Grease for Hedge Trimmer

[Two-Stroke]

I have a Makita EH 760 hedge trimmer. The gearbox has a grease fitting. The user manual recommends "Shell Alvania No. 3 or equivalent".

I've tried Googling that particular grease and have found a few things:

It's Lithium-based and is considered a "normal temperature grease". It's also described (by Shell) as a "medium/hard high performance industrial grease".

One website said that it's only sold in bulk (huge buckets -- more than I'll ever use).

Here's what I haven't been able to find:

What is an equivalent to Shell Alvania No. 3?

Is using this particular grease (or equivalent) critical in this application?

 

[Mad Mackie]

This grease is particular to this application. Shell Alvania greases have been replaced by Shell Gadus greases. Do a google search for " Shell Alvania 3" and you will find the Shell crossreference chart to the new lubricants. There are other compatible greases however you do not want to mix synthetic greases with Shell Alvania or Shell Gadus greases.
Per the Scag manual I use Shell Alvania EP2 in the deck spindles of the mower deck and this grease has been discontinued and replaced by Shell Gadus S2 V220 2. This stuff gets complicated, too many numbers to deal with!!!
My hedge trimmer calls for no more than two pumps of lithium base grease every 10 hours. Too much grease will leave no expansion room and blow out the gearbox seals, most hedge trimmers have the same type gearbox.
Mad Mackie in CT

 

[Two-Stroke]

This grease is particular to this application. Shell Alvania greases have been replaced by Shell Gadus greases. Do a google search for " Shell Alvania 3" and you will find the Shell crossreference chart to the new lubricants. There are other compatible greases however you do not want to mix synthetic greases with Shell Alvania or Shell Gadus greases.
Per the Scag manual I use Shell Alvania EP2 in the deck spindles of the mower deck and this grease has been discontinued and replaced by Shell Gadus S2 V220 2. This stuff gets complicated, too many numbers to deal with!!!
My hedge trimmer calls for no more than two pumps of lithium base grease every 10 hours. Too much grease will leave no expansion room and blow out the gearbox seals, most hedge trimmers have the same type gearbox.
Mad Mackie in CT

Thanks, Mad Mackie.

In my online searching, I have come across the Shell Gadus equivalent to Alvania 3. But that didn't answer the question: what is the equivalent (other than Shell) to Alvania 3? I found this documentation from Shell (pdf) and, according to that, Alvania 3 grease doesn't sound all that special.

The manual for the Makita EH 760 doesn't say anything about only two pumps of grease, so I suspect you can't hurt it by pumping more -- you just waste some grease.

Another thing I've heard is that a gearbox problem is the most likely reason that a hedge trimmer becomes uneconomical to fix.

 

[KennyV]

That's an Electric Motor bearing grease...
You will find Mobil Polyrex EM, About $6 a tube... is a perfect substitute for the Shell EM grease...
Bearing Grease | Mobil Grease | The Lubricant Store

:smile:KennyV

 

[Two-Stroke]

That's an Electric Motor bearing grease...
You will find Mobil Polyrex EM, About $6 a tube... is a perfect substitute for the Shell EM grease...
Bearing Grease | Mobil Grease | The Lubricant Store

:smile:KennyV

Thanks, KennyV.

When I was researching this, one of the first places I went was Bob Is the Oil Guy (his grease page). I'm pretty sure that you told me about that site and it has come in handy several times. :thumbsup:

Maybe the grease by Mobil won't prove so hard to find by the tube.