Clogged grease joint on mower deck

[wheelwhores 107]

Hey guys I was just wondering if anybody had experience with what to do when one of the bearing shafts on the mower deck won't take Grease. the nipple is not clogged I pulled it off and grease moves fine from the gun through the nipple.  I've seen two methods on YouTube: one were they heat the area with a torch for a little bit...the other was using a grease joint rejuvenator which is basically a little pissed filled with light viscosity oil where the Piston is hammered down and it forces the oil into the grease fitting area forcing the old hard grease out through a plug...hopefully I'm speaking English on this..its is my first time servicing a mower deck.

[lynnmor 7,306]

If you can run a small drill bit down in the shaft with the grease fitting removed, that might fit it.  I wouldn't want to force clogs into bearings.

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,045]

Would this apply?

Garry

[skrusins 128]

Take to a service station and let them try with there air gun. Worth a try

[daveoman1966 3,752]

If your deck has DOUBLE SEALED bearings...too much hyd force of the greas gun will blow out the seals.  If the Zerk is clear then don't force it.  The old timers' saying "Grease em till they puke" doesn't always apply. 

[tunahead72 2,414]

@wheelwhores It would help to know what deck you're working on.  Check yours against the list in the link that Garry provided, the procedure described there might work for you.

 

 

[Pollack Pete 2,273]

8 hours ago, skrusins said:

Take to a service station and let them try with there air gun. Worth a try

Service stations still have grease guns???

[wheelwhores 107]

Unfortunately mine is a 48MS01 deck so not sure these apply but I'll give it a shot anyway.

[DCwom 78]

On 5/25/2020 at 9:47 PM, lynnmor said:

If you can run a small drill bit down in the shaft with the grease fitting removed, that might fit it.  I wouldn't want to force clogs into bearings.

 

I'm reviving this old thread because I seem to have a similar problem on my front steering grease fittings where the spindle meets the axle assemble, neither will take grease and I've replace both fitting to make sure its not the fitting. I tried using a drill bit to scrape inside the fitting opening and no grease, but I do get a little black grit on the end, where I suspect it hits the spindle shaft. I hit it with compressed air, but that didn't seem to dislodge anything. Right now its sitting and soaking with WD40, but I don't know if that will help. Any thoughts?

[wallfish 17,000]

Inside the axle it's actually wider than the top and bottom in order to leave some space for grease. Removing those spindles from the axle is fairly easy so maybe the grease in there has hardened.

Your grease gun works good on other spots?  I had a small cheapo before that would squish grease past the plunger more easily than it would out of the nozzle. Usually the pressure on the gun handle gets harder to move when the zerk is clogged. If it just feels the same all the time it's probably not creating enough pressure out.

Edited December 18, 2023 by wallfish

[lynnmor 7,306]

I would disassemble it as wallfish suggested and clean it properly.  Also, those two grease fittings plus the one in the center benefits from jacking up the tractor in a way that allows the front axle to hang free.