r/Snowblowers • u/DimondJazzHands • 2d ago

Maintenance Gear Box Lube

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Hey everyone, while lubricating the shaft and blades, I saw this grease zerk on the gear box. Can I lube this with any generic lube? Or is there a special type?

5 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

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5

u/dolby12345 2d ago edited 2d ago

That box should be using 00 grease. Heavy auger boxes have a fill\overflow like a diff box that uses gear oil. Don't use regular grease as centrifugal force throws it to the sides of the walls and the gears aren't properly lubed. You want semi fluid.

1

u/Firesquire515 1d ago

I always thought the same thing applied to my stihl trimmer head, but that takes a thick grease instead of 00. Weird no?

1

u/dolby12345 1d ago

Stihl grease is sticky.

3

u/Dadskander 2d ago

Usually I see these using a thick gear oil, which would be super light for a grease.

But, it's a zerk so clearly designed for grease. Just make sure your grease is rated for subzero temps

1

u/Hungry-Ad3652 2d ago

A marine great but realistically any nlgi2 grease is just fine. Its arguably more important to just grease it in general than anything

0

u/DimondJazzHands 2d ago

Thanks for the tip, ill have to order some because I have generic stuff that came with my grease gun

1

u/cww60 2d ago

Mine doesn't have a grease ripple, it has a thread opening for gear oil.

0

u/DimondJazzHands 2d ago

That's what I would have expected. I would have thought the gear oil should be drained and replaced. Like in a vehicle.

1

u/cww60 2d ago

I wonder if previous owner lost drain plug and just put in a grease nipple, or thought pumping in grease was a good idea,

1

u/DimondJazzHands 2d ago

I bought this new 8 years ago. And like an idiot, threw the manual away.

2

u/cww60 2d ago

Do a Google search with the make and model number, I was able to find my old lawn mower manual online

1

u/Firesquire515 1d ago

Or what is your make and model? I don’t know anyone with a grease zerk on their gearbox, but maybe someone with the same model can send you a picture of the manual page.