Man up

Sprocket1 · Aug 2, 2012

How many of you with a 2305 have never or very seldom grease the driveline u-joints? You know, the one near the starter ring and the one in front of the transmission cooling fan.
The u-joints are just the right size to make it nearly impossible to get a grease gun nose on the zerk. I had to grind down a regular nose to get mine greased. A needle adapter doesn't stand a chance of getting grease into the zerk.

ccsial · Aug 2, 2012

My X748 has one drive shaft zerk that is a real jerk. I tried the needle point too. I ended up doing what you did and ground one down. I grease them all on schedule. A failure can break a lot of stuff.

arlen4720 · Aug 3, 2012

ccsial said:
My X748 has one drive shaft zerk that is a real jerk. I tried the needle point too. I ended up doing what you did and ground one down. I grease them all on schedule. A failure can break a lot of stuff.

I have an x748, and I use a needle to grease the driveshaft zerk. I use a small gun with a steel tube and a squeeze lever; one hand operation. I can reach up there with one hand and squeeze the lever. It goes right in. I also ground down a regular grease gun fitting, but I think the needle is way easier.

XSKIER · Aug 3, 2012

Trade in your 2210s, 2305s, and X748ses, on a 1026R. A standard tip works on the rear joint, and a needle works on the front.

fdmars · Aug 3, 2012

Do all 2305's have these fittings. I have a 2011 and after reading about this issue looked for mine and could not find them. So either I need to look harder or don't need to look at all. Please advise
Thanks

ccsial · Aug 3, 2012

XSKIER said:
Trade in your 2210s, 2305s, and X748ses, on a 1026R. A standard tip works on the rear joint, and a needle works on the front.

And the advantage is?????

XSKIER · Aug 3, 2012

ccsial said:
And the advantage is?????

No grinding your grease gun tip. No guessing if the zerks are even equipped on the joints, and No body panel removal to access them.

ccsial · Aug 3, 2012

Problem is....I would have an inferior tractor to my X748SE for mowing. The ride and handling on a 748 is not matched on a 1026.

The 748 could probably be done with a needle point if someone younger than me did it. It also sounds like you had to buy a different gun than I have. There are no panels to remove on a 748. The ground down fitting is fairly easy to do. I can't get enough pressure on the needle point with my old arthritic hands.

arlen4720 · Aug 3, 2012

XSKIER said:
Trade in your 2210s, 2305s, and X748ses, on a 1026R. A standard tip works on the rear joint, and a needle works on the front.

Thank You. I'm sure that the OP will find your post very helpful. Thanks again for sharing your technical insight.

arlen4720 · Aug 3, 2012

ccsial said:
Problem is....I would have an inferior tractor to my X748SE for mowing. The ride and handling on a 748 is not matched on a 1026.

The 748 could probably be done with a needle point if someone younger than me did it. It also sounds like you had to buy a different gun than I have. There are no panels to remove on a 748. The ground down fitting is fairly easy to do. I can't get enough pressure on the needle point with my old arthritic hands.

Yeah, I'm rather fond of my x748se as well. Not that I wouldn't like a 1026R.....

ccsial · Aug 3, 2012

arlen4720 said:
Yeah, I'm rather fond of my x748se as well. Not that I wouldn't like a 1026R.....

It's really hard to beat the comfort, maneuverability, and ride on the 748SE. It's a heck of a mower. I also use a 54" blade for small snows where the L3400 blower is overkill.

I'm sure the 1026R is really nice for other things but would be a bit too small for my needs for loader work or ground engaging.

I hope we get rain again so I can mow. It's been 6 weeks with no mowing here.

XSKIER · Aug 3, 2012

ccsial said:
Problem is....I would have an inferior tractor to my X748SE for mowing. The ride and handling on a 748 is not matched on a 1026.

The 748 could probably be done with a needle point if someone younger than me did it. It also sounds like you had to buy a different gun than I have. There are no panels to remove on a 748. The ground down fitting is fairly easy to do. I can't get enough pressure on the needle point with my old arthritic hands.

I thought the topic was "manning up" in regards to the intermediate driveshaft? My suggestion is based only intermediate driveshaft serviceability. You are correct, the R is severely inferior to those machines in most other aspects of owning operating.

ccsial · Aug 3, 2012

XSKIER said:
I thought the topic was "manning up" in regards to the intermediate driveshaft? My suggestion is based only intermediate driveshaft serviceability. You are correct, the R is severely inferior to those machines in most other aspects of owning operating.

So you think "manning up" means to trade your unserviceable inferior tractor for a 1026R. That really was a useless comment to start with.

Gator6x4 · Aug 3, 2012

fdmars said:
Do all 2305's have these fittings. I have a 2011 and after reading about this issue looked for mine and could not find them. So either I need to look harder or don't need to look at all. Please advise
Thanks

Look harder, all 2305's have the hidden zerks. I use a needle point on an air grease gun to grease mine. Not fun.

Sprocket1 · Aug 3, 2012

My tractor has sealed u-joints on the front wheel assist drive shaft. I don't understand why the u-joints are sealed on it and greaseable on the much harder to get to engine to transmission drive shaft. Maybe rpms are much lower on fwa shaft.

XSKIER · Aug 4, 2012

ccsial said:
So you think "manning up" means to trade your unserviceable inferior tractor for a 1026R. That really was a useless comment to start with.

You're too sensitive about your GT! I'm not the one who started off the inferiority. The point is: in an age of "non-serviceable" and "lifetime lubricated" drivetrain componets, there is hope with Deere. From all accounts, the new SCUT design offers increased ease of servicing your intermediate shaft. Wish I could say the same about the rest of the equipment in my life. For example: google checking, or changing ATF in a Pontiac G8 to see what I'm up against.

End useless comment.

Grateful11 · Aug 5, 2012

XSKIER said:
Trade in your 2210s, 2305s, and X748ses, on a 1026R. A standard tip works on the rear joint, and a needle works on the front.

I thought that was sarcasm at first but I guess not.

BTW: The grease fitting on our X720 on the drive shaft back near the tranny is accessible with a reg. pistol style grease gun with a flex hose if it's in the right position, no grinding or needle greaser. It appears there's very little movement in that U-Joint so it shouldn't need a lot of greasing. I may be wrong but I don't think it's mentioned in it the manual, we found it by accident.