Best Grease for Tractors, Excavators, and Chippers...

[Coaldust]

We have a seacan where all our lubricants are stored. Only different grease on the shelf, is winter and summer. They used to buy whatever was cheapest, but since not all operators are dedicated greaser. They buy Lucas products. Seem to last longer. We do have a different assortment of equipment, and it wouldn't be practical to use different grease for each. Only bad grease is no grease. Unfortunately, the so called adults that run things on both sides of the border, are making it difficult to buy American products, so we might end up using whale blubber

My neighbor gave me a nice chunk of beluga the other day. It’s aight. Healthy for you except there is growing concern about elevated mercury levels. But, it’s not like something you eat every day.

What sort of whales do you like to harpoon in Canada?

 

[Shimmy1]

I have moved away from the 5% moly in favor of 3% moly/lithium complex with a synthetic base stock. The 5% moly calcium-based I was using was not favorable to the limited movement pins in my scrapers. I think it was working ok in the excavator, other than under 50° you couldn't hardly pump the stuff.
On the O.P. smaller machines I'd be willing to say the 3% will be just fine, I think as long as he greased every 6-8 hours any lithium complex would be more than adequate, those smaller pins and bushings are going to wear out no matter what grease he uses.

 

[cuttin edge]

My neighbor gave me a nice chunk of beluga the other day. It’s aight. Healthy for you except there is growing concern about elevated mercury levels. But, it’s not like something you eat every day.

What sort of whales do you like to harpoon in Canada?

Not a fan of whale, but it doesn't smell as bad as seal. A lot of guys are getting into sharks. Not literally, but with rising ocean temps on the east coast, the buggers are coming within shooting range. I'm not a hunter, but some guys take it super serious. 2 of the guys at work have almost 400 rifles between the 2 of them, and that's all they talk about. Most people drink a deer's blood while it's still warm, my wife loves deer blood pudding. One of these guys likes to eat the heart raw as soon as he drops it

 

[cuttin edge]

I have moved away from the 5% moly in favor of 3% moly/lithium complex with a synthetic base stock. The 5% moly calcium-based I was using was not favorable to the limited movement pins in my scrapers. I think it was working ok in the excavator, other than under 50° you couldn't hardly pump the stuff.
On the O.P. smaller machines I'd be willing to say the 3% will be just fine, I think as long as he greased every 6-8 hours any lithium complex would be more than adequate, those smaller pins and bushings are going to wear out no matter what grease he uses.

How do you find it works under water, or have you tried it? A lot of times on dredging jobs, it's hard to keep bucket pins greased.

 

[Shimmy1]

How do you find it works under water, or have you tried it? A lot of times on dredging jobs, it's hard to keep bucket pins greased.

I don't do much in deep water, if I do, it isn't for very long. If I was, I'd probably use the calcium grease since it's supposed to have the best water resistance.

 

[Timbersawz]

Considering how much trouble bad drum bearings are on a chipper, I would feed it the EXACT grease it wants and find the compromise with the rest of the gear.

There is only 3 types of grease they dont like. To much, to little and the wrong sort.

 

[IceHole]

October 23 is when the new branding came out. Something about combining the Texaco and Delo branding.

They told us it's so old grease is removed from possible sale.
They've done it several times, same with some of the other oils.

It's real fun getting a customer "we got this last keg not long ago" and it's a name no one had heard of.

To me that means maybe a year or two tops, not 1995.
I usually ask the lubes rainman Bill P. He's forgotten more than I'll ever learn.

Reminds me of when Bill called the Chevron info line and they said they needed to check with an "engineer". The other line starts ringing and it's the info line person looking for Bill to get help.

 

[IceHole]

Humans don't belong anywhere it's 110° . . .

Some say the same when it's -50*. The rest of us are dealing with it questioning if the paycheck is really worth it

 

[IceHole]

I have moved away from the 5% moly in favor of 3% moly/lithium complex with a synthetic base stock. The 5% moly calcium-based I was using was not favorable to the limited movement pins in my scrapers. I think it was working ok in the excavator, other than under 50° you couldn't hardly pump the stuff.
On the O.P. smaller machines I'd be willing to say the 3% will be just fine, I think as long as he greased every 6-8 hours any lithium complex would be more than adequate, those smaller pins and bushings are going to wear out no matter what grease he uses.

I helped in the shop at a street sweeping job after the season was done and found tubes of grease easily 20 years old. Boss said he got a couple boxes when he took over 3 or 4 years prior and it seemed to last a long time. "mechanic" was supposed to be greasing about 12 sweepers at least weekly.

Went through bearings to the point they were buying a pallet load every season. Just figured it was the dirt and not from someone not doing their job.

Can't imagine how many thousands of $$ wasted due to a couple hundred $$ of grease not used.

 

[Simo_Hayha]

Grease is cheap. Bearings aren’t.

3% moly for pumpability.
5% moly calcium for water resistance.
Lithium complex? Works just fine if you stay on top of it.

Too much, too little, wrong type; that’s what kills machines. Not "bad conditions."

Seen too many parts trashed over a $5 tube of grease.

 

[HarleyHappy]

When I worked at the sawmill in Tennessee, you had good bearings for critical item and China bearings for non-critical.
If you greased the china bearings, they would die in 6 months.
As long as you put that little grease cap on the bearings at install, some are still going.

 

[Shimmy1]

If you greased the china bearings, they would die in 6 months.

Some of my farmer friends have figured out how to pop the seal out of sealed bearings. They claim some of the Chinese bearings have too much grease in them? I'm not sure how that's possible, but they've figured out the "right" amount of grease, and have decent luck with them. They said it's way more prevalent to find too much than too little.

 

[HarleyHappy]

I have popped apart the race on a few China bearings and it’s always a clear grease. It’s just for sawmill production there are China chains and bearings for conveyors and such but the edger and bullsaw get a good bearing like Skaff or Moog and the chains are always Morse.
We tried USA Diamond chains on the bull saw and they didn’t last 3 weeks.
Sawdust and water is hard on stuff.
UHMW is great for slides and wear strips.
Great deals are A coming.
Just noticed the drive chains on this Scat Trak are Diamond as I had to cut a link to get the drive motor out.
Can’t find an 80 Morse full link.

 

[LCA078]

Some of my farmer friends have figured out how to pop the seal out of sealed bearings

Another trick is to drill a very small hole through the plastic shield of a sealed bearing and add a little grease to it through a syringe. A lot of the belt idlers and belt tensioners on automotive and truck motors are just pressed in sealed bearings that after a decade or so start to make that ever so familiar squeaky noise because they dry out. Instead of buying a whole new idler or pulley or even trying to replace the bearing, just squirt in a cc or two of good grease. To reseal the hole, just use a soldering iron to "smear" the hole closed. Or just use a piece of tape or even leave it open if it's fairly protected. Either way you'd be surprised how good it works....if you catch the bearing early enough.

 

[PBEtrucking]

Mystik JT6 would meet the NLGI 2 specs that bandit requires and actually has better water compatibility than some marine greases, that's my go to for one stop shop greases in my fleet, switched from shell Gadus s3 and Lucas red n tacky. $54 a case online. Used to work at a tree service company with 21xps and 18xps, trust me the right grease makes a difference

 

[Coaldust]

Mystik JT6 is good stuff. I wish it was more widely available in my area, but it’s easy to order.

 

[Shimmy1]

Mystik JT6 is good stuff. I wish it was more widely available in my area, but it’s easy to order.

I read this, and struggle with it. Mystic has always and forever been the Tractor Supply house brand. If their hydraulic oil is ****, how can their grease be so good?

 

[Coaldust]

I read this, and struggle with it. Mystic has always and forever been the Tractor Supply house brand. If their hydraulic oil is ****, how can their grease be so good?

I could understand your hesitation. Mystik is the most widely distributed, top shelf grease on the market. There are other grease products that have higher market share, but are lower tier products. It’s way more expensive to test a grease vs a motor oil. That’s why it’s difficult to find good spec sheets that are more than advertising.

The current president of ILMA - independent lubricants manufacturers association - is a nice lady. Whom, I heard through the grapevine is close to the lady that does the lubricant purchasing for TSC, whom has close ties to the lubricant industry. Maybe that explains why TSC has had a long term relationship with the Mystik brand.

Kind of like Walmart moving more Mobile 1 than any other distributor, despite being a discount chain.

But, IDK? I’m just a dirty old, alcoholic, rabbit breeder with a side hustle in the petrochemical biz.

 

[MG84]

I run the grey 3-5% moly grease on my construction equipment (backhoe, excavator, skid steers, dozer, etc) and run the red/tacky grease on all my farm equipment, truck chassis, and other lower stress applications. That said, if I have a grease gun handy and something needs grease, it gets whatever is in it. I truly believe frequency is more important than quality when it comes to grease. I do try to stick to the name brands however, our local farm store usually has either Phillips 66, Chevron, or Mystick.

 

[IceHole]

Each brand will claim theirs is the best.

Best is subjective and hard to prove.

Chevron pushes that the Starplex HD2, aka Delo ESI 2, aka Delo Grease EP 2 is a great "universal" grease. Mostly straying from that for pins/bushings to a 3 or 5% moly.

Ultra Duty is the most common one used that I see and Starplex Syn 1.5 (Ultiplex Syn).. that one more so because it handles -60* well.

One customer swears by Black Pearl (Delo Extreme)

I'm just mentioning Chevron as I'm the most familiar with it. P66 Omniguard is another one customer uses though.