00 grease in my brush mower

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May 7, 2018
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Northern KY
I decided my field needed a trim yesterday so I started my tractor which still had the 5' King Kutter brush mower attached from last fall. I greased the PTO shaft and remembered to check the gearbox oil before mowing. It's a good thing I did because it was empty. All the gear oil had drained out over the winter. I couldn't find a replacement seal locally so I decided to attempt a fix that a lot of people apparently do when their oil seals fail, which is to fill the gearbox with 00 grease. Tractor Supply has cotton picker spindle grease for
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/super-s-cotton-picker-spindle-grease-00?cm_vc=-10005


I mowed an acre with the grease and the gearbox was still cool enough to touch. So far, so good.

511632D8-9701-4164-8FF2-045C3C026637.jpeg
 
Rotary cutters don't get too warm. They're slow spinning unlike a finishing mower.

I'd not run the machine until the seal is fixed. Grease isn't gear oil.
 
Originally Posted by dlundblad
Rotary cutters don't get too warm. They're slow spinning unlike a finishing mower.

I'd not run the machine until the seal is fixed. Grease isn't gear oil.


Apparently King Kutter is shipping them filled with 000 grease now. It's not gear oil, but it's not really what you typically think of as a "grease" either.
 
Originally Posted by dlundblad
Rotary cutters don't get too warm. They're slow spinning unlike a finishing mower.

I'd not run the machine until the seal is fixed. Grease isn't gear oil.

It is a temporary fix, I doubt the grease is going to find its way into the tiny openings of a bearing to fully lubricate it very well. I am more in favor of a home made mix of gear oil and grease.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by Lubener
Originally Posted by dlundblad
Rotary cutters don't get too warm. They're slow spinning unlike a finishing mower.

I'd not run the machine until the seal is fixed. Grease isn't gear oil.

It is a temporary fix, I doubt the grease is going to find its way into the tiny openings of a bearing to fully lubricate it very well. I am more in favor of a home made mix of gear oil and grease.


Wheel bearings in trailers go thousands of miles after being packed with a thick grease. I would think a flowable grease would do an even better job of getting into bearings than a thick one once the bearing has spun a few thousand times and slung out some of the packing.

When I opened the check plug after mowing a while (but after it had cooled down to ambient temperature) the 00 grease flowed out easily.
 
Originally Posted by Elkins45
Originally Posted by Lubener
Originally Posted by dlundblad
Rotary cutters don't get too warm. They're slow spinning unlike a finishing mower.

I'd not run the machine until the seal is fixed. Grease isn't gear oil.

It is a temporary fix, I doubt the grease is going to find its way into the tiny openings of a bearing to fully lubricate it very well. I am more in favor of a home made mix of gear oil and grease.


Wheel bearings in trailers go thousands of miles after being packed with a thick grease. I would think a flowable grease would do an even better job of getting into bearings than a thick one once the bearing has spun a few thousand times and slung out some of the packing.

When I opened the check plug after mowing a while (but after it had cooled down to ambient temperature) the 00 grease flowed out easily.


I like your thinking, but wheel bearings are packed by hand or pumped in with a grease fitting and some decent pressure. A gear box would be poured in. At first, no I do no think the grease was contacting everything until things stirred and warmed up.

After use, it is good to see it poured out though.
 
Originally Posted by dlundblad
Originally Posted by Elkins45
Originally Posted by Lubener
Originally Posted by dlundblad
Rotary cutters don't get too warm. They're slow spinning unlike a finishing mower.

I'd not run the machine until the seal is fixed. Grease isn't gear oil.

It is a temporary fix, I doubt the grease is going to find its way into the tiny openings of a bearing to fully lubricate it very well. I am more in favor of a home made mix of gear oil and grease.


Wheel bearings in trailers go thousands of miles after being packed with a thick grease. I would think a flowable grease would do an even better job of getting into bearings than a thick one once the bearing has spun a few thousand times and slung out some of the packing.

When I opened the check plug after mowing a while (but after it had cooled down to ambient temperature) the 00 grease flowed out easily.


I like your thinking, but wheel bearings are packed by hand or pumped in with a grease fitting and some decent pressure. A gear box would be poured in. At first, no I do no think the grease was contacting everything until things stirred and warmed up.

After use, it is good to see it poured out though.


It didn't start out completely dry. I started just pouring in some gear oil but when I had added half the bottle and it still wasn't full I decided to investigate. That's when I discovered the stump jumper was sloshing with oil. I drained most of the oil back out when I tilted it to remove the blades and tighten up the mounting bolts, but the bearings were definitely still wet when I started using it.

I'm thinking this stuff would be the perfect lube for fishing reels.
 
Originally Posted by dlundblad
Rotary cutters don't get too warm. They're slow spinning unlike a finishing mower.

I'd not run the machine until the seal is fixed. Grease isn't gear oil.


They do get warm. Very warm. A lot of power is transmitted and they take a beating. These thin greases are specifically meant for gearboxes.
 
00 grease will work fine. I use that in my Gravely walkbehind tractor's 30" brush hog gearbox, and several older Ariens snowblowers without issue. John Deere Cornhead grease also works great in this application.
 
Originally Posted by jhellwig
Originally Posted by dlundblad
Rotary cutters don't get too warm. They're slow spinning unlike a finishing mower.

I'd not run the machine until the seal is fixed. Grease isn't gear oil.


They do get warm. Very warm. A lot of power is transmitted and they take a beating. These thin greases are specifically meant for gearboxes.

My gear box on my Ford five foot brush hog only gets luke warm after mowing five acres with waist high grass. It never got hot.
 
Originally Posted by Lubener
Originally Posted by jhellwig
Originally Posted by dlundblad
Rotary cutters don't get too warm. They're slow spinning unlike a finishing mower.

I'd not run the machine until the seal is fixed. Grease isn't gear oil.


They do get warm. Very warm. A lot of power is transmitted and they take a beating. These thin greases are specifically meant for gearboxes.

My gear box on my Ford five foot brush hog only gets luke warm after mowing five acres with waist high grass. It never got hot.


I should've been more clear, but yes a rotary cutter box will not reach temperatures as high as an equivalent finishing mower. They aren't geared the same.
 
I think I remember hearing,if you are going to use grease to lubricate a gearbox,to drill a small hole in the fill plug top and puy a slightly smaller diameter cotter key in it.It will allow the gearbox to Have a vent system.
 
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