How often should you grease a tractor for light duty?

[Reddogs]

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?

 

[sea2summit]

Actually far fewer "use" hours when you don't use it very often. I'm betting the grease you're using actually dries out over time and if it's clay based will actually do more harm than good. If it's been more than two weeks I like to just look at a few fittings and make sure they're "soft" and don't have a crust forming, if it's been more than a month and I plan to do meaningful work I'll probably re grease it. And if it's outside, every time it rains I'll regrease before use usually not a full couple pumps but a pump just to make sure water wasn't captured in the greased point.

 

[dodge man]

Every 10 hours. A construction company that takes care of there stuff will grease daily.

 

[Rockbadchild]

I grease before every day that i will be using it a lot so yes every 10h especially the front end … the FEL i will if i use it a lot that day but if i don’t then i won’t …

 

[Reddogs]

Actually far fewer "use" hours when you don't use it very often. I'm betting the grease you're using actually dries out over time and if it's clay based will actually do more harm than good. If it's been more than two weeks I like to just look at a few fittings and make sure they're "soft" and don't have a crust forming, if it's been more than a month and I plan to do meaningful work I'll probably re grease it. And if it's outside, every time it rains I'll regrease before use usually not a full couple pumps but a pump just to make sure water wasn't captured in the greased point.

Well, I am taking it out every day, so was looking up the videos on what needs to be greased, and I am going to have to look at my older tractor as there are areas such as the steering, transmission, and backhoe I never even thought about...

 

[Jstpssng]

I grease every time that I fuel, putting 4.5 gallons in from a 5 gallon can.
So about every 9 hours.

 

[jjeff]

If you don't like greasing equipment get a cordless grease gun it will cut your pm greasing by 75% helps open clogged grease fittings I use 3-5%molly for loader pins, and I guarantee you'll wonder why you didn't get one before imho.

 

[RjCorazza]

My Kubota specs greasing every 50h, and 10h for the loader. I generally don't consider non loader use hours into the 10 hours, so I estimate loader use.
I agree with the post about electric grease guns. There's no going back after using one. My ZD mowers have a ton of grease points (16?) and I zip through them with a DeWalt and LockNLube fitting.

 

[Rockbadchild]

If you don't like greasing equipment get a cordless grease gun it will cut your pm greasing by 75% helps open clogged grease fittings I use 3-5%molly for loader pins, and I guarantee you'll wonder why you didn't get one before imho.

i am wondering with a battery grease gun can you tell when the “chamber” is filled so you don’t pop the seal ??

 

[Skeletor]

+1 on the battery powered grease gun. I cheaper out and bought a new manual one and I didn’t even do the whole tractor once before my hands were on fire. I have issues with my hands. There’s a lotta fittings in the backhoe. I ordered the Dewalt gun with a lock n lube. I honestly felt stupid when I first used it because I bought a manual one. That thing is awesome!

 

[jjeff]

i am wondering with a battery grease gun can you tell when the “chamber” is filled so you don’t pop the seal ??

Slightly confused please enlighten me, pull back the plunger and lock it unscrew and put a new grease cartridge in, screw it back on release the plunger and bleed it,
if its empty no grease comes out. I don't fill it from a pail just buy cartridges which is fine for my equipment usage even with today's prices. mine is the 20 volt DeWalt great little gun.

 

[AWSubie]

I am a very light user and I grease every three months to avoid the aforementioned drying of the grease. The exception to my normal schedule is the backhoe which I grease every time I use it in addition to every three months.

 

[Rockbadchild]

Slightly confused please enlighten me, pull back the plunger and lock it unscrew and put a new grease cartridge in, screw it back on release the plunger and bleed it,
if its empty no grease comes out. I don't fill it from a pail just buy cartridges which is fine for my equipment usage even with today's prices. mine is the 20 volt DeWalt great little

no no sorry let me try this again so with a hand grease gun when you are pumping grease in a grease fitting and it reach its full capacity you feel the resistance and you know it’s full so you stop so you don’t blow the seal, how do you know with a electric grease gun when it’s time to stop ? the sound changes or … ?

 

[jjeff]

no no sorry let me try this again so with a hand grease gun when you are pumping grease in a grease fitting and it reach its full capacity you feel the resistance and you know it’s full so you stop to now blow the seal, how do you know with a electric grease gun when it’s time to stop ? the sound changes or … ?

Got it, every loader and BH pins I've done don't have seals like a bearing I do use an old manual pistol grip gun with lithium or high temp bearing grease for other applications. But getting back to your question the cordless motor does seem to strain a little when the flow is obstructed but it probably would blow out a bearing seal no problem if your not careful. On loader or BH pins I put enough grease so it just starts to flow out of the joints.

 

[jjeff]

Also on my cordless gun you can hear it cycle I'm assuming every time that pump cycles is equal to one pump of grease from a manually operated gun.

 

[Rockbadchild]

Got it, every loader and BH pins I've done don't have seals like a bearing I do use an old manual pistol grip gun with lithium or high temp bearing grease for other applications. But getting back to your question the cordless motor does seem to strain a little when the flow is obstructed but it probably would blow out a bearing seal no problem if your not careful. On loader or BH pins I put enough grease so it just starts to flow out of the joints.

ha kk makes sense, so for the front end steering ball joints or the axel pivot you would do them by hand also ?

 

[jjeff]

Ball joints by hand, when I first got my gun I blew out the dustcap on a ball joint I probably wouldn't blow it out again but I don't use molly for ball joints either.

 

[Bearsixty7]

Also on my cordless gun you can hear it cycle I'm assuming every time that pump cycles is equal to one pump of grease from a manually operated gun.

I don't think so on my Milwaukee 18V model. When I used a manual grease gun (2 different ones) the loader pins only took 1-3 pumps to see grease move, with the Milwaukee it takes 5-10.
Now there is a possibility my Milwaukee has a problem, I just got it for Christmas but only started using it a couple months ago.

 

[Sportsman762]

I try to grease every 8 hours. However I will grease before doing a large job, or after a long time of sitting. Figure the grease drives the water and contaminates out. I would love a battery powered grease gun, but have to settle for an air powered one for now.

Greasing every oil change is not good for the equipment. It needs greased more often. I have had the opportunity to work for folks who do not grease and can tell you first hand that grease saves equipment. If you like repairing stuff, or enjoy the challenges of running worn out loose equipment then don't grease. For areas that do not have seals too much grease is impossible.

 

[two_bit_score]

What is a more normal level for greasing a tractor under light conditions or usage?

Watching.