To Grease OR Not To Grease?

[Dale]

a clump on yer' shoe and drug into the house would bring misery.

BULL PUCKEY !!! I'll show 'em who wears the pants in my house, (looks over left shoulder ). I'll show y'all who commandeers the ship in my world, (looks over right shoulder) .

 

[rancher2]

We build two log splitters 30 years ago and one pushed the wedge no grease points and the other had the wedge on the beam with grease points on the pusher I broke the one that pushed the wedge last fall I couldn't believe how worn the slid was that hadn't been greased. Took the one apart that had been greased and the slid and beam still measure new. I thought the same when we build them I don't want grease all over me. Like cutting and splitting wood is CLEAN. I wood say grease it.

 

[Whitespider]

i had no idea everyone was so afraid to get a lttle dirt or grease on them...

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

First, I doubt anyone is "afraid" to get grease on themselves... but unnecessarily getting used, filthy grease on clothes is silly, it don't wash out. Near everything else associated with making firewood will wash out. Having dirty grease smeared along the full length of the open beam just flat means you're gonna' lean up against it at some point... it-is-what-it-is. It's also gonna' get on the wood being split... the same wood you might be handling next month with with you're not-so-grubby clothes on.

Second, I seriously doubt the grease zerks on a slide are there for reducing wear. Rather the grease is for reducing bind and friction when the slide "cocks" under pressure, which would rob power from the machine... and even that's debatable, the sort of pressure required to "cock" the slide would only be for a moment, not the full length of travel (under normal use anyway).

And loader/excavator arm/bucket pivot points are under extreme pressure during most times of motion... even moving slowly the metal would gall without some sort of lubrication... apples to oranges.

Greasing the slide certainly won't hurt anything... but, then again, not greasing likely won't either. In my mind, using dry lubes such as graphite is just a waste of dry lube... they're near worthless under pressure (like when the slide "cocks"), which is really the only time lube would be of any mechanical benefit.

But hey... (shrug)... what do I know?? I'm just a hick back-yard engineer that dropped out'a high school.
*

 

[Whitespider]

We build two log splitters 30 years ago and one pushed the wedge no grease points and the other had the wedge on the beam with grease points on the pusher I broke the one that pushed the wedge last fall I couldn't believe how worn the slid was that hadn't been greased. Took the one apart that had been greased and the slid and beam still measure new.

OK... my splitter is also over thirty years old. It uses aluminum alloy guides on the slide, it's never been greased, and there ain't any visible wear on the guides.
So was it the lack of grease that caused one of yours to wear more than the other?? Or was it the set-up (like placement of the wedge)?? Or was it something else??
Unless the two were identical in build, and used identically over the years... you can only guess that the grease reduced wear... only guess.
Heck, one could have been built with softer or harder steel, or with the ram not perfectly aligned.
The spindle pivots on my old JD lawn tractor were always greased regular, but the right side wore-out at about 12 years of use and I had to replace it... the left side is now over 20 years old and still tight as new, the right side is sloppy again. Both have always been greased, yet the right side wears-out and the left don't. Why?? Well, I'm quessin' it's because I mow my yard counterclockwise (meaning near 95% left hand turns) which puts more pressure (a lot more) on the right hand (outboard in the turn) spindle.

Yeah, maybe one splitter beam and slide wore more because of no grease... but then again, how can you know for sure if they ain't set-up identically?? See, ya' flat can't know.
*

 

[nathon918]

Second, I seriously doubt the grease zerks on a slide are there for reducing wear. Rather the grease is for reducing bind and friction when the slide "cocks" under pressure, which would rob power from the machine... and even that's debatable, the sort of pressure required to "cock" the slide would only be for a moment, not the full length of travel (under normal use anyway).

id have to disagree with ya on this (for the most part)
now your thought is based on your splitter design which is pretty unique... now im not 100% sure but it looks like there is no pivot where your cylinder rod attaches to the slide? also having the contact point of the pusher always centered on the cylinder keeps everything "in line" for the most part, which keeps most forces on the slide to a minium, but doing that and having too much slop in the slide can flex your cylinder rod, which presents another problem...

now "most" other splitters use some sort of pivot where the rod connects to the slide (crosstube,clevis,etc) along with a push plate, or wedge, where the force can be applied to the top/bottom/either side, which would "cock" the slide back/foward/or to the side since the pivot is usually on "center" and the load can be applied "off center" during the entire time splitting force is applied...

as for grease, i personally dont grease the top of my beam because theres alot of surface area to keep wear down, but i DO grease the underside of my beam because the small amount of surface area of the "keepers" can wear a "step" into the flange of the beam, which is why some splitters use a sacrificial piece of brass or UHMW between the keeper and the flange...

 

[nathon918]

filthy grease on clothes is silly, it don't wash out. Near everything else associated with making firewood will wash out

again.... are you guys wearing your "sunday's best" your going out EXPECTING to get dirty, most people with a brain, and especially someone as yourself with a "giant" one would think "hey. im going to get dirty, maybe i should wear something i dont mind getting dirty?" so who care if it washes out, im sure next time you go to split wood or something else not so clean your splitter aint going to care that your clothes have a stain....

 

[cantoo]

Just use food grade grease, it's a little more expensive but cleanup is easier. I work in a housing factory and because we walk on new carpet all day we use foodgrade on equipment that needs grease. No staining new carpet.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I wear old cloths when I work outside, if I get grease on my cloths, I rub a little Go-jo hand cleaner on the greasy spot, then wash as normal. The Go-jo really removes the grease. With old cloths it really doesn't matter though.

The day I start worrying about getting some grease on my cloths, is the day quit working outside!!

As for greasing the beam, you only need a light film on it, NOT gobs of grease that gets everyplace, and that's exactly what I'm doing with mine.

SR

 

[rancher2]

OK... my splitter is also over thirty years old. It uses aluminum alloy guides on the slide, it's never been greased, and there ain't any visible wear on the guides.
So was it the lack of grease that caused one of yours to wear more than the other?? Or was it the set-up (like placement of the wedge)?? Or was it something else??
Unless the two were identical in build, and used identically over the years... you can only guess that the grease reduced wear... only guess.
Heck, one could have been built with softer or harder steel, or with the ram not perfectly aligned.
The spindle pivots on my old JD lawn tractor were always greased regular, but the right side wore-out at about 12 years of use and I had to replace it... the left side is now over 20 years old and still tight as new, the right side is sloppy again. Both have always been greased, yet the right side wears-out and the left don't. Why?? Well, I'm quessin' it's because I mow my yard counterclockwise (meaning near 95% left hand turns) which puts more pressure (a lot more) on the right hand (outboard in the turn) spindle.

Yeah, maybe one splitter beam and slide wore more because of no grease... but then again, how can you know for sure if they ain't set-up identically?? See, ya' flat can't know.
*

It is like everything it is your choice. We put grease fittings on the one we fixed. We don't use a lot of grease. We will see in the next thirty years. LOL.

 

[Poston5]

First, I doubt anyone is "afraid" to get grease on themselves... but unnecessarily getting used, filthy grease on clothes is silly, it don't wash out. Near everything else associated with making firewood will wash out. Having dirty grease smeared along the full length of the open beam just flat means you're gonna' lean up against it at some point... it-is-what-it-is. It's also gonna' get on the wood being split... the same wood you might be handling next month with with you're not-so-grubby clothes on.

Second, I seriously doubt the grease zerks on a slide are there for reducing wear. Rather the grease is for reducing bind and friction when the slide "cocks" under pressure, which would rob power from the machine... and even that's debatable, the sort of pressure required to "cock" the slide would only be for a moment, not the full length of travel (under normal use anyway).

And loader/excavator arm/bucket pivot points are under extreme pressure during most times of motion... even moving slowly the metal would gall without some sort of lubrication... apples to oranges.

Greasing the slide certainly won't hurt anything... but, then again, not greasing likely won't either. In my mind, using dry lubes such as graphite is just a waste of dry lube... they're near worthless under pressure (like when the slide "cocks"), which is really the only time lube would be of any mechanical benefit.

But hey... (shrug)... what do I know?? I'm just a hick back-yard engineer that dropped out'a high school.
*

Pivot points on excavators are fixed points that have constant movement and extreme pressure. The beams surface area is much larger therefore much less wear. Greasing a splitter beam is like greasing the cutting edge of a dozer you just don't do it. We will all be dead before that I beam wears out.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Greasing a splitter beam is like greasing the cutting edge of a dozer you just don't do it. We will all be dead before that I beam wears out.

Apparently Timber Wolf "thinks" they know more about this than you do...

My splitter is getting a light film of grease on the edge of the beam, as grease is very cheap...

SR

 

[Poston5]

Apparently Timber Wolf "thinks" they know more about this than you do...

My splitter is getting a light film of grease on the edge of the beam, as grease is very cheap...

SR

For everybody that greases the beam make sure that you are also applying grease to the spliting wedge, you don't want it to wear out either. Ha just seems like a waste of time

 

[nathon918]

Pivot points on excavators are fixed points that have constant movement and extreme pressure. The beams surface area is much larger therefore much less wear. Greasing a splitter beam is like greasing the cutting edge of a dozer you just don't do it. We will all be dead before that I beam wears out.

the top side of the beam may have lots of surface area, but the keepers/guides dont ...
theres a reason why cutting edges get replaced, also why they are made from AR plate and NOT a mild steel... they typically are hard faced to also add to the wear life...
BTW the reason is because they DO wear out!

For everybody that greases the beam make sure that you are also applying grease to the spliting wedge, you don't want it to wear out either. Ha just seems like a waste of time

nope no need (with mine anyway) wedge is hard faced, ill never need to sharpen again,
wood on steel and steel on steel wear are no where near comparable

 

[steved]

Like I said in the other thread, I use lubriplate graphite spray on mine...it dries to a fairly hard film, its not sticky, seems to stick to the beam pretty well through several uses, and doesn't rub off like grease. Its used on sickle bar mowers, that see a similar environment. I get it at the local Tractor Supply Co.

I would think grease in that environment would just cause as much issue as it would solve.

 

[Deleted member 83629]

they put it there for a reason grease it.

 

[northmanlogging]

Grease it, more pressure there then you might think, and grease is for slow moving parts, if it was faster it would ask for oil, plus a bonus is that the grease will force whatever dirt that gets in out.

And don't forget to grease the pins on the hydraulic cylinder.

 

[esshup]

I wonder how the rockwell of the beam compares to the moving wedge/carrier? If I had my druthers, I'd opt for no grease and a harder beam then the carrier. Make replaceable wear pads on the carrier.

 

[muddstopper]

I usually just spray the beam with some chain/cable lube. Cyclone brand works best as it doesnt collect dirt

 

[firebrick43]

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....

Actually some excavators now are grease less, specifically ditchwitch. They use a special plastic bushings and seals on the pin. Works very well. Most other high quality excavators if greased use seals on the pins as well now to keep the dirt out of the pivot point. Also the older ones without seals recommended purging the joint daily with grease to flush out any dirt. If this was not done it would result in new pins and bushing with some frequency. Flushing dirty grease out of a log splitter would be somewhat of a challenge I would imagine. Of course most logs don't have the sand on them, probably depends on local. Around here its just clay.

 

[ponyexpress976]

Dropped a round on the zerks on my tw-6 about 4 years ago and snapped it off..........machine split a cord of nicely cut and stacked rounds in about 30 minutes yesterday.