Bar oil for PTO lubrication?

[Tricresyl Phosphate]

G'day fellow BITOG freaks! First time poster, very, very long time reader.

I have a question regarding the lubrication of a lawn mower PTO shaft. Generally it's got the dregs mixed up in an oil can: a little bit of this, little bit of that. The shaft has some slight wear and it does concern me slightly that it appears as all the oil has slung off after maybe ~15 minutes of mowing.

It's approaching time to refill said oil can and I'm wondering if bar oil isn't a good candidate for the job? Would the tackifiers in it make it a better choice than left over crankcase oils?

I've attached a picture of the setup. Engine ---> pinned clutch half ---> bolted clutch half with oil point ---> red material washer ---> brass bushing with oil point ---> PTO shaft with black protective boot ---> bearing housing with oil point.

I'm not overly familiar with the chemistry of bar oils to know if they're the right fluid for the job. My saws run around 11,000rpm and the GX100 on the tops out around 3600rpm. I've tried searching but I've not come across a previous post from someone with a similar use case. MolaKule did have some interesting posts that derailed my search somewhat, however!

Let me know if I'm barking up the wrong tree. User manual is non-existent. The company is no more and this mower, although rebuilt by me five years ago, would more than likely refer to Vietnam as a war, and not a country!

Many thanks for your thoughts.

 

[wpod]

Is that a over running clutch?

 

[ctechbob]

I sort of wonder if you couldn't tap those holes, thread in a zerk and use grease?

 

[andyd]

Check oil level before every use. Top off as necessary. Bar oil is/ was 30w with a 'tackifier' Whatever that is. I had a serious leak, blow by, etc that was caused by a plugged pcv going into the carb vent. It is a favorite old mower and I like to fix stuff. It is a 40 yr old Suzuki OHV Parts are unobtanium. Luckily, I found a donor and fixed the issue after a look at a parts diagram where 90% of parts were NA.

 

[Tricresyl Phosphate]

Is that a over running clutch?

Hello wpod, no, 1:1. Friction material is cork! The little cone will move outward when you shift the lever over, engaging the clutch.

I sort of wonder if you couldn't tap those holes, thread in a zerk and use grease?

G'day ctechbob. I've half wondered the same. I'm not super game to tap the clutch as it's cast iron and cast iron ones are NLA. Even then, I couldn't think of a grease that would hang on at ~3,000RPM. I'm certainly not a grease know all, however. Maybe I'll trawl through the requisite forums for information.

Check oil level before every use. Top off as necessary. Bar oil is/ was 30w with a 'tackifier' Whatever that is. I had a serious leak, blow by, etc that was caused by a plugged pcv going into the carb vent. It is a favorite old mower and I like to fix stuff. It is a 40 yr old Suzuki OHV Parts are unobtanium. Luckily, I found a donor and fixed the issue after a look at a parts diagram where 90% of parts were NA.

I did not know the weight of bar oil, thanks andyd. I have some Stihl SynthPlus and BioPlus on hand. Surely it can't hurt the PTO.

Funny you mention Suzuki engines - I have a 125cc two stroke of theirs that is a monster. Sounds like no other 2T motor. Thing has an incredibly complicated Mikuni carb that I suspect is partially blocked. It's on the to fix list, but with a kid now it's not looking like I'm getting around to it anytime soon.