I was greasing my 345bl today and I've always bought the grease from Empire. This isn't a big deal except it requires me going to the store. Is there an online source/brand that is a good go to?
Various greases for different things and climates. And of could each maker will claim their's is the best. For pins and bushings, a moly base is good. I've been using Delo Grease #2 and Chevron 5% Moly. We had 40 or so.boxes at work that expired so I bought them at like $1 a tube.
I keep looking for the best grease. I am not sure I will ever find it. I have been using 238 Schaffers for the last couple years. Its pretty good, but I will continue to try other brands. So far, this moly seems the best of what I have come across.
A grease with 5% moly disulphide is probably the best for all the grease points on the front end. For the swing bearing and swing pinion grease bath a regular EP2 non-moly grease is the one to go for. Anything manufactured by one of the major oil companies should work fine.
Why no moly on the swing? Aside from fast moving parts like wheel bearings I'm not away of any issues.
Not recommended for cross-roll slewing bearings because the reduction in friction can cause the rollers to skid rather than roll and result in premature bearing wear. I was involved in the replacement of swing bearings in a fleet of Hitachi EX3600s costing about $1m in total for that exact reason.
Just stumbled on this older thread…interesting, my ’91 Kobelco manual says #2 lithium on pins and #1 lithium base with Moly on swing gear.