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If I added a grease fitting to the gear box on an MTD self propelled lawnmower what lubricant should I add?


My last self propelled the gear box was dry when I took it apart for a postmortem inspection so thought I would be proactive.

I would say a good lithium grease.

If you do this please share just where you placed this grease zerk. And how well it works.

possum said:

If you do this please share just where you placed this grease zerk. And how well it works.

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I would recommend top of trans and drill hole in deck above trans for easy access

I wonder if you might cause more damage in the long run by pumping more grease into it everyonce in awhile? I imagine that what ever seals are in it are designed to keep the grease in and dirt out, where as something that is made to be greased by a grease gun everyonce in awhile uses seals that are designed to allow grease to out, but keep dirt out. If your forcing grease out past seals that aren't designed for that, will it damage the seals and allow dirt to get in? I'm probably just over thinking it though.

afoulk said:

I wonder if you might cause more damage in the long run by pumping more grease into it everyonce in awhile? I imagine that what ever seals are in it are designed to keep the grease in and dirt out, where as something that is made to be greased by a grease gun everyonce in awhile uses seals that are designed to allow grease to out, but keep dirt out. If your forcing grease out past seals that aren't designed for that, will it damage the seals and allow dirt to get in? I'm probably just over thinking it though.

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If you don't ooze the grease past the seals and overfill he should be fine. Make sure the zerk is installed correctly it shouldn't let dirt in I want pictures

exotion said:

If you don't ooze the grease past the seals and overfill he should be fine. Make sure the zerk is installed correctly it shouldn't let dirt in I want pictures

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True, but my thinking was, if it was packed full of grease from new, and non has leaked out, pumping new grease in there has to displace the old stuff somewhere.

I have somewhat the same situation but with one of my ATV's. The rear drive bearing would keep going bad. What I did was removed the bearing inner seals and installed a grease fitting. Yes once the rear gears are full of grease it will push the old grease pass the seals. What I have been doing is about once a year pump in some new grease and just clean up the old grease. Since I have been doing this I haven't had a bearing go bad. Now you really can't compare a mower and a ATV because the ATV is running in a lot of water and mud, but it would keep things well lubricated and I really don't think you would need to keep pumping grease into the gear case once it is full on a lawn mower other then just a pump or two every two or three years.

As I was giving it some thought if you are going to add grease to the drive. What I would use is Lubriplate #105. Its a soft bodied grease which provide a smooth anti-wear coating and this is a type of grease you wouldn't have to add to after once its in the gear case. So then you wouldn't have to worry about blowing out the seals.