird

MReeter · Jul 21, 2001

They sure come in handy any time in the shop.I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty,but when changing oil or greasing things up,I slip on a pair.

Bird · Jul 21, 2001

Probably a good idea. I tried using them when I'm cleaning stuff in my parts washer with Varsol, but the Varsol softens then, they stretch, get loose, and were just a nuisance.

Bird