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Grease qty and frequency per location?

Shimmy1

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 14, 2014
Messages
4,258
Location
North Dakota
I grease all bucket points daily, unless the machine only runs a few hours, boom and stick every 3 days.
My mental tally goes like this:
bucket hinge pins (both) 50-60 pumps
linkage points: usually about 25, pump until seen.
Boom cylinder rod end: 25-30
Boom cylinder base: 10-15
Boom hinge: 40-50 pumps
Stick cylinder base: 20
Stick hinge point: 50-60 or until seen
Stick cylinder rod end: 20 or until seen
Bucket cylinder base: 20 or until seen
Rotec bearing: 5 pumps each fitting every third time I grease the boom/stick

This may seem complicated, but I've been running and greasing my own machines for over 30 years, and this seems to be the right amount. The Case 210 I've been running for the last 8 seasons has 5000 hours on it, and I cannot see any movement in any joint yet. Always used 5% moly in the summer, 3% spring/fall and winter. FWIW, Case recommendation is 50 hours on all bucket points, 1000 hours on everything else. Stupid.

These amounts obviously will not be sufficient on a machine that has any slop in the joints, worn joints pound the grease out twice as fast. Hope this helps.
 

nicky 68a

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2013
Messages
1,159
Location
england
I think if you want your operators to grease them to your satisfaction,then you’ll need to grease them yourself.
I only have 2/3 machines and they are working in sand.I grease them all myself.
I’ve long since given up as to what the correct procedure,or what type of grease to use and when.
Bits that drag through the sand get 50 shots every 3 shifts.Bits that don’t get 20 shots.
Fan hubs and eq bars etc get greased as per the maintenance manual though.
However,if it’s raining on the day they want greasing,then the job gets carried over to the next time!
 

fastline

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2011
Messages
1,104
Location
OK
I grease all bucket points daily, unless the machine only runs a few hours, boom and stick every 3 days.
My mental tally goes like this:
bucket hinge pins (both) 50-60 pumps
linkage points: usually about 25, pump until seen.
Boom cylinder rod end: 25-30
Boom cylinder base: 10-15
Boom hinge: 40-50 pumps
Stick cylinder base: 20
Stick hinge point: 50-60 or until seen
Stick cylinder rod end: 20 or until seen
Bucket cylinder base: 20 or until seen
Rotec bearing: 5 pumps each fitting every third time I grease the boom/stick

This may seem complicated, but I've been running and greasing my own machines for over 30 years, and this seems to be the right amount. The Case 210 I've been running for the last 8 seasons has 5000 hours on it, and I cannot see any movement in any joint yet. Always used 5% moly in the summer, 3% spring/fall and winter. FWIW, Case recommendation is 50 hours on all bucket points, 1000 hours on everything else. Stupid.

These amounts obviously will not be sufficient on a machine that has any slop in the joints, worn joints pound the grease out twice as fast. Hope this helps.
Thanks for that! I feel like we are getting off topic here and this helps. What size of machine you talking? The 210? That does seem like an astronomical amount of grease! Though over grease is better than under. Other than the Rotec.
 

fastline

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2011
Messages
1,104
Location
OK
I think if you want your operators to grease them to your satisfaction,then you’ll need to grease them yourself.
I only have 2/3 machines and they are working in sand.I grease them all myself.
I’ve long since given up as to what the correct procedure,or what type of grease to use and when.
Bits that drag through the sand get 50 shots every 3 shifts.Bits that don’t get 20 shots.
Fan hubs and eq bars etc get greased as per the maintenance manual though.
However,if it’s raining on the day they want greasing,then the job gets carried over to the next time!

Not to create an argument but I am always upfront with an employee. Your job is expansive and excuses in machine maintenance are all filed in the DGAF box downstairs. I track employees and if I find them doing anything unsafe or something that will hurt the equipment, they are gone. Not even a warning. I don't have time or patience for it anymore. But this only comes after proper training. It seems operators today have this messed up notion that their job is just to sit and move sticks. Everything else is someone else's job. I don't operate that way. You have time, you get out and inspect your equipment. You look for leaks, you listen, you note things mentally or on paper. When there is a new sound, it is not normal and must be investigated.

In my other biz, there is a banner I made that says, "if you got time to lean, you got time to clean". I hate employees and I'm trying to get more robots going. It's sad, but worth ethic is nearly toast anymore.
 

Shimmy1

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 14, 2014
Messages
4,258
Location
North Dakota
Thanks for that! I feel like we are getting off topic here and this helps. What size of machine you talking? The 210? That does seem like an astronomical amount of grease! Though over grease is better than under. Other than the Rotec.
It really isn't as much as you'd think. It only takes about a half tube to do the daily bucket stuff, and on the day's I do everything, I use a little more than a tube.
 

fastline

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2011
Messages
1,104
Location
OK
It really isn't as much as you'd think. It only takes about a half tube to do the daily bucket stuff, and on the day's I do everything, I use a little more than a tube.
This might be why I am trying to get the facts and math straight because I'd say 50-75 pumps is a tube with my gun. I really like to work with volume but I find these OEM specs of "grease the joint" highly annoying. I come from precision manufacturing where no one would ever say "grease it", it is more like "15% fill, Kluber NBU15, 15%=31grams". This leaves little wiggle for errors. I really do like those electric grease guns that quantify the grease for you. That really is where I need to go.
 

suladas

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2016
Messages
1,731
Location
Canada
It really isn't as much as you'd think. It only takes about a half tube to do the daily bucket stuff, and on the day's I do everything, I use a little more than a tube.

Yours sounded like a lot of pumps but I generally use a full tube on a complete grease on mine, minus the swing bearing so it's pretty much the same amount. I just can't imagine pumping a grease gun that many times, my hands would tap out before the first joint was done :eek: Only machine I ever greased by hand was my 6 ton mini and I bought the battery grease gun after a few months because I couldn't do it anymore, never mind a full size hoe.

Think mines been looked after pretty well though, 9200 hours and just a tiny bit of play in 2 bucket pins that showed up in last few hundred hours, zero in all the others. Switched to moly like a year ago from regular lithium it's surprising how much better it stays in.
 

nicky 68a

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2013
Messages
1,159
Location
england
Not to create an argument but I am always upfront with an employee. Your job is expansive and excuses in machine maintenance are all filed in the DGAF box downstairs. I track employees and if I find them doing anything unsafe or something that will hurt the equipment, they are gone. Not even a warning. I don't have time or patience for it anymore. But this only comes after proper training. It seems operators today have this messed up notion that their job is just to sit and move sticks. Everything else is someone else's job. I don't operate that way. You have time, you get out and inspect your equipment. You look for leaks, you listen, you note things mentally or on paper. When there is a new sound, it is not normal and must be investigated.

In my other biz, there is a banner I made that says, "if you got time to lean, you got time to clean". I hate employees and I'm trying to get more robots going. It's sad, but worth ethic is nearly toast anymore.
I like the fact that you give them the boot and often without warning.I was like that in my 20’s and the business was quite volitile in those days.I’ve lost count of the men I fired over shutting engines down without idling.This would crack a D8 head immediately.It would also crack my head,and the culprit would get fired.I also recieved more than one smack in the mouth from disgruntled drivers,but that’s just the nature of the game.
However,I have other business interests that aren’t heavy equipment related and if I was sacking people on the spot without warning,they’d be queuing up to sue me.Things have changed with the way incompetent machine drivers are treated.Many are useless,yet they are treated with kid gloves.The other issue is that there are cronic shortages of drivers,so even the worst of men get jobs at good money.
Very few will dig tracks out or grease them when they should anymore,and that’s how it is.
 

nicky 68a

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2013
Messages
1,159
Location
england
I’ve spent 30 years running towed Cat 435 and 463 scrapers.Those beasts take a good amount of grease.
The things would be slathered in grease to make them run smooth.
I think the manual called for 5 shots a week in every fitting.
Well,my thick brain could never handle that small amount.The sheaves that we’re out the way of debris would get 20 shots,but the hoist sheaves that would get buried in material would get 50 shots.I would also slather grease with a stick down the toboggan tunnel and paste it on the apron rope to keep the rust out.The ropes were allready oiled when they were manufactured,but I could never help myself!
I definitely over greased them.It was like a disease to me!!! Ha ha
 
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