12 Things You May Not Know About Greasing

Applying grease to a tractor or attachment is my favorite job...said NOBODY! None of us like to have to grease our stuff, but the simple fact is, it'll last a lot longer with proper lubrication. Today we discuss 12 things you may not know about greasing.

First, the little fitting that the grease goes through is called a "zerk". Not zerc, zert, zurt, zurk or zurc. It was named after Oscar Zerkowitz, or Oscar Zerk, from Kenosha, Wisconsin, an engineer for Nash Motor Company. He developed the little fitting that carries his name that lets grease in and keeps dirt out.

Second, how does it work? It has a spring loader ball in the end of it that the grease coupler (on the grease gun) pushes in and then when it lock on, grease can flow through the zerk to the bearing, and when it's pulled off, the ball springs back out to keep it in there.

Three, what does grease do? Grease is just oil with a thickener and it's designed to slowly ooze out through a bearing when a product is used, providing lubrication.

Fourth, why will some grease zerks not allow grease to pass through? Could be rust, likely there's some foreign material caught in there, which leads us to number five, if you release from the zerk and grease flows back out you likely have the same problem. Either situation, it's time to replace the zerk and that's a subject for a future video.

Six, not all zerks need to be greased at the same intervals. Follow the owner's manual recommendation and grease more often if you're working certain bearings more. Make sure the U-joints in the PTO get greased often, preferably, every time you use the implement.

Seven, how do you know when you're done greasing? That's easy, when grease comes out, you're done. Applying more at that point just wastes grease. If you can't see the grease zerks, a lot of times you can hear a crackling sound when the grease is coming out.

Number eight, is it possible to grease if you've lost use of one arm? It is, get a pistol grip grease gun and a locking coupler like safeLOCK. Hook the safeLOCK on to the zerk and leave the grease gun hanging, then pick the gun up and apply the grease. Works like a charm.

Nine, what grade of grease do I use? For 95% of us with small tractors and a lawn more,get a good mutli-purpose grease. If it were a combine, skid loader or hay baler you might want to move up to a Polyurea or synthetic, the rest of us don't really need that.

Ten, how do I know if my new tractor was greased by the dealer? If there's paint on the zerk, it hasn't been touched with a grease gun. A lot of times the tractor prep guy is not the most experienced technician and may miss some details. It's always best to check.

Eleven, a lot of grease showing on a used tractor is a good thing. If you're shopping for a pre-owned tractor and there's grease around all the fittings, that means the previous owner did maintenance. Dry and clean areas may mean the grease gun was not used.

Finally, if you do a lot of greasing, get and electric (battery) powered grease gun. They're expensive, but they'll make the chore of greasing a lot more pleasant.

Now that the mystery is out of the greasing process there's no excuse not to maintain your tractor and attachments. Proper lubrication is one of the cheapest investments to insure a long life for your equipment.





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