Riding mower with non bearing front wheels

[JHZR2]

Our 29-30 year old aliens rider at our mountain home needed a new tire inner tube. When the wheel was off we looked at the grease in the wheel. Essentially the wheel fits on a spindle, is held on with a cotter pin, and just turns on the grease packed in there loose (no tight caps on either end). No bearings. All the metal parts looked great, only one face on one part had a noticeable wear ridge.

The home is wooded, so it only has 3/4 acre of mowable terrain. It's rather hilly.

I figure if we now on average at 4mph (probably is faster), it's about 6mi per mow. Do that about 15 times a year, so we're at 90 miles/yr, or 2500-3000 miles on the mower.

We squeeze a bit of grease in now and again, but with the wheel off, I cleaned out a lot of the old stuff and added Mystik JT-6, as its what we had on hand. I'm thinking its not the right stuff, and a high moly grease needs to be used.

For a rotating load, really low speed, and purely metal on metal without bearings, what's the barest product to use?

We only now when it's dry, and the mower is kept out of the elements, so washout is not an issue. Not sure if a tacky grease is really necessary. The wheel has a zerk in it, and the center inner section has a "reservoir" for grease. Adding more makes it squeeze out both ends.

Thanks for recommendations.

 

[sciphi]

It's that alien magic keeping it alive!

What with all the different JT-6 formulas (happened to Google it), likely it's somewhat close to the right stuff anyhow. With this application as long as there's something grease-like in there it's very likely fine. I used Valvoline Ford/Lincoln/Mercury wheel bearing grease on all the grease points on my riding mower. Seems to work.

 

[AMC]

JT-6 should be fine for that application. Anything E.P. (which JT-6 is) rated should work for a slow moving, moderate load, non roller bearing system. If it was critical lube point, it would be a sealed environment and come with a recommendation in the owners manual.

 

[SZR48207]

Have you checked if there is a replacement wheel that has bearings? Riding mowers seem to have more options when it comes to swapping out parts.

 

[Kuato]

Low speed and low mileage = low requirement for lubrication. Grease it once and awhile and don't worry....when something wears out then retool the inside of the wheel and use a bearing. Otherwise drive on...

 

[Pop_Rivit]

It's a 3 decade old mower that doesn't see high speed, nor does it see a lot of weight. Just use any "barest" grease and those old "aliens" will be happy.

 

[JHZR2]

Lol...thanks. Yep, good old spell check for "Ariens" and "best"... I get the first one but not the second.

JT-6 it is. Keeps things simple as we really don't do much greasing there and another tube of stuff would last decades.

Thanks!

Edit: and "now" for "mow". I think I'm going to turn autocorrect off

 

[Kamele0N]

Any sticky/tacky grease.....calcium/lithium...lithium thickener...