Slowly moving through greasing all of the joints on the hoe. Had a problem with one outrigger, but people suggested I take pressure off before trying again. I did that, and one took grease. The other did not. The hydraulic cylinder moves on the pin. The pin moves. Very light rust. If I take the Zerk off, I can pump grease through the zerk Removed the Zerk, and flushed the joint out with penetrating fluid. Same with the cylinder to pin area. Any ideas?
Remove the zerk and run a drill bit in the hole. Or, remove the pin and use a drill bit to clear it. In a worse case scenario a porta-press the hose screwed in the hose will force oil in it.
On occasion I have had to pound the pins out and clean them on the stabilizers. They get subjected to more dirt than any other joint on the machine.
Yeah, the pin gets plugged with crap, and it's usually inside against the bushing. Sometimes some brake cleaner, or rust cleaner in the hole where you take the nipple out will soften it up.
I always try the hand twisted drill bit to carve out anything that's just right after the fitting. If there's any room in there for concrete to form it will if there's no greasing going on.
To pound out the pin, I’d have to pull the back tire.
Try a tool like this. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JFL7TY/
I forget where but I have recently seen one of those for an air hammer
The pin only needs to go far enough to get past the grease galley.
I've had good luck removing the zerk and removing as much grease as possible. Then spraying WD40 in the hole to help loosen up the hardened grease. Reinstall zerk and hit it with the gun again. Also, some heat would help. If you have a torpedo type heater, that can do wonders.
I have a heat gun. I could warm up the pin to see if that melts the crud.
I tried pulling the Zerk, cleaning the crud out of the hole, and then soaking the hole, pin and area with penetrating fluid. So far, no dice.
If you don't have that impact tool, remove the zerk and fill the hole with penetrating fluid. Install zerk, then try squeezing grease in hard.
I recently tried that impact tool (Grease Joint Rejuvenator) on my stabilizer zerks without any luck, though I have had it work on other zerks. My next attempt will be to remove the zerks and put some heat on it.
Is it possible the bushing turned and the holes aren't lining up? You could run a drill bit thru the zerk hole to maybe open it up.
I'll check, but I don't think so.
Leave the zerks in let them work like a check valve the heat will soften the dry grease and build lots of pressure ,just don’t be in front of the zerk in case she turns into a relief valve.lol
I saw your post and did a search...interesting! https://locknlube.com/products/grea...erm=4576167398023653&utm_content=All products
Who sells some good zerks?
Those work great. Best on real stubborn ones is to force diesel fuel into the bushing with the tool. The diesel will soften the hard grease and soon regular grease will start going in. Just today, a few of us Antique Cat Machinerys Owners Clubs, Minnesota Chapter members got the dead axles to take juice on a 1934 RD4 that had been sitting outside for 55 years. First we removed the Zerks, then drilled out the hard grease thru the casting to the brass bushing, then pounded diesel into it with a similar tool. Even the Zerks had grease so hard in them that a 18 volt Milwaukee grease gun struggled and sent a grease pellet across the shop like a air rifle when the zerks were out. A month from now at our next work/play date we expect grease to go in like it should.
Thanks @Swetz for that link! I'd be interested to try the pneumatic one out.
@Spud_Monkey I've gotten them at Tractor Supply. I don't really know if they are good or not but they were inexpensive and seem to work. It seems like I could buy about a hundred of them with no problem.
I just ordered one of those tools from Zoro with a 20% discount. I hope it is useful. I worry about applying heat as I don't want to mess up the paint.
Ok. Here’s the “rest of the story”. The zerks on both outriggers were worn out, so they leaked. Replaced both zerks, and both joints took grease just fine. Of course, Deere decided to use 200 different sized zerks instead of one common size.
Really ? You never mentioned that the grease was oozing out of the gun nozzle and zerk when you put pressure on it. If that is what was going on it is quite normal when either the zerk and / or gun nozzle is worn out or damaged.
I had no idea that it was important. And I had no idea that zerks wore out. As I said, I wish that Deere used the same zerk everywhere. I could buy 25, and replace them all. Instead, I have to pull each, remember where it came from, and take it to Deere to have it matched. I got whacked $3.50 each for them. But the good news is that the joint is free, lubed, and looking great!
They are nothing special made by Deere that I know of. Most grease zerks are mostly a universal part.They will be either SAE or metric. The nipples will be at different angles. 1/8inch pipe thread is the most common thread size in the US. They can be purchased about anywhere for lees than you are paying.
Do not buy those one at a time. Get this one time. https://www.ebay.com/itm/272733875878?hash=item3f8034aea6:g:3ukAAOSwvjdZTsd3
In the last year I have seen, and been involved in several threads that refer to battery powered grease guns. I was looking at this you tuber's videos, and came across one that tests 5 different brands. The guy seems peaty impartial in all his tests, which it seems is what he does on his channel. I just thought I would share the link to the grease gun test.