I was wondering why Case failed to put grease fittings on the two rear pivot points (as seen in these pics) of the front end loader. Before painting, I decided to remove the bolt so I could clean and pack fresh grease inside. I greased the bolt, but there is another sleeve that actually rotates which you cannot grease without removing the entire arm. So, I managed to spray lube and oil around the sleeve.....better than nothing I suppose. So, why not have grease fittings back here?
It's not a high wear area, The 4 bushings and two spacers pins run around $250.00 and divide it into 47 years is like $5.76 per year. So if you pumped one tube of grease in each side over a year, 2 X 47 = 94 X $4.00 a tube = $ 367.04 in grease. The labor to pump the grease, 5 min a day, 20 days a month, 12 times a year, 1200 min x 47 = 56,400 ~ 60 = time spent greasing those two joints. Some areas will last along time with a factory lube/anti wear grease, other areas have been proven that no grease can out last a poor servicing plan when owner/employee's don't follow the operators manual or it's exposed to fine grit that collects to the grease on a non sealed joint area. This is the fun and cost of owning a pre-owned machine. They did not grease them on the B/C/D/E/K and others also, so like said not a high wear area.
Sheepfoot........You tha man! That was one heck of a scientific write-up regarding this "low wear" joint. You threw in so much high math, economic theory, and can probably discover that the ancient Mayans held sacred most of those numbers. Shoot, the ancient Sumerians held "60" as extremely important in their number system and sooth-saying. In summary, your computations prove that this old 1968 580CK will hold up through the coming world economic collapse, the meteor showers compliments of Planet Nibiru, and the sudden 26 degree tilt of the earth's axis. This Case will be around to rebuild the catastrophic mess. I thought that maybe someone had taken off the original pins with grease fittings and had used these large bolts. But since the bolts and internal bushings showed very little signs of wear, it confirms all the number crunching that you did. Besides, what monkey in his right mind wants to spend 56,400 minutes pumping grease into these joints? Tally hoe.
I wondered about that on my "C" , its just like that. Last fall I took the links off cleaned the pins/bushings all up. There is a recess between the inboard and outboard bushings that will hold about a handfull of grease.
Jackleg.........So, you mean that I would have to remove the entire "arm" which has all three joints.......two joints have grease fittings, but the rear one has just the bolt? Once the "arm" is taken off, you then are able to add the grease in the recess? Was yours bone dry when you performed the surgery?
Looks like the same set up as mine. A couple of 2X4s like in the picture to block up the cylinder and the front link will help keep your fingers from getting pinched off. Two bolts out then a little prying and it all falls apart. I did it myself, It would have been better to have a helper to hold things in place. Mine was dry- orange dust coming out from the joint.
Easy remedy is to center drill the bolt about 2 inch deep & tap for grease fitting . Then drill through the side connecting the passage .
You will still have to remove the links and the pin between the links that the bolt holds in place. Then put a hole in that pin also to get to the two bushings in the loader arm.
I'd definitely add the grease fitting the next time you have it apart, in 2062. I'm sure Sheepfoot would agree.
Heck according to the parts book there's no grease fittings for the two bottom bucket pins?
I was wondering the same thing today- Case 580K, same thing.
td25c.......yea, good idea....but as sheepfoot says, you still need to drill thru the inner bushing. Seems that most of the friction is not on the bolt, but on the bushing that surrounds the bolt. As Delmer said, I might give it a shot in 2062. A squirt of oil at the joint every week or so will be enough to let me sleep at night over the next 47 years.
Lantraxco.....bottom bucket pins.....I will have to check those.
Same situation with my 680C. I don't know why Case did that. When those original pins were dry the screeching noises drove me up the wall. I used to spray them with oil but it was only a temporary way to stop all the noise. Dale at Tractorstuff.com had a pin the correct diameter with the grease fittings on both ends, and it was long enough that I cut in half and then had two pins the correct length.
While we are discussing this area of the loader, I was wondering if this support "box" that connects both of the large loader arms.......is it hollow to contain hydraulic fluid which is contained in those side arms? If so, shouldnt there be a drain plug to drain the water/old fluid, since this "box" would have fluid that would not drain to the two drain plugs near the center of the tractor? If there is fluid in this "box", then I suppose a smart mechanic would have the loader raised up in the air about 6 feet before draining. Whats the answer here?
Tinkerer.....I will have to consider that option....Dale at Tractorstuff has already shipped a bunch of stuff to me. Great business to work with......he knows his stuff about these older Case tractors.
Dale and a fellow in Canada named Jean Claude Marceau are both old school Case dealers with minds and life experiences that are almost unbelievable in regards to Case equipment. Jean Claude doesn't sell new OEM and aftermarket parts like Dale, but he has a lot of new-old stock from his now closed dealership and he has a boneyard with machines he is parting out.
Well make sure to mark that down on your calendar, would hate to see forget and come 2063 have to call some one to have the drones come out with their laser line machine and bore it out!
Tinkerer......thanks for the contact in Canada.....next time Dale (Aussies pronounce his name "Dial") doesnt have a part I need, I will see if he knows Jean Claude, and maybe get the email/phone number from him.
Funny, Funny, funny! By then those drones will be in control of the world, and we will be their humble servants......that is everyone except all of us with antique Case machinery which we have configured with Tesla's electro-gravetic anti-gravity flux capacitors. We will be chasing down all those nasty drones and blasting them out of the sky. Can you picture a 1968 Case 580CK flying at Mach 1 using either vintage WWII 50 cal cannons or laser burners, and blasting those drones? GettyUp......Hi Ho Silver, Away!
Jean Claude can be contacted at ----- [email protected] . He helps a lot on the forums at yesterdaystractors.com. That is where I got to know him. Since then a lot of US dollars have gone to Canada. He sends everything through the mail. That is very convenient for me. He sent me an entire rear window frame including the tracks, for the cab of my backhoe. Rear windows were an option for the Simms cabs when my TLB was purchased new. Unfortunately the original owner didn't buy it. Hard to imagine because it was purchased new Illinois.