To Grease OR Not To Grease?

[Sawyer Rob]

"That" is the question???

SR

 

[UpOnTheHill]

I would

 

[cat-face timber]

I would as well
There is a reason that that Zerk fitting is there.

Same as a bar tip.
There is a reason.

 

[philoshop]

The zerk is there, so they apparently recommend it. Maybe try a little to see how big a mess it makes?
Other than rust prevention I just don't see the need for grease on a splitter beam: thick pieces of steel moving relatively slowly against each other. I've been known to be wrong on occasion, though.
Might be interesting to ask the manufacturer what their intent is.

 

[haveawoody]

Nothing wrong with lubrication on slow moving things.
Sometimes things can't even get done without it LOL

 

[farmer steve]

1 or 2 pumps of the grease gun every now and then. like ^^^^they said .it's there for a reason.bought a tsc lawn mower on clearance several years ago. read the manual,greased everything it told me to. bearings went out on the spindles. mower guy says did you grease them? nope never read it in the book.(it wasn't in the book) still have a hard time finding them zerksand i know where they are.

 

[Red Elm]

Well I've been on the farm and around machinery all my life, and I am a huge fan of grease, but I DO NOT grease the splitter beam. Why, the fastest way to make a wood customers wife REALLY mad is for her to figure out the grease stains on her clothes is coming from your firewood.

My splitter is a 1998 which has kept 4 households in firewood and a fair amount of firewood business and I dont see any excessive wear on the beam rails.

One other thought is this. The grease can actually hold the dirt sand and debris and cause more wear. Dont know if thats true or not, but a leather flat belt will wear out a steel pulley because the leather is softer and the dust and dirt embeds in it and wears the pulley like sandpaper.

 

[reaperman]

Before every splitting session, I dump some used oil on the top of the beam and run the ram in and out a couple of times. Too much wood debris sticks to the grease otherwise, especially where the ram retracts.

 

[Fred Wright]

Agreed... grease on the I-bar holds dirt and debris. The grease gets hard and you've got a mess. Graphite is better.

 

[gulity1]

HMMM. Grease no grease that's a good question. it does have a zerk I would grease it just to keep it happy if turns into a mess then no but other wise go for it. I do agree with you there most certainly.. but if its moving it needs luberication I am a diesel mechanic on car haulers. We lube our posts,sliders, anything that moves with #1 slip plate from a gallon can its graphite in a paint on form dries pretty quick 15-40 mins?? Its tough as nails some trucks only done once every 6 months and we go in all enviorments: cold, hot, rain, snow, sleet, you name it, 49 states, Canada, Mexico, Purto Rico We are everywhere. How often depends on use and weather conditions etc. Our shop likes to do it ever PM which is 20,000 miles and after a while it does seem to build up in areas that don't see heavy use. it don't rust under it IF its been properly sealed, painted etc. Our owner also went to all sythenic lubericats oil gear lube grease everything -- not cheap stuff either he claims that after switching the trucks see an average of about .2 MPG fuel savings IDk but he pays the bills and we have been it using the stuff for 7 years now..so I guess it works..don't really care

 

[Steve NW WI]

No way I'd grease an area that inherently dirty. You're just creating sandpaper there.

 

[turnkey4099]

My TroyBilt says to oil the beam with motor oil. I do. Have an oil can mounted right on the machine and give the slide a couple shots before I start each session. As for it getting on the wood? Can't say that I have ever seen enough to be visible. Same with my old home built. I would give the slide a couplt shots of grease every use. Again never noticed any on the wood - had to have been there but totally unseen.

Grease tip of bar? Not anymore. Seems all the Stihl bars doen't even have a grease port. Used to grease the old ones, finally quit doing that and never noticed any shortening of service life.

Harry K

 

[Joesell]

"That" is the question???

SR

I have a sticker just like that on my splitter. After reading the current threads on the subject I really looked it over yesterday. I didn't notice any grease on the beam or on anything else for that matter.

So I put a few more pumps in each zerk. I figure the manufacturer probably knows what's best for their machine. Unless it's part of some crazy plot to wear the beam down so I have to buy another splitter!

 

[gulity1]

Joesell or anyone else for that mater if you want any of this slip plate-graphite paint stuff im talkinv about id be willing to send you if u wanted it? PM me if you would like some

 

[Whitespider]

If the push plate is set up properly there shouldn't be any need for lubrication... there shouldn't be any bind or friction between the slide and beam.
My splitter uses a small diameter floating/swiveling push plate that keeps all the force directly in line with the ram... even on angle-cut rounds.
Near always, when it's pushing a log, the slide is loose and rattling on the beam... equaling zero bind and friction.

 

[greendohn]

I've mixed ideas on the grease and holding abrasives theory. Grease will hold dirt, trash, etc..fresh grease will(should) push that out,,if using grease is making a mess of things, I would steer clear, grease is hard to clean out of clothes, off driveways,,a clump on yer' shoe and drug into the house would bring misery.
If the grease is gonna' be where it aint gonna' see lots of dirt and sech and won't make a mess of things, I'd use some grease, especially if the moving parts are under really tight tolerances.(close/rubbing)
The wedge on my splitter is loose enough I wouldn't ever worry about any lube.

 

[Coldfront]

Not

 

[nathon918]

WOW!
i had no idea everyone was so afraid to get a lttle dirt or grease on them... do you guys split wood in your "sunday's best" or what??????
i know when i split wood im 99.9999% sure it might just possibly, maybe get me dirtier than i was when i started.......

 

[KenJax Tree]

I could only imagine if we ignored all the zerks on our chippers. I don't recall ever wearing anything out from grease.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[nathon918]

WOW!
i had no idea everyone was so afraid to get a lttle dirt or grease on them... do you guys split wood in your "sunday's best" or what??????
i know when i split wood im 99.9999% sure it might just possibly, maybe get me dirtier than i was when i started.......

I could only imagine if we ignored all the zerks on our chippers. I don't recall ever wearing anything out from grease.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

how about loader/excavator arm/bucket pivot points, those see a hell of alot more dirt than a splitter, yet no one would argure weather or not to grease them, and those move much slower than a splitter slide....