Heating a bushing that won' t take grease?

Hay hay hay

Well-known Member
Say it is a wagon spindle or an old rake bushing axle, but the zerk won't take grease. Using the pressure hammer tool does not free it. Will a little heat free it up, soften it, let it take lube? Or turn it to concrete?

I appreciate opinions (everyone has one). but would really like to hear more actual experience.

Thanks
 
Why not take it apart and clean it, rather than risk damaging it, or getting sprayed with flaming grease?
 
I have taken a number of them apart and cleaned them out only for them not to take grease. Have heated the area and it took sometimes.
 
I take the zerk out first. IF it has hard grease in it I run a small drill down the grease passage as far as I can. I then spray a good brake/parts cleaner down the grease passage. Then blow it out with compressed air. Install a new good quality zerk. You should be able to get the grease to move. If not use low heat to try an free up the hard grease. When you do get it to take grease push enough "new" grease to push as much of the "Old" grease out. That old grease can harden after it cools.

Truthfully the pressure hammer type of tools rarely work in my experience.
 
Thanks, just trying to limp thru hay season with a rake and a tedder with one each having a stubborn zerk.
I have tried new zerk, drill, carb cleaner...just don't really have time to pull them apart and repair properly right now. Hoping the "heat" idea might get me thru the hay season then into a proper winter fix.
 
The ones in the pivot for the starter fingers on the baler seized up on me. I heated those up and got them to take grease. Just be careful about getting a zerk hot. I've heard of those little balls in them shooting out like a bullet.
 


Hardened grease is what PB Blaster was originally made for. Pull the zerk, scrape out as much old grease as you can and hit it with PB. Keep going back at it. Move things around so it can get into other areas. Keep going at it. Then try the grease again. I freed up an old Case running gear spindle like that. All the heat I tried did is catch the old grease on fire.
 
(quoted from post at 19:22:02 09/17/17) Up date. Heat did not work.

Yeah, well, you were told it probably wouldn't work. Pull the zerk and get some solvent in there. You cooked the grease even more so it's going to take longer to work now. PB Blaster, diesel, ATF, something. You might be able to put it in a GOOD grease gun and try to pressure it in. A worn gun or poor quality one will just run the fluid out the end.
 
I have removed the zerk and using a drill removed the contents immediately under the zerk. Injected some penetrating oil. Replaced the zerk with a new one. Did whatever it took to take any stress off the area...like jack up an implement making the axle shaft (tube used as an axle shaft) move away from the zerk area. Apply grease. If it still didn't take grease, in that position whip out the torch and help it along.
 

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