Lubing FEL

[Hook]

I just passed 10 hours on my L3010 & want to lube the FEL, as per the maintenance schedule. Three questions:

1) What kind of grease do I use? Can I just grab any kind of multi-purpose grease?

2) The grease fittings have some kind of threaded "screw" entering the joint. Is this a grease fitting? If so, does it take some kind of "standard" grease gun?

3) The directions say to grease the joints of the lever. Do I uust slap some grease in the area where the lever arm connects?

TIA.

--
Hook

 

[Anonymous Poster]

HOOK,
1. A GOOD MOLY GREASE IS OK
2. ALL GREASING POINTS HAVE STANDARD GREASE FITTINGS.
3. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS "LEVER" IS. CONTROL ARM FOR THE HYDRAULIC CONTROL VALVE? A LITTLE OIL IF YOU WANT.
4. LUBING THE FEL AFTER 10 HOURS USE REFERS TO 10 HOURS USE ON THE FEL NOT 10 HOURS OF TRACTOR TIME.
FRED

 

[MDNick]

I also have a L3010 that has 29 hrs on it (the tractor, about 1/2 of that is on the loader). I have yet to Lube my FEL. I like things well lubed. Both bucket cylinders were leaking, so I took them off for warranty repacking. There was a good coating of grease on all assorted pins. Also have read the directions of lubing the control lever. I am going to squirt some penetrating oil (WD-40 or equil) on the various connections, not grease. Like I said, I like things well lubed, but to much grease collects dirt, grit, crud, that then wears on assorted parts. I plan on keeping enough grease on it that there is always evidence of lube, but I won't put in 3 squirts of grease just because my 10 hrs are up. The exceptions to that are the environment. If you are working in a really dusty situation, then 10 hrs of use may not be frequent enough. Or if your tractor were to set outside.

If you want to strictly follow the schedule, then (as Fred said) use any general purpose grease at the fittings and then wipe up the excess.

Nick

Farmer kid usetabe, Farmer Wannabe

 

[Hook]

Poster: FRED.G
Subject: Re: Lubing FEL

> 1. A GOOD MOLY GREASE IS OK

Cool. Thanks.

> 2. ALL GREASING POINTS HAVE STANDARD GREASE
> FITTINGS.

I thought so, but ...

> 3. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS "LEVER" IS. CONTROL ARM
> FOR THE HYDRAULIC CONTROL VALVE? A LITTLE OIL IF YOU
> WANT.
Yes, the control lever. There is a sticker on the FEL that says to "lube" the joints of the control lever.

> FRED

Hook

 

[Jeff396]

I just took my FEL off for the first time to mow the lawn. Sure was nice to not have to worry about hittin' something with it!! I was wondering, no matter what I did I had to use a little persuasion (tapped with a hammer) to get one of the pins back in....is this normal? They both seemed to come out easy enough.

Jeff

2001 B7500HSD, LA302 fel, 60"mmm, grass catcher

 

[Bird]

Jeff, I'm going to assume that you remove and re-install your loader the same as the LA401 on my B2710; by driving up against it, connecting the hydraulic lines, then roll the bucket forward (dump) to tilt the side frames back into the main frame. Occasionally mine will look like it's almost in place, but not quite, and I simply roll the bucket back (curl) a bit and the bottom end of the side frames slips that tiny distance into the correct place, dump the bucket again, and everything is lined up so the pins always go in easily; I've never had to push or hammer on them. And if I'm way off base with this idea, then I probably can't help you./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Jeff396]

Went down and messed with it some more. It seems that no matter what I did with the bucket it never slid easily in or out of the hole. Yes, it goes on exactly as you describe. The pin on one side goes in without a bit of pressure. The one on the other side will go in the outer hole and through the Fel okay but hangs up a bit on the inner most hole which is part of the bracket that stays on the tractor. I noticed that there are little pieces of steel that the Fel rests up against just behind the hole. I wonder if I file a bit on this, it may pick up that 1/32 of an inch that's in the way.

Jeff

 

[JimMorrissey]

Jeff,

I would have told you exactly what Bird did. The only other thing I can think of, which gave me trouble in the past, is a irregular surface (sloping one way or another). Make sure you are working with as flat a surface as possible when installing the loader. It made a difference for me.

 

[snowman]

Jeff;

My FEL pins slide right in; I've taken it on and off a number of times (never keep it on when I mow). If the pins don't slide right in, then I know that I'm off a bit and fiddle around with the controls a bit more.

One way to know that it's aligned before putting the pins in is to actually lift the bucket off of the ground (not high; just off the ground) before you put the pins in. Make sure that you look at each side where the FEL sets in the frame good before you lift it though; you don't want one side to slip off.

I also built a dolly for my FEL; makes it much easier and lets me store it easier in the garage.

 

[Bird]

Jeff, other than a slight manufacturing flaw, the only other thing I can think of would be if there was a little debris, dirt, metal shavings, or something similar not letting it slip completely into place, but I'm guessing if that were the case, it would have been cleared out during your tinkering with it.

 

[Jeff396]

Confused, you lift the bucket off the ground before you put the pins in. Doesn't this just remove the fel from the brackets again? I fiddled around with it but did not actually rock it out of the bracket again. I'll give that a try on Sunday when I have more time. Another question, when I removed the Fel and went to put the rubber caps on, they were filthy. Had to clean and blow each out with air. Did anyone on the forum have any trick solution for this or am I being too ****.......AGAIN???

Jeff

p.s. Ran into the truck with the fel, sticks out further that I thought. I knew I was getting close, but not that close. Just a little ding in the running board. Argggggggg!

 

[MikePA]

<font color=blue>p.s. Ran into the truck with the fel, sticks out further that I thought. I knew I was getting close, but not that close. Just a little ding in the running board. Argggggggg!</font color=blue>

Wow, that beats my story of running into the swing set! I solved that by cutting the swing set down. Girls are 17 and 14 now, so they don't use the swing set much anymore. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Jeff396]

I think I saw that picture a while back. Fortunately, I just put a ding the size of a half dollar in one of those stainless steel tube running boards. Easily replaced if it bothers me. I just shudder to think if I had the bucket a bit higher and caught some sheet metal!!!!

Jeff

 

[ronjhall]

Jeff
Sorry to hear about your FEL damaging your truck.. You may not be spending enough time checking out old post on TBN./w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif Give this thread a try. It may help./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[Youare]

I have a L3000 with FEL with 30 hours on it, I have noticed that one lift cylinder every now and then drips a little oil out the bottom seal. I have yet to contact the dealer, but plan to. I have the LB400A loader, I think this is the same loader that the L3010 has.

The manual for my loader recommends a grease that has moly in it. I picked up a tube of that stuff and found it to be nasty to remove from anything that you don't want it on. I have looked a several different types of grease that are not so messy. I would rather put a type of lube on more often that I can clean off places where it doesn't have to be.

Randy

 

[snowman]

"Confused, you lift the bucket off the ground before you put the pins in. Doesn't this just remove the fel from the brackets again? "

Jeff;
The pins basically secure the loader arms to the frame. Once the "lip" of the loader arm is securely in the loader frame, that's when I lift the bucket off the ground (just off the ground, not high) and slip the pins in. If the loader is on securely, the pins will be very easy to move.

Rubber caps - I assume you mean the caps covering the hydraulics connections? If so, they're always dirty. I always wipe them clean; always make sure that the connections are clean too before I hook them up.

 

[dkchandler]

Hook,
I like synthetic lubricants, Slick 50 makes a "One Grease" that is PTFE (Teflon) fortified.
Works great for me, it is about $4 a tube @ Wal-Mart.

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

<font color=blue>text</font color=blue> "I solved that by cutting the swing set down. Girls are 17 and 14 now, so they don't use the swing set much anymore. "

Won't be too many years and you will be putting a swing set back up..... Grand Kids.... Oh, that's right... They get a better one than the kids did........ Forgot that....... Tom

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I use polyurea grease compound... It has a excellent water washout resistance and a good low temperature pumpability.. It is superior in extreme pressure and antiwear properties and not -corrosice to yellow metals (bushings). It resists structural breakdown under severe conditions and resists salt water corrosion! It is great for industrial equipment and tractors!!! I would not recomend mixing greases.. There is a great compatibility problem with many grease's so flush out the old grease before you change to another family of grease! Good luck and keep that tractor well lubed! Dan

 

[cisco]

I use the marine type grease (water resistant, Teflon added), for boat trailer wheels. I've lubed my FEL every 10 hours of use - not general tractor use, FEL use - which is what the instructions apply to. The grease fittings are standard - & I've taken to popping the large pins on the main arms, smearing them with grease, then rotating the bucket just a tad (to partially disengage the loader from its frame), greasing the bar on which the loader arms rest, and then re-aligning things and getting back to work (bucket must be on level ground, of course, or realigning things could take a bit of time) The remaining fittings - anyone's guess. I do a full tractor lube when I do the FEL, as it only takes a few extra minutes, and I already have the grease gun in my hand, and look grubby anyway.