k0ua
Epic Contributor
This thread is to assist new operators in the general principals on how to grease their Front End Loaders for the first time.
Let me start by giving you my credentials, this will be the easy part, I have none. I am a Sales Engineer for a Telecom company,
and have spent about 40 years doing technical electronic work. I have owned 4 tractors over 19 years. Now lets move on.
Step 1, read the manual that came with you loader, it should have some good info. Mine say to grease the loader every 10 hours.
This is just an estimate, of course if you mow 10 hours and your loader is off in the shed.. well...you get the idea.
I would suggest you check you loader for proper lubrication when it comes off of the delivery truck. You can assume it will be properly
lubed by you dealer/mechanic. Mine wasn't I did check all the grease zerks, and saw a nice wad of pretty orange grease by each one, and a
assumed it was greased. Went to work with it, "what is that infernal squeaking? and why is it getting louder?" I looked again and found 3 of
the zerks still had pretty orange paint over them and had not taken any grease. Look into the joints and make sure grease has flowed out of
the pins and overflowed the joints. Lets say yours was properly greased and now 10 hours of loader use has passed, (grease on every multiple
of 10 on your hour meter) and you are ready to tackel this job. I am going to assume some of you have never held a grease gun in your hands.
Some of you may say "which grease gun should I get?" It doesnt matter to me, I have 3. A 14 oz manual, a 14 oz. air powered, and a little 3 oz
oz mini piston type handheld. I use the mini pistol handheld more than the others. It mostly depends on how much greasing your are going to do
the mini guns are good for greasing your loader, If you have a lot of greasing to do get something else. A lot of the guys rave about the lincoln
battery powered unit. So lets start greasing. I park my Kubota on a nice Mostly flat shady gravel driveway. and shut off the machine with the
loader raised about shoulder high, and the bucket level. Dont get under the loader, hoses have been know to break suddenly, valves have failed
and the most likely thing to happen is someone will "play or touch" the loader control and mash you. a neighborhood child perhaps, or a thoughtless
adult. I grease the 4 pivot pins first. On my Kubota they are easy to get to as they are facing the sides. I carry a knife and a supply of wipe
rags. to pick out any dirt/old grease and wipe the zerk down good so as to not introduce any dirt into the pin. Now here is the thing about grease
gun tips, here it comes, they are "knurled" for a reason on the tip. They unscrew with your thumb and finger so that the 3 or 4 jaw chuck inside
may slip over the zerk easily and you can tighten them while they are on the zerk if you desire so that they do not pop off from the pressure, and
you may loosen them again to remove them instead of yanking, and shoving them side to side which breaks off the zerks or pulls out the press in kind.
I have never ever broken a zerk, yet they sell grease zerks in bulk. The oldest person that confessed to not knowing that little bit of information
was 72. So after you have greased the 4 pivot pins between the loader frame and the bucket, I move on to the lift cylinders which will be down low
and if the loader is raised will be convenient to get to. The curl/dump cylinders may be too high for you to reach depending on how high your loader
is, we can get them in a moment. If you have Skid Steer Quick Attach, there are two more zerks that will place you in harms way to greas if you
try to do it while it is raised. Best to do them later too when the bucket is on the ground. Now lets lower the lift. You do not need to start
the tractor, just walk over to the control and lower the lift while standing out of the way. Comes down pretty fast doesn't it?. It would come down
even faster if a hose broke. Now the curl/dump cylinder ends joints can be greased, and a new set of zerks are showing the pivot pins on the loader
posts usually gotten fron the top or thru a hole in the loader post will now be available for greasing. Dont forget everything on one side is the
same on the other side. Now is the time to walk into the area behind the bucket and the loader torque tube (round tube between the loader arms) and
bend down and get those SSQA zerks on the barell that the retainer latch pins run up and down in. Some are now asking "how much grease do I pump in"
Well enough to force out the old grease and any dirt that may have crept in, and new grease is showing up around the joint and pins. This may be 2
pumps, this may be 10 pumps. If you keep up with it and grease often, the less it will take each time. Wipe up excess, Escpcially off of the pin
ends where you are liable to come in contact with it as you get on and off the tractor. Oh by the way, I forgot to mention the best thing you can
do is wipe some grease on your hands and maybe just a little on your shirt before you start, because you are going to get greasy anyway. Some will
say to put on lotion on your hands first as that makes the grease easy to get off, or wear rubber gloves, etc.. Do whatver floats your boat in this
department. Some will say to run the loader up and take the weight off of the bucket, and grease again to distribute the grease as it may not move all
the way around the pin. You can if you like. I think it distributes around the pin pretty well in normaluse. If you keep up with greasing and never forget
you will never have any trouble with impacted zerks, or dried up grease channels. If you don't you will more than likely have problems. They are clogged
up with dried out grease and dirt, and of course this lead to accellerated wear. They make tools to clean them out in place, or you can start taking out
pins and clean them up externally. Well I have yapped long enough, I hope this helped a few, of you, because that is my only goal of this post.
James K0UA
Let me start by giving you my credentials, this will be the easy part, I have none. I am a Sales Engineer for a Telecom company,
and have spent about 40 years doing technical electronic work. I have owned 4 tractors over 19 years. Now lets move on.
Step 1, read the manual that came with you loader, it should have some good info. Mine say to grease the loader every 10 hours.
This is just an estimate, of course if you mow 10 hours and your loader is off in the shed.. well...you get the idea.
I would suggest you check you loader for proper lubrication when it comes off of the delivery truck. You can assume it will be properly
lubed by you dealer/mechanic. Mine wasn't I did check all the grease zerks, and saw a nice wad of pretty orange grease by each one, and a
assumed it was greased. Went to work with it, "what is that infernal squeaking? and why is it getting louder?" I looked again and found 3 of
the zerks still had pretty orange paint over them and had not taken any grease. Look into the joints and make sure grease has flowed out of
the pins and overflowed the joints. Lets say yours was properly greased and now 10 hours of loader use has passed, (grease on every multiple
of 10 on your hour meter) and you are ready to tackel this job. I am going to assume some of you have never held a grease gun in your hands.
Some of you may say "which grease gun should I get?" It doesnt matter to me, I have 3. A 14 oz manual, a 14 oz. air powered, and a little 3 oz
oz mini piston type handheld. I use the mini pistol handheld more than the others. It mostly depends on how much greasing your are going to do
the mini guns are good for greasing your loader, If you have a lot of greasing to do get something else. A lot of the guys rave about the lincoln
battery powered unit. So lets start greasing. I park my Kubota on a nice Mostly flat shady gravel driveway. and shut off the machine with the
loader raised about shoulder high, and the bucket level. Dont get under the loader, hoses have been know to break suddenly, valves have failed
and the most likely thing to happen is someone will "play or touch" the loader control and mash you. a neighborhood child perhaps, or a thoughtless
adult. I grease the 4 pivot pins first. On my Kubota they are easy to get to as they are facing the sides. I carry a knife and a supply of wipe
rags. to pick out any dirt/old grease and wipe the zerk down good so as to not introduce any dirt into the pin. Now here is the thing about grease
gun tips, here it comes, they are "knurled" for a reason on the tip. They unscrew with your thumb and finger so that the 3 or 4 jaw chuck inside
may slip over the zerk easily and you can tighten them while they are on the zerk if you desire so that they do not pop off from the pressure, and
you may loosen them again to remove them instead of yanking, and shoving them side to side which breaks off the zerks or pulls out the press in kind.
I have never ever broken a zerk, yet they sell grease zerks in bulk. The oldest person that confessed to not knowing that little bit of information
was 72. So after you have greased the 4 pivot pins between the loader frame and the bucket, I move on to the lift cylinders which will be down low
and if the loader is raised will be convenient to get to. The curl/dump cylinders may be too high for you to reach depending on how high your loader
is, we can get them in a moment. If you have Skid Steer Quick Attach, there are two more zerks that will place you in harms way to greas if you
try to do it while it is raised. Best to do them later too when the bucket is on the ground. Now lets lower the lift. You do not need to start
the tractor, just walk over to the control and lower the lift while standing out of the way. Comes down pretty fast doesn't it?. It would come down
even faster if a hose broke. Now the curl/dump cylinder ends joints can be greased, and a new set of zerks are showing the pivot pins on the loader
posts usually gotten fron the top or thru a hole in the loader post will now be available for greasing. Dont forget everything on one side is the
same on the other side. Now is the time to walk into the area behind the bucket and the loader torque tube (round tube between the loader arms) and
bend down and get those SSQA zerks on the barell that the retainer latch pins run up and down in. Some are now asking "how much grease do I pump in"
Well enough to force out the old grease and any dirt that may have crept in, and new grease is showing up around the joint and pins. This may be 2
pumps, this may be 10 pumps. If you keep up with it and grease often, the less it will take each time. Wipe up excess, Escpcially off of the pin
ends where you are liable to come in contact with it as you get on and off the tractor. Oh by the way, I forgot to mention the best thing you can
do is wipe some grease on your hands and maybe just a little on your shirt before you start, because you are going to get greasy anyway. Some will
say to put on lotion on your hands first as that makes the grease easy to get off, or wear rubber gloves, etc.. Do whatver floats your boat in this
department. Some will say to run the loader up and take the weight off of the bucket, and grease again to distribute the grease as it may not move all
the way around the pin. You can if you like. I think it distributes around the pin pretty well in normaluse. If you keep up with greasing and never forget
you will never have any trouble with impacted zerks, or dried up grease channels. If you don't you will more than likely have problems. They are clogged
up with dried out grease and dirt, and of course this lead to accellerated wear. They make tools to clean them out in place, or you can start taking out
pins and clean them up externally. Well I have yapped long enough, I hope this helped a few, of you, because that is my only goal of this post.
James K0UA
