I just purchased a new Bobcat E35R2. I am semi retired and do some construction on the side to augment Social Security. Why still working? Don't like the tase of Alpo Anyway just wondering why Bobcat uses Kubota engines? I noticed when i got the machine that who ever greased it from the vendor slopped grease everywhere. I have a contention about greasing, Its good to grease ever so many hours of operation but it seems to me that as you put it in the joint, eventually you have to removed what has been squeezed out. That excess grease also holds dirt, sand and even small rocks. Sand is an abrasive thus the term SANDpaper. I think part of the problem is not having a tip that locks onto the zerk and so when there is back pressure from inside the joint is spews all over at the zerk. I manage a mobile home park and they have had a jd100 backhoe for about 15 yrs or so and the thing was covered in grease, slathered all over. So far I have spent about 6 hours cleaning out that old grease and the machine looks like new. We would never treat our shiny new pickup like that and all it does is sit there, does not make money and probably did not cost what that back hoe cost new. Anyway am i being ridiculous? Equipment is an investment and if treated well will last a long time and still be worth something if we sell it looking as if it has been cared for. Sorry about the rant
Every Zerk fitting I have ever used is a check valve design. All the caps that come with them, I just throw away. Will admit, I use a lot of shop towels greasing as I wipe off excess grease and try and clean the zerks as I go. Kubota engines are very common and reasonably cheap to fix and maintain. I agree on keeping equipment clean, my father taught me very young, just like vehicles, new equipment or even used equipment get washed and a good coat of wax before being put into use. This makes it easier to keep clean, in the future. Just go around with Maguires spray wax and try and get it in every crevice.
My sany came with those caps I tried my best to some fell off some go covered in grease, I felt like it was not a hill to die on so they are in the dirt somewhere. I do like to carry multiple shop towels when I am greasing for the blow back that happens from time to time and to clean out around the zerks I either use a twig or a piece of aluminum wire, (the power company leaves remanentes when they pull in wire on my jobs)
Clean equipment just runs better but I'll accept a little seepage around the pins. Anything that pushes out around the zerk gets wiped off. I like to get the machine pressure washed regularly also. I've found that the grease used makes a huge difference. Some of the cheaper stuff drips all over the machine and the pin is squeaking an hour after greasing. We've switched to Castrol Pyroplex Gold for our pin/bushing joints. It does an excellent job of staying in the joint whether wet or dry, pumps easily down to 0° F and below, and doesn't run everywhere when it's 110°+ F. It isn't cheap but we no longer need to repin loaders and excavators.
what are your thoughts on the Bobcat blue color grease? This is what is on the machine now as it is new.
I'm not the guy to ask about grease... I have friends that love researching it and I let them handle that part of it. They do the research, I do the real world tests, and we narrow it down to what works for us.
The reason I asked it Bobcat I think tends to be a bit proprietary in the approach. They have their own antifreeze, hydraulic oil and grease as well as filters etc. Their fluids seem to be color coded not sure if that by design or what?
I use the pryoplex gold #2, it is the cross match for what my cat field guys were using when I bought my machine, last time I had a tech out he had a blue grease , Castrol make that also and is half the price of the gold #2. It is light duty. I am only running 2 pieces and about half the attachments I have have grease points so for my small operation I will stick with the Gold. I buy it in the 5 gal pail and the cases of tubes, lastime I bought some it was like $300/ pail and $100.00/case. If memory serves