How often should you grease a tractor for light duty?

[seville009]

I grease whenever I'm in the mood. Tend to go around and do all of the equipment in one shot.

definitely do summer equipment (ie: mower) before I put it away for the winter and before I use it for the first time in the summer.

grease winter equipment (ie: skidsteer with blower) on a day when it's been above freezing so that the grease/zero is thawed (keep the grease gun inside in a plastic bag in the winter).

 

[mikester]

I grease every time I refuel the tank. Works out to be every 10 hours.

Grease is cheap. If you really want to save time and money why bother changing your oil and filters?

 

[Mrsig]

I do it every 10 hours with HD marine grease. I have the Ryobi 18 volt gun it is so much faster than the hand pump.

 

[LHF2019]

On tractors my grease intervals are 50 hr and 10 on loader. So every 25 hrs. on hourmeter I am greasing. On the loader tractors I may or may not hit them with a shot of grease. Really depends on what that tractor is doing. During the winter these tractors are getting greased way more than they need because they are racking up hours warming up but I still stick with the 25 hr. routine. The skidsteer is 10 hr. EVERY 10 hrs on meter it is getting greased.

On grease and grease guns.

I get a kick out of all the greases and this and that and grease hardening and grease guns seeping. For the vast majority of people one grease is good. For over 80 years this farm has ran TRC 880 crown and chassis and it will do the job. I have been asked why a certain part wore the way it did because it should have failed long before it did. For instance on my discbine the pto universal should have failed however the universal was still going strong but it wore the pto components instead. If your grease gun is dripping oil then your grease is separating and is doing the same in your equipment. I am not a sales rep just 3rd generation of using the same grease.

On grease guns I quit using battery operated because of all the wasted grease. Again if using good grease you don't use as much. Such as pto universals I count pumps. 2 or 3 usually and with battery it is fast. 1 extra pump is wasted grease. I quit when I see the slightest movement and with battery you may have already done 2 extra before movement registers. If I had a construction business with equipment with huge pins that needed greased everyday the scenario is different. Got my first lock and lube last year. Will never go without it. It made greasing that much more enjoyable.

 

[LD1]

To the OP's original question....you have to be more specific than just "how often to grease tractor"

A typical tractor has grease fittings at the front axle pivot, kingpin, ball joints, and possibly wheel hub if 2wd. Then underneath it may have fittings for things like clutch and brake linkage pivots, or steering joints, etc.

Then there is a loader and backhoe.

Once a year, every oil change, every 50h or whatever (infrequent) is fine for most of those things.

However a loader and BH....yup, 10hrs of use.

Im surprised you mentioned the "old" tractor had a backhoe (which usually means loader too). And that you only grease it a few times in 20 years. If you used it much at all I'd be surprised if pins and bushings are real sloppy and make quite a bit of noise while in use

 

[deezler]

I try to grease my front loader every 8-10 hours - of actual loader use. If I'm just loafing the tractor around of doing very light pallet shuffling, I don't always count those hours. But it sure seems like just 2-3 hours of hard loader use can work most of the grease out - gets louder and sloppier.

My recollection was that the Dewalt 20v grease gun was prohibitively expensive. But here it is for $157. Should I jump?

https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DCGG571M1-20V-Cordless-Grease/dp/B00G1X2HPG/ref=sr_1_5?gclid=CjwKCAjw9LSSBhBsEiwAKtf0n7ZQn0Y36oRQPGx0zyuZ-TCl9uh9zpmWkrpgtE3h-aPY3xvSaoDBRBoCJr4QAvD_BwE&hvadid=238267536643&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9016897&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=15935045701308163299&hvtargid=kwd-356269141438&hydadcr=7515_9880906&keywords=cordless%2Bdewalt%2Bgrease%2Bgun&qid=1649247652&sr=8-5&th=1

Or $229 with a 4ah battery, charger and case.

https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DCGG571M1-20V-Cordless-Grease/dp/B00FL2SOXW/ref=sr_1_5?gclid=CjwKCAjw9LSSBhBsEiwAKtf0n7ZQn0Y36oRQPGx0zyuZ-TCl9uh9zpmWkrpgtE3h-aPY3xvSaoDBRBoCJr4QAvD_BwE&hvadid=238267536643&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9016897&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=15935045701308163299&hvtargid=kwd-356269141438&hydadcr=7515_9880906&keywords=cordless%2Bdewalt%2Bgrease%2Bgun&qid=1649247652&sr=8-5&th=1

 

[Rockbadchild]

To the OP's original question....you have to be more specific than just "how often to grease tractor"

A typical tractor has grease fittings at the front axle pivot, kingpin, ball joints, and possibly wheel hub if 2wd. Then underneath it may have fittings for things like clutch and brake linkage pivots, or steering joints, etc.

Then there is a loader and backhoe.

Once a year, every oil change, every 50h or whatever (infrequent) is fine for most of those things.

However a loader and BH....yup, 10hrs of use.

Im surprised you mentioned the "old" tractor had a backhoe (which usually means loader too). And that you only grease it a few times in 20 years. If you used it much at all I'd be surprised if pins and bushings are real sloppy and make quite a bit of noise while in use

I agree with most of what you said above I know you are a mechanic but I think you do not want to neglect front axle components like the axle steering kingpin and especially the front axle pivot.

 

[RalphVa]

I never greased my old tractor except when I changed the oil which I think I did several times in twenty years, so I was shocked when I saw in a video that you need to grease every 10 hours of use. What is a more normal level for greasing a tractor under light conditions or usage?

I was surprised, too, at the 10 hour greasing. For Kubota, it's the FEL, not the tractor. Still 50 hours on the tractor. On the JDs, I did everything at 50 hours. There were a couple zerks on the JD 2025R that were supposed to be done at 10 hours. It did 50. At least on the Kubota, they're not asking you to grease zerks that cannot be gotten to.

 

[LD1]

I agree with most of what you said above I know you are a mechanic but I think you do not want to neglect front axle components like the axle steering kingpin and especially the front axle pivot.

Greasing it once a year, or every oil change is fine for the axle pivot. It isnt under near the stress that loader and backhoe pins are....its typical alot larger diameter, and doesnt have near the amount of rotational movement. It doesnt need greased ever 10 hrs like loader and backhoe pins. And its not neglect to do it less frequently. Neglect is only doing it a few times in 20 years

 

[repete]

When I grease my tractor I "unload" any point I can so grease gets into the wear areas.

An example would be on a loader, put the bucket on the ground with only a slight down force and then roll the bucket forward with a slight down force. now when you fill the fitting with grease it fills the pint where the lifting force will be exerted while in use. Same with as many fittings as you can on backhoe and axle tilt, etc. Easy to unload axle tilt again using the bucket. Just enough to raise one wheel off the ground (an inch is all it takes).

Also, if you do not regularly grease the joints they will frequently fill with rust and then disassembly of the joint is required. If you do not grease them regularly, it is only a matter of time until the torch and hammer come out to drive the rusted pin out so you can then clean the cylinder pin hole, polish the pin and grease the joint. This is especially true if you leave your machine out in the rain or park with water in the joints.

In my opinion it is not a problem to over grease an open pin joint but can be a significant issue if you under grease that same joint.