Interesting, greased pins for life

[coopers]

So I was reading a deere news info magazine and found this from the Senior VP of Sale and Marketing:

"Our strong zerk ethic.
Grease zerks and the elbow grease required to fi ll them are
becoming things of the past. Our continuing quest to lower daily
operating costs has led to the development of maintenance-free
pins for many of our loaders.
A few years back we identified the need for these easy-maintenance
pins through market research. That’s right, you requested
this convenient money saver, and after more than 48,000 simulated
hours of use over four years, they’re ready to ship.
These pins will be available exclusively in John Deere fourwheel-drive loaders and are greased for life at the factory. Our
ingenious engineers have outfitted these bearings with what they
call “triple-redundant seal protection” that holds the grease in
and keeps the contaminants out.
The resulting benefits of these new cutting-edge pins are
practical, financial, and environmental. No more greasing, mess,
or the time and money typically associated with this maintenance.
When you’re ready to change out pins, replace them with these
maintenance-free pins using traditional tools.
Call your dealer for full details on these new maintenance-free
pins that were designed to make your job easier."


Blake
WA

[Dirtman2007]

I don't know, just don't seem right not greasing a pin. Hopefully it will work as good as they say it will. Wonder how good it will stand up over time with dirt and mud on it.

[EZ TRBO]

Beings we are located not too far from John Deere Dubuque Works, we have been a training bed for some of their equpiment. They want to see how it works in a quarry application. They won't tell us much, just to use the He!! out of it. I know the 724J and 744J we are using right now do not have any greese zerts. Bout the only thing I do know on them, is each machine has a different type of sleeve/bushing. We are supposed to put 1500 hours on each then they will take them back. It is kinda nice to just check the fluids and get in a go. The 724 is a nice machine, although lil light and small for quarry work, but great for loading trucks. The 744 is a good stock piling machine and is is run all the time(sides that saves putting hours on our CAT). Talk is next spring they are bringing an 844J up for us to try our in place of our 988 Cat(our feeder). See what happens. On a different note, both our Dresser 15C's U-joints do not have greese zerk's. I just changed one set 2 years ago, that still had them, they were original(22K hours). The other 15C had them changed at 3000 hours, after an engine swap and they have been in there since 1992 and have 25K on them.
Trbo

[Young James]

Talk is next spring they are bringing an 844J up for us to try our in place of our 988 Cat(our feeder). See what happens.Trbo

we had a 844J as a demo for a while. That was a kick ass machine :D

[EZ TRBO]

What were you using the 844J for, just loading trucks, feeder for crusher, etc? I know alot of the reason they are letting us try these out is they want to see how they handle a quarry enviroment. Anything you didn't like bout the 844J?
Trbo

[Young James]

we used the 844 for loading the crusher, taking it away, feeding asphalt plant, loading rock, etc. We kinda wanted to get the feeling what the loader was like overall, since in our quarry, we don't really have a particular loader for each job. Everything is always getting switched up. I pretty much loved everything about that loader, however I have never been on a bigger, comparable cat loader so can't really compare the 2. Operation wise, she's a beauty. The steering joystick lever was the best thing I have ever seen once you get the hang of it. I don't like the layout of the buttons for wipers, lights, etc tho, but that's only minor stuff. However tho, only after 80 hours were put on the machine, we noticed a oil leak on the engine. Never really knew what that was

[JDOFMEMI]

Greased pins for life.

In my mind, that means when the grease runs out, its the end of its life

If you don't want to grease daily, buy an auto lube system. A little grease at a set time throughout the day is the best way to go

[coopers]

Yeah it sounds like a life thing but then I read more and it sounds like there's a certain time period (just for numbers, 5000 hours) that you use the machine to then you go have the pins rebuilt or something to that nature and you're good to go for another x number of hours.

Blake
WA

[equippartsdir]

Hello Everyone!
I'm new to this forum and not certain exactly what Pins this article relates to, but wanted to offer this observation. Manganese Steel is commonly used in a wide variety of Mining Applications like Sand & Gravel operations. This type of steel requires no lubrication due to its low coefficient of friction. We recently solved an ongoing problem for one of our customers who uses a Samsung Excavator, in a S&G operation, to clean a slurry ditch. They were constantly wearing out Pins & Bushings in the Stick & H-Link because the grease acted as a magnet for the sand. Purchasing replacement Pins & Bushings from the Dealer were a notch below grand larceny. We replaced his traditional Pins & Bushings with Manganese Steel components, at less than the cost of original equipment. We tightened up the allowable clearances between the components to minimize the opportunity for sand to enter. A bonus to all this: Manganese Steel is a "work hardening" grade of material. The more you work it, the harder it gets!

[coopers]

http://www.deere.com/en_US/cfd/construction/deere_const/media/dmag/130CU.pdf

This link above briefly talks about the fittings, the bottom one I have goes more in depth:

http://www.deere.com/en_US/cfd/construction/deere_const/media/dmag/DMAG128CU.pdf

Blake
WA

[980cCrusher]

Hey all I am new to this site. I must say it is a very nice setup. I must say that the idea of not having to grease anymore is quite appealing. Although for the little time it takes with the grease gun that i use I see it kind of useless. Unless these pins are very inexpensive to buy and rebuild I can't see it being any cheaper than using good grease and gun to do the job. Imo it is shear laziness. I mean how much does it take out of the day to grease? Maybe a half hour for a good greasing. I personally do 2 980g's a 980c a 350 and 330 (all Cat) daily along with our main crusher plant and portable track crusher and I have used up 2 or so hours. I must say though that when I used our old pump gun it was a pain but now that I have my 14.4v it is much smoother. Any way this is my opinion.

[coopers]

Hey all I am new to this site. I must say it is a very nice setup. I must say that the idea of not having to grease anymore is quite appealing. Although for the little time it takes with the grease gun that i use I see it kind of useless. Unless these pins are very inexpensive to buy and rebuild I can't see it being any cheaper than using good grease and gun to do the job. Imo it is shear laziness. I mean how much does it take out of the day to grease? Maybe a half hour for a good greasing. I personally do 2 980g's a 980c a 350 and 330 (all Cat) daily along with our main crusher plant and portable track crusher and I have used up 2 or so hours. I must say though that when I used our old pump gun it was a pain but now that I have my 14.4v it is much smoother. Any way this is my opinion.

I somewhat agree with you. I was pretty taken back by the article. I guess for those that need to be on the go and not waste a second then this concept is good (and not pay to hire greasers so the machines aren't down for too long) but who knows.

Blake
WA

[srs_mn]

I suspect the greasless sealed pins and bushings are expensive, but are probably worth it in the long run.
I HATE greasing... I detest everything about grease and grease guns... messy, time consuming, and, for the most part, ineffective as dirt and grease together make a very effective grinding paste. Seals not only keep the grease in, they keep the dirt out.
I'm all for sealed pins and bushings!
srs_mn

[farm_boy]

This is an awesome system for anyone looking at reducing O&O costs and increasing the availability of their machine.

Here is what I have been able to find out about the system. The entire system cost about the same as an autolube system on a new machine and the replacement of the system is not all that much more than replacing standard pins and bushings. The roller bearing units that are in the boom to bucket joint has quadruple redundancy on the seals. This prevents the factory lubed bearing from loosing grease and prevents contaniments from entering the bearing. Also because the pin and bearing have an interferrence fit, the joint expereinces virtually no wear at all, even after 10,000+ hours. The only periodic maintenance is to visually inspect the main preliminary seal for damage. This can be done by simply looking at it to make sure it is in place.

The rest of the joints use a hard chrome pin and a filament wound Teflon bushing. After a short initial break in period that allows the Teflon to transfer to the pin, the joint self lubricates and experiences very little wear, similar to the rolling joint. These joints are sealed with a split o-ring that allow easy installation if one happens to fail.

For those who are looking at auto-lube systems, this is a no-brainer. Most operations that I talk to consider lube systems as a nessacary evil. They do lower the operating costs compared to manually greasing the machines, but have their own set of headaches like broken fittings, plugged lines and gaulled pins as a result. Typical payback of this system on a 7 cu yd machine when compared to an auto-lube set up is one and a half years with a rate of return of ~60%.

The benefit that may not be as apparent is that you still have a machine that is tight at 10-12K+ hours.

Still need a reason to believe.....think about this. How many manufacturers out there offer a 3 yr/10K hour warranty on their pins and bushings? Every Deere loader comes standard with a structure warranty that covers all the major machine structures (loader frame, boom, rear frame, etc) for 3 years or 10,000 hours. If you buy this option the pins and bushings are covered under this warranty.

Here are some pictures that I found

1. A cut away of the roller bearing used in the boom to bucket joint.
2. A view of the inside of the Teflon bushing used in the remaining joints.
3. A picture of the external primary seal on the boom to bucket joint.
4. Pin wear in a normal greased joint at 3,500 hours. It is worn beyond tolerance
5. A NeverGrease joint from a rolling bearing joint at 8,000 hours. There is no measurable wear on the pin.

[Countryboy]

Nice research Farm boy! :drinkup

How well do they hold up in hammer applications or is this currently only for loaders?

[dieseltune]

Having done most of my machine hours in an agricultural environment, sometimes in a sewage works:eek: Time isn't the only thing that puts you off getting up close and personal with your machine!!

IMO the biggest downside of autolube systems is the removal of the regular visual check, which as we all know can be a life saver. However keep the viuals up and yee-haw no more dirty old grease guns etc.:drinkup

If costs are kept real why would anyone not want this option:beatsme