inaccessible grease fitting

[finnercy]

So I have a Kubota B2230 with a recently added front loader. The problem I have is because my tractor is the cabbed model the top grease fitting cannot be accessed. There is an access hole but you can only use it if you detach the loader. I dont want to have dettach the loader to be able to grease it. I have tried flexible grease gun hoses, kits of grease gun adapters, even looked at changing the staight fitting for a 45 degree or 90 degree one. Problem is when looking down from the top you can see the grease fitting it is in slightly from the loader arm - so difficult to photo. If I could find a compact right angles grease gun adapter which is 90 degrees it would probably do it, the slide on 90 degree ones wont work because of the position of the grease fitting. This would seem to be an issue others might have encountered - Any suggestions? You can just make out the grease fitting in the first photo

 

[TractorGuy]

You will have to enlarge the hole or get and adapter. Maybe both.

My backhoe has one like that but the hole is larger. I have to keep a short piece of high pressure hose with a male and female coupler on it to stick on the fitting then connect my grease gun.

 

[mcfarmall]

Does the fitting always point to the access hole when the loader is raised up and down or does it pivot with the boom?

If it always points to the hole, remove the zerk, install a tube fitting and run some steel tubing out to a block mounted externally.

If it pivots with the boom then install the block on the boom.

BOOM!

 

[mikester]

You will have to enlarge the hole or get and adapter. Maybe both.

My backhoe has one like that but the hole is larger. I have to keep a short piece of high pressure hose with a male and female coupler on it to stick on the fitting then connect my grease gun.

Sorry but for your safety DO NOT drill the hole larger! That's bad advise.

The boom is removable so to reach that grease fitting, take off the boom. You can buy extra long grease gun fittings, shop around. I highly recommend the LNL fittings
Amazon.com: Lumax LX-143-XL Heavy-Duty Quick Release Grease Coupler, XL, 1/8" NPT. Compact 5” x 2”. Multi-Year Service Life: High-Performance Hydraulic Seal. Tool Steel.: Automotive

mcfarmall has better advice, see if raising the boom all the way makes it more accessible. You could also try a 45 or 90 degree zerk if the zerk is reachable with the boom all the way up.

 

[TerryR]

It looks like the fitting would be accessible from the top with the boom all the way down, if it were a 90 degree fitting mounded out a bit further. I'd suggest looking for an adapter to change from the thread size of the existing fitting to another size. They provide the right amount of offset. Then get a 90 degree fitting with a thread size that matches the adapter.

 

[ruffdog]

Can you see the end of the zerk? Have you tried a needle nose adapter through the access hole?

Amazon.com: Performance Tool W54216 4" Grease Gun Needle Nose Adapter: Automotive

 

[big bubba]

have you considered removing the existing zerk & replacing w/flex hose extension, male zerk threaded on one side to replace the zerk itself, female on the other w/zerk fitting where you can easily access? am sure there is plumbing out there to do it. but in your case, there may be obstacles for that extension route, etc....best of luck

 

[finnercy]

cheers for the replies so far, I was out this eve having a look and I think I might be able to get it with a right angle fitting I have, think I have been guilty of not trying hard enough BTW I have this kit 7pc Grease Gun Adaptor Kit | AK4481 | 1 year Warranty | Sealey - £41 not cheap but looks decent. The right angle fitting does not latch on it needs to be held on, last I tried it I had it on a rigid tube grease gun, which was very cumbersome and I could not get it sealed.
I think if I had put it on a flexi tube gun I could have held it in place sucessfully. Will give it another go!

 

[oosik]

I have a needle nose adapter that I use for zerks like that. It's 6" long and has a tiny pointed tip. Available at any of your better automotive parts stores. Plugs in to the tip of the grease gun.

 

[finnercy]

it would need to be bent or be right angled cos there is no way to get at the access hole for the grease fitting because of the cab. Might look like its possible in the photos but trust me its not

 

[Reb954]

It's hard to tell in your picture but I am guessing the grease zerk if pointed towards the cab. If you went with a 45 degree zerk could you get to it with a needle adapter like oosik mentioned or a straight zerk may let you come through the top hole?

 

[MF RED in MT]

If it were me, I would pull the pins/rods holding the FEL, tilt it forward while keeping the FEL in the bottom shoe, and replace the zerks with an extension/90 deg to allow for greasing directly from the top while the FEL is still installed.

KC

GREASE FITTING EXTENSION, GREASE FITTING ADAPTERS, PLUGS, BUSHINGS

 

[Big Barn]

Pull the zerk off and replace with an extension tube to make the zerk accessible.

Done all the time. Remote grease points.

 

[Gordon Gould]

It's hard to tell from the pic's but will an adapter like this work - maybe you already tried it ??? Got this one a O'Reily's Auto Parts for a couple bucks. Just put it on the gun and push straight onto the zerk at 90*.





gg

 

[not2old]

Hard to tell from the pictures but you might consider drilling two holes through the pin. One would be lengthwise with a thread for the fitting and the other across the pin. both could be small enough to not weaken it.

 

[Big Barn]

Sorry but for your safety DO NOT drill the hole larger! That's bad advise.

The boom is removable so to reach that grease fitting, take off the boom. You can buy extra long grease gun fittings, shop around. I highly recommend the LNL fittings
Amazon.com: Lumax LX-143-XL Heavy-Duty Quick Release Grease Coupler, XL, 1/8" NPT. Compact 5” x 2”. Multi-Year Service Life: High-Performance Hydraulic Seal. Tool Steel.: Automotive

mcfarmall has better advice, see if raising the boom all the way makes it more accessible. You could also try a 45 or 90 degree zerk if the zerk is reachable with the boom all the way up.

I think I would be inclined to enlarge the hole.

 

[zzvyb6]

So, if the Zerk is supposed to grease the loader pin, here's what the rocket scientist in me would do:

I'd pull these pins, end drill them partway and cross drill a few holes along the pin length. Pop a Zerk on the end and bingo.

I have a few of these grease pins on my baler.

 

[TerryR]

Enlarging the hole doesn't help. It's pointed directly at the cab. The problem is to being able to access the grease fitting without using the provided access hole, since it's not accessible.

The grease fitting can be reached from above when the FEL is lowered, but the current fitting is recessed and points to the rear so you can't get a gun on it. There's not enough room to add an extension hose that can accommodate the wide range of motion of the end of the FEL arm.

The solution is to extend the fitting enough to be reachable from above, and point it upward, not to the rear. There have been a couple of suggestions on how to do that.

 

[Big Barn]

Why not replace with a straight zerk so that it points up through the hole ?

 

[ehcrain]

What about lifting the loader to full height? My 3901 has two zerks that are easier to grease if i do that