Most excavator operators begin to learn excavator knowledge by adding lubricating grease. This is because adding grease is an important step for the excavator in ten minutes. So why do excavators need to add grease? How often? Can I use gear oil instead? These questions will be explained in this article. Since each brand of excavator has different requirements, this article is only for reference.
1. Why do you need to add grease?
When the excavator is working, there are dozens of positions on the big and small arms and the bucket that will move relatively. The pin shaft and shaft sleeve of these parts always have friction during operation. And because of the large working load of the excavator, the stress on these parts is also very large. Under this working intensity, if the friction continues, the shaft pin and the shaft sleeve will be seriously worn. The clearance becomes large, affecting the work of the excavator and the maintenance and replacement cost is high. In order to reduce this friction, the excavator has designed lubricant injection and retention channels at these moving parts. The oil film can be formed in the middle of each two moving parts during operation to reduce wear. And this lubricant is grease.
2. How often do you need to add grease?
In order to make the excavator work better, the maintenance time of each part is marked on the operating manual of each excavator. The lubricating grease is usually filled once every 5-8 hours during operation. That is to say, it is necessary to add grease at least once every day when working.
3. Can gear oil or engine oil be used instead?
This is due to the characteristics of the excavator during operation. The working parts of the excavator are "low-speed and heavy-duty" and have poor sealing performance. If liquid lubricating oil is used, it is easy to leak and cannot form a good oil film during operation. Therefore, the shaft pin of the working device at the front end of the excavator needs to be filled with grease for a long time. And can adhere to each lubricating part to form an oil film and maintain good lubrication.
