Figure I might see what you guys like? I was considering making a switch to something with more tackifiers to keep in place longer. But I am not sure the excavator slew will appreciate that. Usually tackifiers are not great for bearings. I would prefer to use only one grease.
HeavyEquipmentForums
Sinopec 5% moly. All of my pins, bushings and bearings, including cutterhead bearings at 1k-2k rpm constant speed with over 2k hours on them without issues.
5% moly + a 4-ball weld test somewhere North of 450kg for a start ......... Asking this question in the lubrication forum might have been a better idea. Just saying. HeavyEquipmentForums
Our standard grease is Mystik Jt-6 high temp, covers the vast majority of our equipment and industrial applications. It's a chassis/wheel bearing as well as dana, rockwell, spicer ok'ed so it covers a lot of our on road apps. I rarely change greases in my guns.
Not being snarky. We recently had a fantastic, detailed discussion on this very subject. Go check out some of the grease threads. Still a great question, Fastline. I like Delo ESI HD Moly 5%.
I didn't realize there was a specific section for lube. My bad! Appreciate the responses though! Figured this was a hot topic for anyone in the trade. I get pretty wound up about oils, being in my profession, but the only greases I usually get worked up on are out special high speed greases like Kluber. At $200/tube, it better be good! lol I work around high precision bearings where a clean room is required or at least preferred.
You need to tell us more about that. What industry? Aviation? You can buy Kluber in bulk. It's cheaper by the drum. Kluber Isoflex NBU 15 - 180kg $56,939.73 !!!!
You got it. It might be a little cheaper in a drum, but we have to ensure we don't have contamination. Every bearing get a specific volume, injected into the groove of the races. Nothing like "packing" a bearing. These would certainly fail trying to churn that grease at speed.
I never knew there was a grease that required taking out a loan to buy. Dahm.
yes, it is a full ankle grab every time but Kluber was good at being the OEM spec grease for lots of bearings so that is what we go back with. In this biz, that is a small fee compared to the bearings! $1K each in some cases. It is a different mind set when you realize the lint from your clothes can damage those bearings. My nerves get wound every time.
The lube distributor I formerly worked for got stuck with about 40 drums of some oddball Shell Areoshell grease that was only used in a few models of helicopters which were located on the slope. The contract ended, the helos went to Africa and our salesman had 40 drums of product that was going to expire in 6 months. Shell gave us pennys on the dollar and we paid freight back to Houston. That was a half-million $ mistake.
Wow, I bet someone learned about writing contracts on that day! ouch! We only buy by the tube to ensure it's fresh, but make no mistake, I will run that **** no matter the expiration. Seen it work for over 30yrs in spindles. I often wonder if, for the price of Kluber, it would work as a body lube and make my skin snuggle soft.....I mean, it's like butter and has no smell, so.....
Grease expires? What? Lol
Everything expires nowadays. Bottled water even.
A 36 month shelf life is typical for most of the grease products common in our industry. There should be a fill date on the product label. The distributors are not allowed to sell it once the product expires. Pro Tip 1; check product dates when you are purchasing drums to make sure you are getting fresh product. Pro Tip 2; Distributors with poor warehouse practices often get stuck with expired product. It’s a great way to get lube for cheap. They will often sell it for salvage. Will your 40 year old Case tractor care of the grease is “ expired” ? Lol. With engine oil, the additives will eventually fall to the bottom of the drum. Can you mix it up again? Chevron and P66 tells me it’s not practical or effective to mix it again in the field. . Lol, I’m sure you can figure out a way. It’s common for the expired engine and hydraulic oil to be given away to customers for their shop used oil burners.
We use 2 types, sticky black bear share otherwise known as 3% Molly and the link or red for bearings. The black really does seem to hang in there longer. We ran out and used some common general duty and it wasn't the same as the extreme in disk where it really shows up.
We had Irving Moly 3 (I think) that went bad. We suspected it was old - it went gummy and lumpy and wouldn't go through the grease guns. We've been using Cat Extreme Application Grease (5% Moly), #2 in summer and #1 in winter for all the pins, bushings and slow-speed joints. Ball and roller bearings get Swepco 123, with great results too.