MrSteele Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 I am considering replacing the gear oil in my 65 Landlord transmission with 00 EP grease, a semi liquid, high lithium soap content material, recommended for Snapper rear engine riders, and many newer model bush hog tractor PTO driven cutter gearboxes. Those gearboxes are famous for leaking as most folks use them to cut things they were not designed for like small trees, that ruins the seals by hard jolts on the shafts. Ruined seals equals leaks and constant addition of gear oils. 00 EP grease simply stays in due to the semi liquid nature. I have talked to grease manufacturers, equipment companies, and rebuilt several Snappers. Granted, the Snapper is a chain drive,and the seals are in name only, basically a dust shield instead of designed to hold lube in. The 00 stays where it is designed to stay, inside to lube the chains and sprockets.00, with EP (extreme pressure) additives is designed for gear boxes, such as transmissions, the bush hog, etc. I rebuilt a Troy Bilt tiller this year and put 00 in it. The Troy bilt purists told me that it would not work, but could not say why, or even give a good argument. 00, with its high lithium content is slippery, the EP additives are there to provide lube on the gear teeth under operating conditions. Has anyone tried it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talntedmrgreen Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 No, but I have seen many gearboxes over the years that were stuffed with (unknown) grease for this very issue. Powermax snowblowers are infamous for being a pain, and users commonly added a zerk and pumped them full of grease. Your option seems legitimate to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSteele Posted September 8, 2020 Author Share Posted September 8, 2020 9 minutes ago, Talntedmrgreen said: No, but I have seen many gearboxes over the years that were stuffed with (unknown) grease for this very issue. Powermax snowblowers are infamous for being a pain, and users commonly added a zerk and pumped them full of grease. Your option seems legitimate to me. 00 EP, corn head grease by John Deere. JD sells it in tubes for a grease gun, but pumping is a bit awkward in most grease guns, it is simply too liquid. It is also packaged in quarts from several folks. I got mine from Napa for the troy bilt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tadams Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 I just bought some to put in my troy bilt, glad to hear that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwt Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 8 hours ago, MrSteele said: 00 EP, corn head grease by John Deere. JD sells it in tubes for a grease gun, but pumping is a bit awkward in most grease guns, it is simply too liquid. Oh man. I got to get me some of this. Maybe it could free up a couple of tight bearing surfaces without disassembly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSteele Posted September 9, 2020 Author Share Posted September 9, 2020 13 hours ago, kwt said: Oh man. I got to get me some of this. Maybe it could free up a couple of tight bearing surfaces without disassembly. Not sure of that application, but, basically it stays where it is put, does not leak, but is liquid enough to flow Prime Lines ells in quarts, part # 7-06612. It is available at NAPA (where I got mine) but I just ordered some from a local auto parts store for $9 ish a quart. NAPA is around $8 a quart. Also available at Tractor Supply, Stens $20 plus a quart..Corn head grease from JD is about $4.50 per standard grease tube size. It does not flow like gear oil. Think molasses in Siberia in January for consistency, but slippery beyond belief! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAC Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 (edited) I'd be a little worried it won't lube the upper shafts and bearings like it ought to, especially when cold. Might shift pretty stiff in the cold too. Keep in mind that corn head, bush hog, tiller and similar gear boxes don't have sliding gears or needle bearings (or bushings). Most also use larger more open roller or ball type bearings that thick lube can get into. That being said it sounds like the ticket for my tedder gear boxes. Edited September 9, 2020 by RAC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSteele Posted September 9, 2020 Author Share Posted September 9, 2020 4 hours ago, RAC said: I'd be a little worried it won't lube the upper shafts and bearings like it ought to, especially when cold. Might shift pretty stiff in the cold too. Keep in mind that corn head, bush hog, tiller and similar gear boxes don't have sliding gears or needle bearings (or bushings). Most also use larger more open roller or ball type bearings that thick lube can get into. The transmissions, on the uppers, depend on splashed grease. The 00 should be thrown onto those gears and slip into the bearings, at heat, the same as a liquid oil. 85w90 is relatively new compared to the 90 wt or 140 wt, single weight at the time the tractors were introduced, similar to the 30 wt oils used in the old engines with splash lubrication, versus the later 10w40, that have been replaced with 0w20 or? Lubrication design specs have changed. I still run 30wt oil in my engine, simply because I do not think that the tolerances are close enough for the synthetics. Perhaps a build with a set of rod bearings with a .0005" fabricated to fit a crank with the same tolerance might require a synthetic of 0w20? 00 has been around since the Snapper chain drive was invented. It greased a chain and sprocket with dip lubrication. It was also thrown against the inside of the housing, allowed to drip back onto the chain for lubrication of the chain and sprocket. I tried 140 in a Snapper housing, added constantly. Use the machine to cut a half acre yard, add oil each time. Found the spec, used 00, have not added in several years. The lower gears should bring the lube to the uppers via splash lubrication, just as the 85w90 does? Going to make the attempt, I think. I am checking now, with a lubrication engineer for the LTL, or, the lower temperature limit on the 00, to find viscosity at??low temperature. I do not intend to use it if that limit is 20 degrees or aboveor if it would take a comalong to shift the gears at start up 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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