Roller grease and guns

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Stan Disbrow
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Post by Stan Disbrow » Wed Jun 01, 2016 4:43 am

Hi,

Oh, and oil guns also come from Alemite if anyone would wish to use the Cotton Picker oil instead of the Corn Head grease.

Alemite makes all sorts of grease and oil guns. Even the gun filling drum pumps if you want to go for guns that hold more. :)

The Alemite oil gun is model 4035 and has the same 1 oz per 7 strokes at 1800 PSI as the 4015 grease guns.

Stan
There's No Such Thing As A Cheap Crawler!

Useta Have: '58 JD 420c 5-roller w/62 inside blade
Useta Have: '78 JD350C w/6310 outside blade
Useta Have: '68 JD350, '51 Terratrac GT-25
Have: 1950 M, 2005 x495, 2008 5103 (now known as 5045D)

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Stan Disbrow
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Post by Stan Disbrow » Wed Jun 01, 2016 6:32 am

Hi,

One other point about all this....you go thru the lube pretty quickly.

Buy several tubes of Corn Head grease while you are there. One tube hardly lasts any time at all! ;)

Stan
There's No Such Thing As A Cheap Crawler!

Useta Have: '58 JD 420c 5-roller w/62 inside blade
Useta Have: '78 JD350C w/6310 outside blade
Useta Have: '68 JD350, '51 Terratrac GT-25
Have: 1950 M, 2005 x495, 2008 5103 (now known as 5045D)

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Stan Disbrow
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Re:

Post by Stan Disbrow » Tue Oct 31, 2017 8:23 am

mapaduke@yahoo.com wrote:
Sun May 29, 2016 4:46 am
What do you guys use to grease Lindeman role's?
Hi,

Oh. Yes. I forgot that the earlier rollers hadn't any seals. The MC and, I think, the 40c 3-roller track rollers need a thick grease or it just all flows right on out. You don't need a low pressure gun, but they do take a lot, so a high volume gun would be a help. Expect to go thru at least a tube per side.

I would suggest using at least a number 3 grease. That means shopping at industrial lubricant suppliers and not any tractor places or auto parts stores. I don't ever see anything thicker than number 2 at those places. And, when looking try to find a grease containing fiber material, like the old Kendall S-831. The fibers in the grease will keep it in place longer than a non-fiber grease. Of course, a number 2 would be better than something even thinner. And, of course, better than no grease at all.

The kind of lubricants that were used back in the day were usually made from coal tar, sodium soap, and asbestos fibers. Thick and stickier than glue, and perfect for the application. But, of course, all such are long gone due to the fact that such stuff scared everyone off due to possible health risks. I still have some around from back when and it requires a kerosene bath to get it off of my hands.....

The Kendall stuff was safe enough, but then the Kendall brand name was bought out in the 80s. I bring it up as that was the brand we carried in our family dealership back in the 70s, and so I know what was used for what.

As to the size of the button head fittings, the later ones are 5/8, and all I can dig up is that the earlier ones are larger. Anyone know the size?

Stan
There's No Such Thing As A Cheap Crawler!

Useta Have: '58 JD 420c 5-roller w/62 inside blade
Useta Have: '78 JD350C w/6310 outside blade
Useta Have: '68 JD350, '51 Terratrac GT-25
Have: 1950 M, 2005 x495, 2008 5103 (now known as 5045D)

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Lavoy
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Re: Roller grease and guns

Post by Lavoy » Tue Oct 31, 2017 8:43 am

If they are larger, they would be 7/8", but the 5/8" is probably all you are going to find. The threads on the zerk got bigger, but still the small head.
Lavoy
Parts and restoration for antique and late model John Deere crawlers.
Owner and moderator www.jdcrawlers.com

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Stan Disbrow
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Re: Roller grease and guns

Post by Stan Disbrow » Tue Oct 31, 2017 12:17 pm

Hi,

So that is what those posts were referring to. The thread size and not the button head size......

Stan
There's No Such Thing As A Cheap Crawler!

Useta Have: '58 JD 420c 5-roller w/62 inside blade
Useta Have: '78 JD350C w/6310 outside blade
Useta Have: '68 JD350, '51 Terratrac GT-25
Have: 1950 M, 2005 x495, 2008 5103 (now known as 5045D)

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Lavoy
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Re: Roller grease and guns

Post by Lavoy » Wed Nov 01, 2017 8:32 am

No, head size, but I have seen zerks with the large threads like an MC with the bigger head too. These zerks were used on lots of crawler of all brands, so you will see different stuff from what came factory.
Lavoy
Parts and restoration for antique and late model John Deere crawlers.
Owner and moderator www.jdcrawlers.com

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kilohertz
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Re: Roller grease and guns

Post by kilohertz » Wed Jul 25, 2018 8:36 am

Good morning all,

I would like to add to this discussion, I found EP-0 NLGI#0 grease at our local ag dealer, after finding out that my main button head gun was loaded with EP2...ooops. Anyway that got me thinking what my 2 button head guns actually are, so into the parts cleaner they went and 10 minutes later I found the mfr and model numbers. One is a Lincoln Series E, stamped on the cartridge tube canister, and the cast iron head is stamped 40416, it has a bulk refilling nozzle on the head as well. Second gun is a Superior Load-A-Matic model 495 with just a bleed screw on the head. I looked around on the web but couldn't find any data, just "antique grease gun" listings. They both have button head fittings but they just thread on the hose, so these could be "regular" high pressure guns that someone has added the fittings to. One gun came with each of our 350s, and look to be a day older than God. :shock:

Does anybody know what type of guns these are? Volume, pressure etc? I could probably devise a jig to measure the pressure, unscrew the head and connect a gauge, thought I would ask here first.

Cheers
1952 MC
1965 JD350 outside blade
1968 JD350 Drott 4 in 1
1981 JD450C with 6 way blade and ripper
1965ish 710 green tractor
1978 212 garden tractor
2003 F525 circus mower

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Stan Disbrow
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Re: Roller grease and guns

Post by Stan Disbrow » Wed Jul 25, 2018 11:37 am

Hi,

Somewhere along the lines of 1800 PSI and 1 oz of grease for 7 strokes. Which is what the Alemite 4015 is spec'd at. These all should be in the same ballpark.

And, yes, when new a low pressure / high volume gun was supplied by Deere with each machine.

Stan
There's No Such Thing As A Cheap Crawler!

Useta Have: '58 JD 420c 5-roller w/62 inside blade
Useta Have: '78 JD350C w/6310 outside blade
Useta Have: '68 JD350, '51 Terratrac GT-25
Have: 1950 M, 2005 x495, 2008 5103 (now known as 5045D)

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kilohertz
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Posts: 119
Joined: Sat Mar 22, 2014 1:37 pm
Location: Sunny BC

Re: Roller grease and guns

Post by kilohertz » Wed Jul 25, 2018 7:01 pm

Thanks Stan appreciate the reply. I think I’ll investigate each gun a little bit further although the one that is painted John Deere green is probably safe to assume that it’s a low pressure gun and that is the superior gun.

I tried to set the track tension today and when I put the button head fitting on to the cylinder grease just spewed out from around the button head fitting of the grease gun. I don’t think this is worn, but you never know there was no debris anywhere. I looked at my second grease gun when I got home from the job, and they look identical I will try the second gun tomorrow to see if it’s any different

Any thoughts?

Thx
1952 MC
1965 JD350 outside blade
1968 JD350 Drott 4 in 1
1981 JD450C with 6 way blade and ripper
1965ish 710 green tractor
1978 212 garden tractor
2003 F525 circus mower

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Stan Disbrow
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Posts: 2892
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Re: Roller grease and guns

Post by Stan Disbrow » Thu Jul 26, 2018 4:41 am

Hi,

Take an awl and push the ball. They like to get stuck. Also, there is a rubber seal on the gun seal. Check that. Finally, you might have to push the gun fitting downwards on the button head while pumping. Some button head fittings seem to have a thinner button head than others. I had to replace one on my new-to-me 350 that seemed to have this issue. It worked when I pressed on the gun fitting but leaked if I didn't.

You could replace the button head fitting on the adjusters with a regular Zerk. You can use No 2 grease from a high pressure gun there. There is no benefit from No 0 grease in tensioners. Actually, that is better as the tensioner moves more slowly with a regular gun. On my 420c, Dad switched all the button heads out for regular Zerks. But, then he knew which gun to use. ;)

You can check those two guns by seeing how much grease they pump vs a regular gun. Low pressure guns put out a lot more grease per pump. It may be you have one LP for rollers and one HP for tensioners, both with button head ends.

Stan
There's No Such Thing As A Cheap Crawler!

Useta Have: '58 JD 420c 5-roller w/62 inside blade
Useta Have: '78 JD350C w/6310 outside blade
Useta Have: '68 JD350, '51 Terratrac GT-25
Have: 1950 M, 2005 x495, 2008 5103 (now known as 5045D)

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Lavoy
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Re: Roller grease and guns

Post by Lavoy » Thu Jul 26, 2018 7:50 am

High/low pressure selectable pistol grip guns are available. I was going to order some, may still do that. In the area of $50 if I remember correctly.
Lavoy
Parts and restoration for antique and late model John Deere crawlers.
Owner and moderator www.jdcrawlers.com

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kilohertz
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Re: Roller grease and guns

Post by kilohertz » Thu Jul 26, 2018 8:21 am

Thanks boys,

Well, there are no rubber seals visible on my 2 button head guns, I am going to search the web for pics to see what they look like and where they should be. That could be the problem, the idlers accepted grease just fine as did the upper track roller. I'll also try the awl trick, thanks Stan. Changing them to zerks may be the ultimate solution, and using EP-2, I have a large selection on hand.

Dual pressure gun, that sounds good! Let us know.

Cheers
1952 MC
1965 JD350 outside blade
1968 JD350 Drott 4 in 1
1981 JD450C with 6 way blade and ripper
1965ish 710 green tractor
1978 212 garden tractor
2003 F525 circus mower

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Lavoy
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Re: Roller grease and guns

Post by Lavoy » Thu Jul 26, 2018 12:56 pm

If the gun end leaks, it is bad. Some have rubber seals, some have a tapered sharp washer that seals them. Zerks and ends are readily available, I should have both in stock.
Lavoy
Parts and restoration for antique and late model John Deere crawlers.
Owner and moderator www.jdcrawlers.com

Ray III
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Re: Roller grease and guns

Post by Ray III » Thu Feb 10, 2022 9:03 am

Where can I get corn head grease or an equivalent in gallon or pail size containers?

I have an Alemite 6521 grease pump that looks like it would hold about 3 gallons. It was given to me with what looks like 000 or 00 in it, but I have exhausted the supply.

Jim B
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Re: Roller grease and guns

Post by Jim B » Fri Feb 11, 2022 5:28 pm

John Deere has Spindle grease which meets the 00 specs in larger containers. Here is a link to their PMB sheet which has part numbers.
https://jdparts.deere.com/partsmkt/unse ... indles.htm

Check with your local oil distributors. Motion Industries can likely get it. NAPA or other parts stores should be able to get it. I expect you will need to ask, and it will need to be ordered in at most places.

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