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so, I'm prepared for the "how can he not know this stuff?" head-shaking....but I'm going to put it out there.
I'm about 3 months in to a new Ferris ISX800 and a trailer to haul her around.
there's a lot of talk about lubrication and grease for the ZTR and I'd like to take care of it but it's my first....and I don't know.

manual says
"Use grease fittings when present. Disassemble parts to apply
grease to moving parts when grease fittings are not installed.
Not all greases are compatible. Grease (p/n 5022285) is a
Calcium Sulfonate EP NLGI #2 grease that is recommended
and available through your normal parts source. Lithium
Complex EP-2 NLGI #2 grease may be used if 5022285 is not
available."

This is great for fittings. I search for Calcium Sulfonate and got overwhelmed. Do you use it? Which one? I have seen dozens of threads on "which oil do you use for..." but....
then there's the grease gun. I don't own one (I'll get you're not surprised!). I will purchase when I can figure out which will be the best use-case for me.

And here's where I get super beginner on you....
"
Oil:
• control handle pivots
• seat plate pivots
• deck lift pivots
• discharge chute hinge
Generally, all moving metal parts should be oiled where
contact is made with other parts. Keep oil and grease off belts
and pulleys. Remember to wipe fittings and surfaces clean
both before and after lubrication."

What kind of oil is that? Is that something obvious like WD-40 or 3-in-1?
Sorry to ask such basic questions but I suppose everyone has to start somewhere.

If you have any questions about software or the industry, or about cave diving, fire away .
Steve

Best advice after half a century maintaining machines .... keep it simple.
Any grease is better than no grease and any "oil" will work for lubrication. Some sprays are easier and know that WD40 is a water displacement formula ........ not a good lubricant.

The general rule on grease is you cannot mix Urea base grease with Lithium base grease. And you can use any oil that is handy. So if you have a bottle of 30w or 10w30 or 10w40 or 15w40 or 20w50 or 5w30 it doesn't matter, use it.

As Sarge said.
Lithium spray grease with a spray straw applied liberally AFTER you have finished mowing and blown down the mower clean
That way the solvents used to spray the grease with will have all evaporated so will not collect dust in use.
I use lithium marine grease everywhere else because it has better weather resistance than most others greases,
Next best after that is High Tac farm grease, also Lithium
Calcium grease is generally used for food production and is a lot more expensive.
As for grease guns , because I use a lot of grease it is a McNaught mini-Lube which clips onto a 5lb ( 1 gallon ) can of grease most places and a Tricor dripless gun everywhere else because as the name says it does not drip.
Some have special ends so I can get them into tight places
So there are 3 McNaughts one each for Marine, LMM & bentinite greases and 5 tricors as 2 have 45 deg ends
The LMM is mostly used on chain saws and in manual gear boxes.

With engine oils the brand is nowhere near as important as how often & when you change it
Aircooled mower oils will of course be better than car oils but not if they are not changed and in particular at the end of the mowing season which for most people will be enough
So on your last mow of the season, drain the oil while the mower is cooling down & you are cleaning it then leave it full of nice clean fresh oil ove r winter .

1st: Did you do the early oil & filter change. Kawasaki recommends by 8 hours. Not sure what engine you have tho ?

So after the oil & filter change at end of each season, & oiling the pivot points & greasing the (zerks) fittings. (& deck underside cleaned out, & blades & belts inspected.)

Don't be shy to get the Wax out, a waxed mower will blow off much easier thru mow season, thus protecting yer investment. Also while doing this look at every nut & bolt to see that they are still there, & are good & tight. This gets you more familiar with your new baby. aka better to maintain it. & READ your owners manual.

My mower is up on car wheel-dolleys right now covered in wax..

Ask any questions you may have. So many here with super knowledge & skills, ready to help.

7394 said:

1st: Did you do the early oil & filter change. Kawasaki recommends by 8 hours. Not sure what engine you have tho ?

So after the oil & filter change at end of each season, & oiling the pivot points & greasing the (zerks) fittings. (& deck underside cleaned out, & blades & belts inspected.)

Don't be shy to get the Wax out, a waxed mower will blow off much easier thru mow season, thus protecting yer investment. Also while doing this look at every nut & bolt to see that they are still there, & are good & tight. This gets you more familiar with your new baby. aka better to maintain it. & READ your owners manual.

My mower is up on car wheel-dolleys right now covered in wax..

Ask any questions you may have. So many here with super knowledge & skills, ready to help.

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thank you all for the great info.

I do have a Kawasaki but did not do an early oil change. The manual does not suggest it - I checked.

This is great detail - thank you!
What kind of oil do you use for pivot points - is that simply a WD40?
the zerks I think they answered.
you're right, people are incredibly knowledgeable and I'm a complete complete newbie so very appreciative.

WD 40 is not a lubricant despite what it says on the side of the can
Use dry lithium spray grease , often called white grease or body grease.
Apply after you have blown down the parts to remove the dirt & dust.
Use the straw that comes with the can to force the spray into joints then leave the mower alone for a couple of hours till the solvent evaporates .
I go through a new can to every 2 to 3 services .

whodunit68 said:

you're right, people are incredibly knowledgeable and I'm a complete complete newbie so very appreciative.

Click to expand...

You're in the right place.. We all start from some point. I'm always open to learning new stuff. Some that don't ask & assume, well that is just not a good choice.

Which Kawasaki do you have ? How many hours on the meter ?

Hopefully you did end of season oil change at least.

bertsmobile1 said:

WD 40 is not a lubricant despite what it says on the side of the can
Use dry lithium spray grease , often called white grease or body grease.
Apply after you have blown down the parts to remove the dirt & dust.
Use the straw that comes with the can to force the spray into joints then leave the mower alone for a couple of hours till the solvent evaporates .
I go through a new can to every 2 to 3 services .

Click to expand...

huge thanks - perfectly broken down for the newbie (me).

7394 said:

You're in the right place.. We all start from some point. I'm always open to learning new stuff. Some that don't ask & assume, well that is just not a good choice.

Which Kawasaki do you have ? How many hours on the meter ?

Hopefully you did end of season oil change at least.

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my apologies for not responding sooner. The Kawasaki is an FT-730V EFI and it's got about 26 hours.

Appreciate the kind words....you know how it is when you jump into a place new with enthusiasts and I'm 53 but don't know a lick.

I haven't done end-of-season oil change yet as Kawasaki, the dealer, and the manual all say 100 hours for the first one. If that's not good direction, I'm open.

Rule of thumb
Do the first oil change as early as possible because he first few hour s will ave a lot of metal in there as the parts wear into each other.
Unless you are doing a lot of mowing then just do an annual oil change on the last mow of the season, immediately after mowing the grass so all of the heavy crud is in suspension so it will flow out rather than dropping to the bottom of the sump

whodunit68 said:

I haven't done end-of-season oil change yet as Kawasaki, the dealer, and the manual all say 100 hours for the first one. If that's not good direction, I'm open.

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I'm quite sure if you look in your Operators Manual in Section 7.1 "Maintenance" you will see the chart for 8 hour services recommended. Your Kawasaki owners manual will list the same. Which includes the early oil change. You really want to get that early oil out, as Bert posted.

I'm not trying to sell you anything, just offering free advice. Oil is the cheapest thing on an Engine. And getting it off to a good start is key to longevity.

whodunit68 said:

the dealer, and the manual all say 100 hours for the first one.

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Are you sure you are not looking @ the service hours for the Tranny (hydros)..

All of the Kawakasi engines I have sold had the first oil change at 30 hours
I do it labour free because I do a complete scheduled first service on the engine at the same time, checking all of the fasteners, valve lash rocker mounting bolts etc etc etc
Customer pays for oil & filter .

Bert- Then the Operators Manual & Kawasaki engine manual must both be wrong..

Here it is....

Kawasaki FT730V-EFI-English-Spanish.pdf states "Change oil every 100 hours." That's it.
I'm certainly not trying to fight a fight I'd lose but it's right there - twice....no matter how much experience one has, it's what it says. Is it right? Well I have no idea.

So they have dropped the first service for the USA market
The break in oil change is on the dealers warranty information & a dealer bulletin that came with the engines
For the price of 2 L of oil & a filter, not worth fighting about
You do what you want & I will do as I have always done.
Perhaps the assembly line has been upgraded so they no longer send out engines with loose rocker retaining bolts or perhaps they run the engines for more than 15 seconds on the production line .

I want to do what's right. That's why I started the thread in the first place. Unfortunately some started suggesting I can't read so I shared what is from them. That's all that's here.

I had started to look at ZTRs a few years ago and first oil change at i think it was 50 hours was included so I was surprised this time around that not one offered it now.

You have to undestand how the engines are made.
They are assembled with the same assembly grease that most good mechanics use which is basically a wax
When they get to the end of the production line they are hooked up to a diagnosis machine and propane ( usually) is fed into the carb throat so the engine can be fired up.
They get run for a few seconds then if the machine says it is OK then put into a box for single sale or on a rack for mower factories.
If the machine says no then they get sent down to mechanical rectification for repair.
As such they are not run in
How much running in they need is directly proportional to the machining
The finner the surface finishes the less running in the engine needs
So it is feasable for tighter control over build quality to circumvent the need for the early post run in check.
Now I am a belts & Braces type of guy so regardless of what the manual says, they will always get an early oil change & full service check.
If all dealers & owners actually did this then the Kohler Courage cracks would never have happened because techs would have found the loose crank case bolts earlier.
This first service used to be free and considered as part of the delivery service.
Naturally big box stores did not do this so it became a job for dealers to do ( at a loss if done properly ) to mowers that they did not sell.
I do not know how the factories reimbersed dealers for doing this .
Down here the dealer wears the cost because it is supposed to come out of the retail mark up .
However if the mower was not bought from the dealer, then I would assume the factory had to pay for it ( No idea )
So knowing how directors & CEO's think I can see them doing the numbers & deciding to do away with the early service.
The last Loncin engine I fitted had an instruction to do oil & filter change at 30 hours or end of first season whichever comes first.

I am yet to see an engine that fell apart due to excessive oil changes
OTOH I have seen quite a few that were trashed by not changing the oil

Your engine
Your decision

whodunit68 said:

I want to do what's right. That's why I started the thread in the first place. Unfortunately some started suggesting I can't read so I shared what is from them. That's all that's here.

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I wasn't implying you can't read, thought maybe an oversight. Now I see it, & think it's hard to believe it.

Have you looked in the (separate) Kawasak®i Engine manual ? You should have gotten with your manuals etc..If that says same thing, I will rest my case.

I build Harley engines, so I have a bit of a clue. Oil is cheap, engines are not.

7394 said:

I wasn't implying you can't read, thought maybe an oversight. Now I see it, & think it's hard to believe it.

Have you looked in the (separate) Kawasak®i Engine manual ? You should have gotten with your manuals etc..If that says same thing, I will rest my case.

I build Harley engines, so I have a bit of a clue. Oil is cheap, engines are not.

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Thanks for taking the time with me here. Those screenshots I sent are from the Kawasaki manual. I can attach that when I get home. It is possible that I missed something though I did go through it a few times. But it’s entirely possible. And I did ask the dealer when they delivered - they said 100 hours. That’s how this whole oil/grease thing got started. I have an obsession with using the right stuff so I’ve been researching the heck out of this. Unfortunately either there are not a lot of newbies like me (or people just know this stuff) or they won’t admit it online.

thanks again.

No worries, just trying to help, if it's not there, Kawasaki musta changed something. Reason I find it Extremely odd is I have Brand New 2021 Scag w/Kawasaki built & bought May 20th, 2021. & both the operators manual, & the Kaw manual list Early oil change by 8 hours.

For the cost of 2 qts of oil & filter, I would Not pinch pennies here. Oil is the lifeblood of any engine. I change my oil (after the 8 hour early change), at end of each mow season, or @ 50 hours, never longer than 1 year.

You are just starting to break in this engine, & that is when it will have the most wear particles etc, in there. I'd be changing the oil & filter, but that's me.

Changing the oil is very simple..

whodunit68 said:

Thanks for taking the time with me here. Those screenshots I sent are from the Kawasaki manual. I can attach that when I get home. It is possible that I missed something though I did go through it a few times. But it’s entirely possible. And I did ask the dealer when they delivered - they said 100 hours. That’s how this whole oil/grease thing got started. I have an obsession with using the right stuff so I’ve been researching the heck out of this. Unfortunately either there are not a lot of newbies like me (or people just know this stuff) or they won’t admit it online.

thanks again.

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About twice a year some one comes in with a seized engine that has very clean oil in it which obviously has never been run because they forgot to put the oil in then siezed the engine then tried to get a warranty claim for a new engine
Probably 10 times more people catch the engine just before it locks up solid .
Had a few customers who bought a current season mower with almost no hours that was burning a little oil when they bought it from some one who was "moving house" "Found the mower unsuitable for their yard" or any other lie to explain why they were selling the mower .
So you sire are an exception, and one dear to most techs hearts because having a stand up arguement with a customer trying pull a fast one is some thing we can all do without.
The last Kawakasi engine I bought from my distributor had a service notice from the distributor mandating an early oil change at 5 hours followed by checking all fasteners .
When I can, I mow for a couple of hours ( there is 1000 acres behind the workshop to choose from + another 5 acres of street verge ) then do the full service & oil change .

I appreciate the perspective you guys have nor am I trying to stand my ground. I've dealt with the public in various capacities myself so understand that what comes from people is definitely not necessarily how it is. In this case, I very much recognize my limitations. I hesitated to ask in the beginning because these are very, very basic questions but I asked because I didn't know the answers. I didn't find much conclusive on the net.

I'm far from a penny-pincher but I also prefer not to throw $ out if I don't have to. If the mfr recommends 100 hours then worst case 100 hours it is - I'm pretty particular about these things. However, if the pros are seeing in real life that it's risky to wait until 100 and I should do it at 50 (or 30, etc), well, 50 it is. We're talking a few dollars on an almost $10k investment.

For anyone who wants to see, https://www.ferrismowers.com/na/en_...ications.downloadmanual.5109508_C_LO.pdf.html is where I found the manual (Ferris product page link to manual) and https://www.kawasakienginesusa.com/sites/default/files/manuals/FT730V-EFI-English-Spanish.pdf for the Kawasaki manual. I'm not sticking to this - if you guys recommend "real life" to do it more often, I'm definitely going to do it. I don't want to cause myself hundreds or thousands of $'s in damage for not doing a $30 oil change or something stupid like that.

Back to the dry lithium grease spray (Blaster? Lucas Oil? Red-n-Tacky? Doesn't matter?) ....it's probably like everything else but since you encouraged the asking, I will dry lithium spray grease...assume that's for the stuff here (control handle pivots, seat plate pivots, etc)?



assume this is like bicycle chain lube?



amazing this small machine requires so many different types of grease.

The hydraulic oil and the standard engine oil are pretty well called out in the manual - hydraulic is 20w50 (Ferris manual) and the engine oil is 10w40 (Kawa manual).

thanks again for taking all the time you've taken. If any of you run businesses anywhere near north central Florida, I would gladly take my Ferris to you for service if nothing else but to say thanks.

In some states grease is considered an EPA violation
Some of the Cal spec mowers I see have no grease fittings so you have to dissasemble to grease them.
The logic behind this is you will clean all excess grease off if you have to pull the gear apart.
They leave my shop with grease nipples fitted where ever I think they are needed .
I don't need to take 1 hour to do a 5 minute job but the mower companies have to comply with EPA regualtions.
The use of calcium sulfonate is again to get past the EPA as it is a food grade grease thus is not considered to be a pollutant ,,,,, yet .
For the front suspension it is a problem area for any grease so they went for a very high tac grease.
GO to a pushbike shop & get a spray can of dry chain grease .
It is a big problem because they work in very dusty conditions & you don't want dust to stick and become a grinding paste but on the other hand you need the grease to stick and prevent metal to metal contact .
The same dry chain lube can be used with a straw to lube the throttle & choke cables .
I use Tri-Flow and have been using it for decades on motorcycle cables

whodunit68 said:

If the mfr recommends 100 hours then worst case 100 hours it is

Click to expand...

Long ago back in 2014 (after my early oil change) I called Kawasaki about the 100 hour oil change intervals. For my then Toro Z.

The Kaw Tech said that is for those that cut 100 or more hours PER YEAR. He stated otherwise, best to do it @ 50 or yearly. He said the book should be changed. But that never happened..

So to be on the safe side I just do my Oil & filter / service after last cut every year.

Look in your Kaw engine manual, should be a ph #, ya might still be able to get thru to verify..

very grateful for the tips, comments, and recommendations. And more important to me, your patience while I sort through these things. I have a thing in me that makes me research the heck out of some simple to some topics.
I do want to do it right - it was a big investment.
thinking about some of the dust attraction problem, it isn't so much different than lubrication related to all the dive equipment I maintain. The technical dive world is filled with things that can not rust up or attract too much dust as to block their functions - could be deadly.
It's definitely not the same thing but some similar concepts apply.
Many many thanks guys.

One thing to think about grease guns, is that people get carried away.
Many pump grease until they hear the seals pop and grease oozes out, in my mind, that is not a good thing.

Fish said:

One thing to think about grease guns, is that people get carried away.
Many pump grease until they hear the seals pop and grease oozes out, in my mind, that is not a good thing.

Click to expand...

I keep reading “just enough.” I’ll research some guns, research some grease, and change my oil. By the first this should be over .

thanks Fish.

Fish said:

One thing to think about grease guns, is that people get carried away.
Many pump grease until they hear the seals pop and grease oozes out, in my mind, that is not a good thing.

Click to expand...

Funny you should say this.
Just had a bloke around because the brakes on his S 30 keep on filling up with grease
The riders hand book ( from 1930) says to apply one stroke of the grease gun the the hub every 200 miles which he was doing
What he failed to realize that it was one stroke from the Tecament grease gun supplied in the motorcycle tool roll , not one stroke from a modern lever action grease gun which pumps around 20 times as much grease per stroke.

When I ran a truck shop, they had a barrel on wheels full of grease, and a pneumatic gun, and those were very bad, Several times the guys would hook up the gun to the clutch throwout bearing and go to town