I have a 2012 2954D shovel logger and when heavy lifting or stretched out & swinging wood I get a squall from what seems to be the base of the main boom. It gets greased daily and has 3800hrs on it. Could the pins be shot already or maybe wrong grease? I use Cenex brand Blueplex.
Not familiar with the Blueplex grease but I know the Bluegard from Cenex is more of a Bearing grease and doesn't contain any Moly. In a pin/bushing application I would be using something with 3% Moly. Try some Cenex Molyplex 500+
I ran one last week with 450 ish hours and it squeaks like an old iron gate with in about 2-3 hours after being greased
We have a Cat 324Dfm with a logger boom and it did the same thing. We tried different greases and we couldn't stop it. In the end, Goughs gave us an additive for the hydraulic oil and it stopped it. I know this sounds bat-**** crazy but it worked. A few weeks ago it blew a big hydraulic hose and lost a fair bit of oil. We had to chuck a some other oil we keep for the older machines in (read, cheap...) to keep it running for the day and the squeak is back... Make of this what you will.
Was it the zinc oil that they gave you?
I'll have to find out exactly what it was. I'll find out and let you know.
Had much the same problem with cat 330d and 568.It turns out bottom main boom cylinder pins were squeaking and howling from day 1 on both machines no matter how much grease you pump into them.Try putting a little downward pressure on boom so that more grease gets on top of the pins. That seems to work for me anyway.Also as pointed out a grease with a least 3% moly is best and grease everyday.
It is definitely coming from the pin? Is it Possible that the sound is coming from the machine going over a relief valve ?
yes as soon as we put down ward pressure on boom just enough to lift cyl. off the top of pins and grease them up. noise disappears. Both machines have did it since day 1 and it is metallic in sound. If I grease it that way every day it does not come back. If you notice on them Cats grease fitting is on underside of boom cylinder even though grease grooves are cut in bushing it never makes the whole day before it starts the screeching and howling.
Btw we use Chevron ultra duty or the equivalent with the 3% moly which ever is put out on the shelf for us.
I grease it daily and about 5 hours into it she is squalling again. I am about ready to takilube the damn thing!
Cenex Xtreme 5% moly made this a totslly different machine. Smoother,quieter and happier. Just what it needed.
Love simple fixes....
I was going to say you really need a 5% moly grease for that type of application. Also look at the 4-Ball Weld test number for the grease in question. That number is an indication of what sort of load the grease film will stand in oiperation before it breaks down and allows metal-to-metal contact (and squealing). It needs to be up around 500kg (1100 pounds) or better. Anything around 250-300kg 4-ball is regular chassis grease and won't work worth a damn. Regarding the Hydraulic Oil Additive, it's Cat 1U-9891 Oil Additive, designed to reduce friction. In certain cases you also can use it in wet-braked axles on machines like small/medium loaders and graders to reduce brake chatter. We use it on all our fleet. http://www.petersoncat.com/sites/all/sites/default/files/files/hydraulic_oil.pdf
Boy ain't that the truth!!