I have roughly 32 Zerks on the front end of my U55 Kubota excavator. I think it is recommended that before beginning work each day to hit all of those high use Zerks on the boom, arm, bucket, etc... I only use my Excavator once or twice a week for 1 to 2 hours at a time. The routine I've come up with is hit all Zerks with every tank of gas or at about 8 hours of use (I seldom run the tank down to empty). So, I'm using the excavator maybe 4 to 6 times for 1 to 2 hours each time between lubrication. Does this sound like a reasonable routine? It's hard for me to pull out the grease gun every time I start the machine when I'm using it in such short bursts. Feedback from the wise ones on this site appreciated. Thx. Allan
You're probably just fine if you stick with your eight hour routine.
As Tags said you should be good for the most part on an 8 hr basis as that's what we do basically grease daily (8 hour work day). However if you are digging in silty, sandy or abrasive material you may want to hit the bucket and linkage pins more often as that's where the dirt hits the pins. CTL/Skid bucket pins need to be greased at least twice an 8 hour work day IMO but that's another animal.
I would agree that any points that get right into the dirt or muddy places should be greased more often. In my opinion, especially for the dirty/muddy parts I would grease at the end of the work day, even if only used for an hour or so. My thought is to flush that crap out and not let it set in there till you get around to using it two weeks from now or even a couple days! Like they say "Rust never rests" and nice soft mud can turn to cement in a day or two then you will be back asking for tricks on how to get a joint to take grease after it's plugged solid!
I guess with winter coming, assuming that it ever rains again in Northern California, greasing after working in wet or exceptionally silty conditions makes sense even if only for an hour or two. I did pony up and buy the DeWalt battery powered grease gun. Works great. Use a pack and 1/2 of grease when I hit all 32 fittings. Thx for the input. A
Are you saying you use a tube and a half to grease that little machine? If so you are putting way too much.
Not familiar with this particular machine but that does seem like an excessive amount of grease. Maybe not for say a 988H front end loader but on a little Kubota excavator seems like a lot. You don't need to see gobs hanging off every joint!
Tube and 1/2 for 32 fittings is not that excessive IMO.
From my count im getting like 22 fittings on that machine but thats just going from my memory. I still think that is way too much for a little machine.
You guys got me thinking. I just went out and counted again: 29 zerk fittings to be exact. I have an angle dozer blade so that adds a few extra fittings if someone was thinking in the low 20's. And, it's a tube to tube and 1/2 per greasing. Not an exact science. I just watch the joint for new grease to extrude when applying grease. I always wipe off excess (especially the old grease that is pushed out of the joint) since I'm working on trails and property that people and dogs walk on. I don't want the sticky grease tracked into the house. I also always clean the machine the day before greasing and then wipe down all zerks so as not to push dirt into the joints. The reason I started this thread was about frequency of greasing...which I'm doing about every 8 hours of operation or tank of gas; not every time I use the machine. For example, today I just used the machine for 1.5 hours to refill and compact dirt over a septic tank and put in a short irrigation culvert. I didn't grease the machine before use. I think what a few others have said is that if I'm working in water or silt then maybe on those occasions make sure to grease after work to prevent rust/dust collection in the joints.
Don't over analyze it AM. It's your grease and time so use as much as you are comfortable with as it's not going to do any harm other than making a mess on your machine which is washable. More important than greasing when you're operating your mini infrequently is keeping the tank full of diesel. Water from condensation in the diesel tank will create way more issues and frustration than a little over greasing ever will. So my suggestion is to keep the tank full and carry on with your grease regiment.
Over greasing is better then under greasing but that seems like a lot. I would guess on average I get 2 greases per tube on my 6 ton mini, and I would guess it's about 25 zerks. Then the extra 4 for the blade, but I only do those every few months.
Depending on the brand and the end on stick I usually use from 1/2 to 2 tubes on your average 6-7.5 to track hoe, a lot of that depends on how well its been taken care of before I get it.
don't over grease the swing bearing. Go with what the manual states on that one. My goal when greasing is to see the grease push out any water, and some visible grease. It does not have to be clean. My older 120 I just put ~3 tubes into it, replaced some zerks and adjusted the tracks today. The dewalt did a fine job pumping out the track. Much bigger and worn out machine.
I feel like this is fine...better than some. Only thing that comes to my mind is, is this machine parked outside? If the answer is yes, I would look for a grease that doesn't emulsify (mix with the water) when exposed to water, or grease again before use if there has been a rain storm.
BTW, my Kubota manual says, "20 to 30 grease gun pumps for the swing bearing at 90 degrees left of center then 20 to 30 grease gun pumps again 90 degrees right of center." I assume that I should then rotate the cab 360 several times to make sure that the grease is fully distributed.
How often? Both of my JD excavators are at 500 hours, so it is easy to overdo it.
Haven't used a manual grease gun in forever but 20 to 30 pumps x2 seems like a lot! For my 6 ton I have to grease in 4 spots, I give it about 3 seconds with the battery operated one in each spot, and it's every 50 hours. Good indication if you're over greasing that is if large amounts are dropping on the track frame.
Appreciate the input on this topic. It's always better education that a operators manual and people I know. I did a little Kubota manual reading. Here is what Kubota recommends...Greasing the Swing Bearing Teeth: Grease at each 90 degree position of the swing frame with approx 50g of grease (approx. 20 to 30 pumps with the grease gun at each position). Distribute the grease over the teeth. I assume by rotating the cab around 360 degrees. Maintenance Interval: Every 50 hrs. Greasing Swing Ball Bearing: Grease at each 90 degree position of the swing frame with 5 grease gun pumps. Maintenance Interval: Every 200 hrs . Note: I don't see grease dropping on the track frame as "saladas" noted above so I'm wondering if my 10 to 15 pump cycles on my DeWalt battery powered grease gun has been enough every 8 to 10 hours of operation. Bottom line, I'll make a better attempt to track hours, stay on schedule and provide extra greasing in wet weather before and after work. Thanks all.