When to grease?

[CurlyDave]

My JD 110 TLB manual says to grease the FEL and the Backhoe every 10 hours or daily, which I have taken to mean that if I run it 8-10 hours all in the same day, I need to grease it.

It is rare for me to run anywhere near that long in one day. Usually it is an hour or two in one day and an hour or two a week to a month later. I just keep track of the time on the hour meter and grease it when 9-10 hours has accumulated since the last time. Sometimes I will even let it go to 12 hours since I use the hoe at least 3-4 hours without using the FEL at all, and the FEL 8-9 hours without using the hoe.

So now I am coming up to needing to grease and I was wondering is it better to grease after using the machine and let the new grease set idle for weeks, or maybe even months, or is it better to grease it right before I use it?

I can think of pros and cons for each method, if I grease after use, the old grease is warmed up and will flow out of the joints a little better. If I grease before using it, there is newer grease in the joints.

Or, should I grease every day I use it instead of every 10 hours on the clock? It takes about an hour and a half to grease it, and that would mean an hour of greasing for each hour of seat time, which would get old in a hurry.

 

[schmism]

i always grease before im going into heavy use of the FEL or if its been a while.

i figure i want to push out the old grease thats there and if im about to go into a heavy use period i want it to have fresh grease (push all the old contaminated with dust/dirt/grit out) before the heavy use.

 

[Willl]

push all the old contaminated with dust/dirt/grit out

I have no problem with the actual greasing part but I really dislike cleaning up the 'overage'.

How do you guys do it ?, just grab a rag and go to it ?, just leave it ?

 

[Skyco]

It takes about an hour and a half to grease it, and that would mean an hour of greasing for each hour of seat time, which would get old in a hurry.

How many fittings does it have? I do my BX24 in about 5 minutes....

Personally I grease probably more than needed but grease-ing is relatively cheap and quick on mine.

 

[Reg]

After.
If I leave it for "before" it is possible to get too wrapped up in what I am about to do.
Doing it after takes me around the machine on an inspection tour and if I find anything loose, broken, missing then I have some time to fix it before I "NEED" to use it again.
Maintenance isn't JUST grease and oil, inspection and repair is MORE important, for safety reasons.
Doing it just before use leads to the possibility of finding something that needs fixing, but being tempted to just use it anyway - then it becomes tempting to believe that since it went through this little project, why bother fixing it today ? - same next time.
Yeah, the neglect and deteriorate loop.

 

[MikeInEburg]

It is rare for me to run anywhere near that long in one day. Usually it is an hour or two in one day and an hour or two a week to a month later. I just keep track of the time on the hour meter and grease it when 9-10 hours has accumulated since the last time. Sometimes I will even let it go to 12 hours since I use the hoe at least 3-4 hours without using the FEL at all, and the FEL 8-9 hours without using the hoe.

I'm just like you in this regard. Here's what I do...
1. Grease mower every time I use it.
2. Grease loader every 10 hours as shown on meter since I use it in some aspect every time I use the tractor. And 10 hours is easy to track...
3. Grease backhoe every second time that I use it (generally use it for an hour at a time).

In high school I baled hay for a guy who often repeated this phrase: "grease is cheaper than parts"

 

[Wis Bang]

Dad greased the mowers b/4 the first use of the day. He would do the cutting heads again after lunch.

His basic idea was 'grease is cheap'

 

[kthompson]

Reg, I like the thought you have there. I have always greased before beginning to be sure it was greased. Then normally given out when I shut off a machine or dark or such.

I grease according the number of hours run. Don't write them down but if it calls for every 8 hours just make that two part of days.

 

[newbury]

How many fittings does it have? I do my BX24 in about 5 minutes....

Originally Posted by CurlyDave
It takes about an hour and a half to grease it, and that would mean an hour of greasing for each hour of seat time, which would get old in a hurry.

Personally I grease probably more than needed but grease-ing is relatively cheap and quick on mine.

Same here, I've got maybe 34 grease points and it's usually only pop the nozzle on, two or three squeezes each, and pop the nozzle off. Now that I've found all the zerks (and found out how to adjust the grase nozzle so I can pull the darn thing off).

From glancing at your operators manual OMLVU13606_H3 you've got about the same.

Do you have a beverage between zerks?

 

[Sully2]

Dave: Its based on the hours of usage of the IMPLIMENT...not the tractor. Try and keep good grease in all joints as much as you can...but if you have..for example..a backhoe "hanging" on the back that you use 1 hr ( actual usage) every week...then you dont need to grease it every 10 hrs you use the TRACTOR itself.

Whether you grease just prior to usage or after usage and a LONG TIME before the next usage..isnt really going to matter much...because the idea is to drive out all the old grease and install fresh stuff