10 hr. Service for L3901

ArtinAz

Member

Equipment
L3901
Oct 24, 2019
109
1
16
Snowflake
I'm at 21 hrs on my Kubota & forgot to perform the recommended 10 hr service (off to a good start). The manual recommends using a Molybdenum grease or "Moly EP" grease.

I reviewed a vid where they indicated using a high temp multipurpose grease (polyurea). The DIY site shows using a NLGI #1 OR #2 for the 50 hr maintenance. Could I use this for the 10 hr as well for the loader & backhoe grease fittings?

Before I operate the tractor, I want to make sure the 10 hr maint. schedule is, at least completed.

Any help is greatly appreciated.
 

North Idaho Wolfman

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I'm at 21 hrs on my Kubota & forgot to perform the recommended 10 hr service (off to a good start). The manual recommends using a Molybdenum grease or "Moly EP" grease.

I reviewed a vid where they indicated using a high temp multipurpose grease (polyurea). The DIY site shows using a NLGI #1 OR #2 for the 50 hr maintenance. Could I use this for the 10 hr as well for the loader & backhoe grease fittings?

Before I operate the tractor, I want to make sure the 10 hr maint. schedule is, at least completed.

Any help is greatly appreciated.
Use the same grease now as you'll use for the rest of the tractors life, not need to change grease types per service.
 

ArtinAz

Member

Equipment
L3901
Oct 24, 2019
109
1
16
Snowflake
Use the same grease now as you'll use for the rest of the tractors life, not need to change grease types per service.
I was going to do that but need to start with one type of grease first. I'd rather use a grease than can be used throughout for high temps and regular maintenance.
 

Bulldog

Well-known member

Equipment
M 9000 DTC, L 3000 DT
Mar 30, 2010
5,440
78
48
Rocky Face, Georgia
I use and have used Amsoil moly grease on all my equipment for 20+ years. I have not found anything better and I've tried a lot of different brands. Just don't get caught up in the "any grease is better than no grease" myth. There is a difference in quality and performance.
 

ArtinAz

Member

Equipment
L3901
Oct 24, 2019
109
1
16
Snowflake
I use and have used Amsoil moly grease on all my equipment for 20+ years. I have not found anything better and I've tried a lot of different brands. Just don't get caught up in the "any grease is better than no grease" myth. There is a difference in quality and performance.
I couldn't find that anywhere in the store. I ended up getting LUCAS x-tra heavy duty grease rated NLGI #2. It's a Polyurea grease good for extreme heat.

I asked my dealer & they said most of their customers use polyurea, but use Kubota brand. They said any brand would work well as long as the application is consistently used.
 

Tornado

Well-known member
May 7, 2019
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usa
If you're like me, and you only really use grease for this one tractor, then invest in a good high quality synthetic grease. A good tube will be about $13 to $15 but if you're just doing this one tractor every 10 hours it will last a while.
 

ArtinAz

Member

Equipment
L3901
Oct 24, 2019
109
1
16
Snowflake
If you're like me, and you only really use grease for this one tractor, then invest in a good high quality synthetic grease. A good tube will be about $13 to $15 but if you're just doing this one tractor every 10 hours it will last a while.
Good point. I'm just wondering about the cost/benefit of synthetic. If it's twice as good as polyurea then how often do you use it? Wont it impair the equipment a bit if kubota never used synthetic to begin with? They advised not to mix grease blends.
 

SidecarFlip

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M9000HDCC3, M9000HD, Kubota GS850 Sidekick
Oct 28, 2018
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Anything but cheap CLAY BASED GREASE. Stay away from the cheap TSC grease, it's clay based and no good.
 

Rcflyer330

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Kubota B2650 Cab, B2779 Broom, B2782B Snowblower, RB1672 rear blade
Oct 14, 2019
102
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28
Traverse City, Michigan
NLGI #2 isn't clay based, it's it?
Yes clay can be NLGI #2. The NLGI rating is the grade or the spec the grease has to meet or exceed. Clay is just the oil carrier also known as a soap. There are many different soaps common ones being clay, polyurea, aluminum, lithium, aluminum complex, and lithium complex. All of thease soaps can be NGLI #2 or NGLI #1 grade. I listed the more common soaps but there are many more soaps. If you want to find out all of them google it. You can also find compatibility charts to see what soaps are compatible with each other.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 

SidecarFlip

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M9000HDCC3, M9000HD, Kubota GS850 Sidekick
Oct 28, 2018
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Easiest way around the complex grease base deal is buy 100% synthetic grease. It an't cheap but it won't coagulate in your fittings and clog them up and synthetic grease has superior boundary layer protection.

I've never had a clogged fitting and I've never had excess grease dry on the outside of any joint either. Clay base grease will dry out and will clog fittings and grease passages.

I use Lubrication Engineers Teflon fortified Synthetic Grease and have for years. it's not cheap, last 150 pound open head drum I bought was almost 1200 bucks. It's extremely tacky too, a requirement for me with my hay tools.

I buy my grease in bulk, I have an air greaser.
 

ArtinAz

Member

Equipment
L3901
Oct 24, 2019
109
1
16
Snowflake
Yes clay can be NLGI #2. The NLGI rating is the grade or the spec the grease has to meet or exceed. Clay is just the oil carrier also known as a soap. There are many different soaps common ones being clay, polyurea, aluminum, lithium, aluminum complex, and lithium complex. All of thease soaps can be NGLI #2 or NGLI #1 grade. I listed the more common soaps but there are many more soaps. If you want to find out all of them google it. You can also find compatibility charts to see what soaps are compatible with each other.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
I got a tube of Lucas. Are you familiar with that? Walmart item.
 

SidecarFlip

Banned

Equipment
M9000HDCC3, M9000HD, Kubota GS850 Sidekick
Oct 28, 2018
7,197
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83
USA
No, but, being Lucas Oil Products, I'm sure it's good. None of the Lucas Oil stuff qualifies as second rate junk.
 

ArtinAz

Member

Equipment
L3901
Oct 24, 2019
109
1
16
Snowflake
Easiest way around the complex grease base deal is buy 100% synthetic grease. It an't cheap but it won't coagulate in your fittings and clog them up and synthetic grease has superior boundary layer protection.

I've never had a clogged fitting and I've never had excess grease dry on the outside of any joint either. Clay base grease will dry out and will clog fittings and grease passages.

I use Lubrication Engineers Teflon fortified Synthetic Grease and have for years. it's not cheap, last 150 pound open head drum I bought was almost 1200 bucks. It's extremely tacky too, a requirement for me with my hay tools.

I buy my grease in bulk, I have an air greaser.
I'm only buying 14.5 oz. Not quite as much as what you have.
 

200mph

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L4740-3 Cab, FEL, Fnt Snow Blower L2185, LP Finish Mower, LP Rotary Mower
Mar 3, 2017
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PA
Anything but cheap CLAY BASED GREASE. Stay away from the cheap TSC grease, it's clay based and no good.
I'm looking for guidance based on your statement above.

When looking at the Traveller Extreme Duty 3% Moly Lithium Complex NLGI #2 Grease, how would I know this is clay based?

Link to PDF of technical specifications: https://www.tractorsupply.com/static/sites/TSC/downloads/ProdContentPDFs/1028447_Bro1.pdf

Link to the gease itself: https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/traveller-premium-heavy-duty-lithium-complex-nlgi-2-grease-14-oz-cartridge

In reading a few lubrication papers online, clay based greases are used in a number of critical applications, so why are they to be avoided?

Not saying anyone is wrong. Just trying to understand why clay is bad and how to ID any branded grease uses clay.

Thanks!
 

Bulldog

Well-known member

Equipment
M 9000 DTC, L 3000 DT
Mar 30, 2010
5,440
78
48
Rocky Face, Georgia
I couldn't find that anywhere in the store. I ended up getting LUCAS x-tra heavy duty grease rated NLGI #2. It's a Polyurea grease good for extreme heat.

I asked my dealer & they said most of their customers use polyurea, but use Kubota brand. They said any brand would work well as long as the application is consistently used.
You will have to order it direct from Amsoil unless you happen to have a local dealer in your area. This https://ww2.amsoil.com/p/synthetic-polymeric-off-road-grease-nlgi-2-gpor2/ is what I use and it works great. It comes in 15 oz tubes to most other brands are 14 and really doesn't cost as much as people think. Dealer cost is less than $8 a tube and they'll ship it right to your door. Normally only takes a couple of days to get it.

As far as lasting goes. I use my loader tractor almost every day, (every day during winter) and I honestly only grease it maybe 5 or 6 times a year. That tractor is 20 years old and is still as tight as a new one so it's doing it's job. I use this same grease on everything from the loader pins to drivelines and have never had a lubricant related failure. Only thing I don't use it for is wheel bearings. I use Amsoil multi purpose for that application.

NLGI#2 is simply a rating like 10W30 is for oil. It's how thick it is. This is probably the most common weight for grease and works in most applications. The need for NLGI#1 is more for extreme cold conditions or in a autolube system. NLGI#00 is kind of a cross between gear oil and grease. Most people will call it "corn head grease" which has a wide range of uses like gear boxes and oil bath bearings.

Whatever you decide to use just be sure to stay away from clay base grease. I have personally seen it get hard and plug grease veins even on equipment that is greased daily. One barrel of it at the quarry I worked at probably cost us over $100k in down time and repairs.
 

SidecarFlip

Banned

Equipment
M9000HDCC3, M9000HD, Kubota GS850 Sidekick
Oct 28, 2018
7,197
554
83
USA
My rule of thumb is...

I don't buy anything store branded at TSC like Traveller for instance. I do buy my Rotella T6 there once in a while however (when it's on sale), but never any fluids or greases. Frankly, I don't trust the quality.

Better options elsewhere including your dealer. You pay thousands for a tractor, why by cheap crap lubricants and wannabe filters.
 

ArtinAz

Member

Equipment
L3901
Oct 24, 2019
109
1
16
Snowflake
My rule of thumb is...

I don't buy anything store branded at TSC like Traveller for instance. I do buy my Rotella T6 there once in a while however (when it's on sale), but never any fluids or greases. Frankly, I don't trust the quality.

Better options elsewhere including your dealer. You pay thousands for a tractor, why by cheap crap lubricants and wannabe filters.
So true. Guess I'll return what I have & replace with synthetic. It's funny, my dealer skaufs at synthetic for some reason. Their comment is "it's ok, if you want to spend the money, most people get poly". So I got poly.

But, if synthetic is supieror to the others, I'll go & invest. It's not like I'm spending alot of money, in comparison to if something breaks down due to being cheap.
 

ArtinAz

Member

Equipment
L3901
Oct 24, 2019
109
1
16
Snowflake
You will have to order it direct from Amsoil unless you happen to have a local dealer in your area. This https://ww2.amsoil.com/p/synthetic-polymeric-off-road-grease-nlgi-2-gpor2/ is what I use and it works great. It comes in 15 oz tubes to most other brands are 14 and really doesn't cost as much as people think. Dealer cost is less than $8 a tube and they'll ship it right to your door. Normally only takes a couple of days to get it.

As far as lasting goes. I use my loader tractor almost every day, (every day during winter) and I honestly only grease it maybe 5 or 6 times a year. That tractor is 20 years old and is still as tight as a new one so it's doing it's job. I use this same grease on everything from the loader pins to drivelines and have never had a lubricant related failure. Only thing I don't use it for is wheel bearings. I use Amsoil multi purpose for that application.

NLGI#2 is simply a rating like 10W30 is for oil. It's how thick it is. This is probably the most common weight for grease and works in most applications. The need for NLGI#1 is more for extreme cold conditions or in a autolube system. NLGI#00 is kind of a cross between gear oil and grease. Most people will call it "corn head grease" which has a wide range of uses like gear boxes and oil bath bearings.

Whatever you decide to use just be sure to stay away from clay base grease. I have personally seen it get hard and plug grease veins even on equipment that is greased daily. One barrel of it at the quarry I worked at probably cost us over $100k in down time and repairs.
I answered sidecarflip's comment that relates to yours. I think I'll go with the synthetic - it's worth the extra $6. Like I told sidecarflip, the dealer seemed to look down at synthetic.