Cornhead Grease ?

[Lu47Dan]

I am working up a parts list to do the final drives , rollers and idlers on my 420 crawler and remembered that corn head grease was mentioned as lubricant for the bushings in the rollers and the idlers on these machines .
Has anyone here tried this grease ? I looked on JDparts site and came up with this part number , AN102562 . Since I intend to start with new bushings I figure the switch to this would best if it works . Dan

[jdemaris]

I am working up a parts list to do the final drives , rollers and idlers on my 420 crawler and remembered that corn head grease was mentioned as lubricant for the bushings in the rollers and the idlers on these machines .
Has anyone here tried this grease ? I looked on JDparts site and came up with this part number , AN102562 . Since I intend to start with new bushings I figure the switch to this would best if it works . Dan

I've used it for years - on my own equipment and on customers that don't have newer sealed rollers. The Cornhead grease is basically the same formulation that Deere used to package as "Track and Roller" grease up to the late 80s. That label was phased out years ago since grease-rollers are, more-or-less, considered obsolete.

As far as pondering if it will stay in rollers or not? That is a question that cannot be answered as asked. Anything will stay in a roller if it's tight, and hardly anything will stay in it if it's worn out.

Light oil with EP additives is by far the best lube for all weather - but it doesn't do much good if it leaks out of the roller and next time you use the machine - the rollers are dry. Light oil also requires special seals like the newer sealed rollers use. Heavier oil, e.g. 90W GL1, GL4 or GL5 gear oil was used OEM in many greaseable rollers years back - until the special grease became available. 90W gear oil is the same viscosity as 30W-40W motor oil - just uses a different number system. Corn Head grease is supposed to offer equal protection with the added benefit of not leaking out of worn rollers. It is formulated to stay thick and not run out of leaky seals when there is no movement going on - yet it thins out enough to lube slow-moving parts - i.e. & e.g. rollers and idlers.

Now, whether John Deere Co. is telling the truth about the newer labeled Corn Head grease being exactly the same as the older Track and Roller grease? I couldn't tell you - it has a different color - but that may mean nothing. I've used both over the past 30 years in any of the stuff I have left with grease fittings. No complaints, but my use isn't exactly a controlled experiment. I have never had any surprise, unexpected failures. On three of my little Cletracs -the rollers looked pretty good but would no longer hold gear oil - years ago. So, I started using the grease instead and never had a problem since. Same with my Deere 1010 and Allis HD4.

[Lu47Dan]

jd , that is why I added the maybe . I want to change the bushing in the idlers while I have the tracks off to switch the position of the cleats . The left side idler bushings are shot , and the right side is not far behind them . Once I get the parts here for the final drive I will do the right side . Thanks for the information . Dan

[Lavoy]

That is all I use, and all I have used since the track roller grease went obsolete. Keep in mind that these rollers are supposed to have gear lube in them. If you are putting in new seals and thrust plates, you could change back to that if you are concerned, but personally I would stick with corn head grease.
Lavoy

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

You're not going to beleive this, but I'm still using the same Socony-Vacuum Oil Co. Gargoyle-Brand No 10 gear lubricant that my dad used in the old girl from Day One.

This is from a 5 gal pail that's at least the same vintage as the crawler and probably older. There's still about half of the pail left after all these years. It's really thick stuff, so I thin it with a bit of modern gear lube before it goes in, as that makes it easier to pump with a hand gun.

It's great stuff, but I think I must have all that's left of it in the world. Heck, the *can* the stuff is in is probably worth as much as the crawler to the right collector of such things!

BTW, this is the same gear lube that dad used in the differentials of his race cars all through the 1950's. He had a pail of it left over, so when he bought the 420c in 1966, he just used that for roller lube.

In answer to the original question, the stuff stays in as far as the seals go. A tiny amount seeps out of the grease fittings on hot days, but that has always occured.

Later!

Stan

[tuney443]

I'm glad I saved about 4 cartridges of the official JD track and roller grease from my early 350B days for my ''new'' 440ICD loader.

[digitup2]

I have found that corn head grease is good in warm weather but useing it in the cold weather and moisture or water just dispurses it easy .As with most greases when they fit the bill for one job they lose it some place else .I think I have found the perfict grease but it was way beond the perfict price !!Digitup.

[JimAnderson]

Hello,
Before I found this site I never heard of corn head grease and
used regular chassis grease in my 40c with good results.The 420c
that my father had never saw anything but chassis grease in the rollers
for over forty years. He was surprised when I told him that his owners
manual recomended gear oil in the rollers.
We didn't know any better so we just greased them on a regular
basis and ran them.I'm not saying that is the way to go but it
worked for us as the rollers bushings and shafts are still servicable.
I was lucky enough to inherit the crawler I grew up with and the
grease gun used to service her .I will use up the funky blue
grease in that gun then maybe switch to the cornhead just
to see if it's any better.JimAnderson

[Ray III]

Hi,

You're not going to beleive this, but I'm still using the same Socony-Vacuum Oil Co. Gargoyle-Brand No 10 gear lubricant that my dad used in the old girl from Day One.

This is from a 5 gal pail that's at least the same vintage as the crawler and probably older. There's still about half of the pail left after all these years. It's really thick stuff, so I thin it with a bit of modern gear lube before it goes in, as that makes it easier to pump with a hand gun.

It's great stuff, but I think I must have all that's left of it in the world. Heck, the *can* the stuff is in is probably worth as much as the crawler to the right collector of such things!

BTW, this is the same gear lube that dad used in the differentials of his race cars all through the 1950's. He had a pail of it left over, so when he bought the 420c in 1966, he just used that for roller lube.

In answer to the original question, the stuff stays in as far as the seals go. A tiny amount seeps out of the grease fittings on hot days, but that has always occured.

Later!

Stan

That's interesting. Does it say what weight the oil is? Definitely save the pail when you've used it up.

I always say that any lube is better than no lube, so in the case of leaky roller seals you're better off using some kind of grease. It is not as good as gear oil for the specific application, but the oil won't do you any good after it leaks out.

I would just avoid using heavy chassis grease if it's going to see colder temps.

[JimAnderson]

Ray,
I agree any lube is better than none.The funny thing about my dads crawler is that he used it only to push snow when the plow truck
couldn't handle the excess.He used it like that in Maine for thirty years.
Down south here in Virginia cold weather is kinda rare so chassis
grease works well.I can't say that chassis lube is the thing to use,
but I'm sure a lot of folk's running these old machines are using
it .I just hate to see people freak out feel that they have made
some horrible mistake.It can work and again any lube is better than
none.JMHO JimAnderson

[snoopy]

OK, just what is "CORN HEAD GREASE"????

[Lavoy]

On a corn head, which is an attachment used on a combine for the purpose of harvesting ear corn, there is a gearbox on each row. A 6 row corn head will have 6 of these gear boxes. The gear boxes have a set of bevel gears that turn a pair of counter rotating "snap rolls" that pull the stalk down and strip the corn cob off of the stalk. The designated lube for these gear boxes is corn head grease. Corn head grease is a semi-fluid grease, thick enough to pump, but will liquify at least to some degree when it gets warm.
As a point of reference as to the reliability of corn head grease in a roller. A gear box on a corn head has some pretty small gears in it, and they will run for hundreds of hours without fail on corn head grease. Dad bought out corn head new in 1979, and it is still running today on a neighbors farm. In the beginning, we ran Mobil synthetic gun grease, in later years, corn head grease. This header to this day has not had a gear box failure.
Lavoy

[Stan Disbrow]

[quote="Ray IIIThat's interesting. Does it say what weight the oil is? Definitely save the pail when you've used it up.

I always say that any lube is better than no lube, so in the case of leaky roller seals you're better off using some kind of grease. It is not as good as gear oil for the specific application, but the oil won't do you any good after it leaks out.

I would just avoid using heavy chassis grease if it's going to see colder temps.[/quote]

Hi,

It says it's 'No 10'. This may have been produced before they used SAE weights, although it may be that they just kept on using their own system after the advent of the SAE weighting system.

It's about the consistency of molassas at room temperature. The stuff is black and smells like Penn crude oil, so I'm pretty sure that this stuff was distilled from Penn. crude back in the day.

This makes sense as it's from the Socony-Vacuum oil company (nowadays the Mobil half of Exxon-Mobil), and the Vacuum oil company was a lubricant maker that used Penn crude for their base stocks.

Yes, I'll keep the can, although I don't know as I'll actually use it all up before I die. The only place I use the stuff is in crawler rollers, and the can is been in use since 1966 or so in that application and there's still half of it left!

I have all sorts of old lubricants around, along with old cans that now have other stuff in them. For example, I have a pair of old MacMillan 'Ring-Free' motor oil 5 gal cans that I use to put drain oil in for hauling down to the recycling tank. Everyone that sees them wants to buy them, but I like them just as they are since they are the old dome-top type with both fill caps and pour spouts. They are great for drain oil. You can stick the spout of the drain pan into the fill opening and just leave it and when it comes time to empty the can, the metal pour spout is just what you want.

Later!

Stan

[jdemaris]

It says it's 'No 10'. This may have been produced before they used SAE weights, although it may be that they just kept on using their own system after the advent of the SAE weighting system.

SAE is just one of many viscosity rating systems that have been used for close to 100 years. The first standard system used in the U.S. was the Saybolt system - and then many adaptations followed including SAE.
For comparison:
SAE 10 engine oil = Saybolt 90
SAE 30 engine oil = Saybolt 185
SAE 40 engine oil = Saybolt 255

SAE 90 gear oil = Saybolt 80
SAE 110 gear oil = Saybolt 150
SAE 160 gear oil = Saybolt 300


And, even with just the SAE number - gear oil #s and engine oil #s are different - e.g. SAE 30-40W motor oil is the same viscosity as SAE 90W gear oil.

In the early to mid years of cars, trucks, and tractors - gear oil was often simply rated as "fluid" or "non-fluid" - and companies selling their own brands could call it by any name or number. Ford sold their own gear oil for Model As called 600W (I have some).

At present, there are at least five different rating systems - e.g. SAE gear, SAE engine-oil, ISO (International Standards Org.), AGMA (American Gear Manufacturers Association), NLGI (National Lubricating Grease Institute). The latter rates grease by it's ability to penetrate - but in a way - so do some of the oil viscosity ratings.

Most modern greases made specifically for crawler track rollers - are NLGI #00 - e.g. Deere "Cornhead Grease", Castrol TC, or Swepco 402 Roller Lube. Castrol TC is a #00 NLGI grease made special for rollers. The Swepco stuff - theyre not 100% clear and call it a "semi-fluid."

You mentioned your old Gargolye #10 oil as being like molasses. That's puts it - by NLGI standards - at #1 or #2. #00 grade that is sold for track rollers is more like the consistency of applesauce - by NLGI's own description. They use a list of comparisons to commonly used foods.

[Lu47Dan]

jd , Sounds like what we call "Open Gear Lube" up here will stick to anything and not flow away .
Thanks for the information .